THE GREAT LEGAL HISTORY OF BOSTON

Boston is a city with a proud history, literally the American city on a hill which has long been a light to the nation. Boston is also a city with a great legal history -- the city of Holmes, Adams, Shaw and Otis. The Beacon Hill area of the city is particularly notable for its many landmarks with origins in the law. These are vividly shown in this tour -- The Path of the Law. Suffolk University Law School is proud to be a part of the illustrious legal lineage of Boston. As you walk on hallowed ground, once trod on by the famous men and women of Boston, you will understand why this city was once christened "the hub of the universe" by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes father.

"The Path of the Law" was the title of Justice Holmes' classic speech delivered in Boston on January 8, 1897. In it he said, "The prophecies of what the courts will do in fact, and nothing more pretentious, are what I mean by the law." (Collected Legal Papers by Oliver Wendell Holmes, N.Y., Harcourt, Brace & Co., 1921, p. 167-202).

List of sites on the tour.   Start your tour »

Map of downtown showing the actual walking tour (.pdf) and the location of the items of interest.