Processing the Charles J. Ogletree, Jr. Papers 

In January 2023, staff in the Harvard Law School Library’s Historical and Special Collections and Digital Initiatives departments began processing and digitizing the professional papers of Charles J. Ogletree Jr. HLS’78 (1952-2023), former Jesse Climenko Professor of Law at the Harvard Law School. The Ogletree family donated the collection to the library in 2022. The collection consists of correspondence, reports, event files, ephemera, and other materials demonstrating Ogletree’s dynamic career as a lawyer and his deep engagement with the Harvard Law School community.  

In 1988, Ogletree founded the “Saturday School,” which provided the school’s Black student body a space to build community through social and cultural programming. Ogletree’s instrumental role in establishing the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race & Justice and the HLS Criminal Justice Institute further reflects his dedication to the education of emergent lawyers and his belief in the legal profession as a conduit to a more just society.  

This collection additionally highlights Ogletree’s influence on the legal profession, and education of lawyers, that extends far beyond Harvard Law School, evident through his numerous connections with schools and organizations tied to legal practice and scholarship, racial justice, and educational initiatives.  

This project uniquely stands out for its integration of digitization alongside archival processing. Once the project is complete, an anticipated 250 linear feet of material will be publicly accessible through the online finding aid. Thus far, three installments of material have been updated and made digitally accessible, with the latest update occurring in July 2025. To facilitate workflows that allow large quantities of material to become digitally accessible and released on a rolling basis, staff from multiple departments and units across the university are engaged in highly collaborative efforts. Traditional models for processing projects of this size often progress through a linear sequence of steps including appraisal, processing, and possibly some digitization. However, this project diverges from typical approaches by making vast digital access a primary goal through repeatedly applying the steps of appraisal, processing, sending material for digitization, and reviewing digital content to small units of the collection (roughly five boxes at a time). Making such a large quantity of this collection publicly available via digitization additionally presents unique challenges, including potential copyright issues and protection of confidential information, such as university records and attorney-client privilege. The project team has incorporated into its workflows a thorough system of review to account for this sensitive content.  

Each installment provides access to material pertaining to various parts of Ogletree’s career and professional interests. Our most recent finding aid update accounts for nearly 40 linear feet of material. This update strongly represents Ogletree’s participation at events, particularly conferences and speaking engagements. Other prominent aspects of this batch include Ogletree’s work as a professor at HLS, particularly his teaching and administrative duties associated with HLS courses including Introduction to Trial Advocacy, Criminal Justice Administration, and Criminal Law. Material generated through Ogletree’s memberships with various organizations and universities further reflect his commitments to education and social justice.  

Combined with the three previous updates, approximately 135 linear feet of the collection can now be viewed online. The finding aid will be updated again later this summer, and all digital content from this project is anticipated to be made available by the end of 2025. An exhibit showcasing the collection titled “Educator, Advocate, Scholar, Leader: Selections from the Charles J. Ogletree, Jr. Papers” will be installed in the Caspersen Room of the Harvard Law School Library at the end of August 2025.