AMES, JAMES BARR
James Barr Ames was born June 22, 1846, in Boston. He achieved prominence as an educator and concentrated his career efforts at Harvard.
A graduate of Harvard College in 1868, Ames earned a master of arts degree in 1871 and
attended Harvard Law School in 1872. He received several doctor of laws degrees from various universities, including the University of Pennsylvania in 1899, Northwestern University in 1903, and Harvard in 1904.
In 1868, Ames began his teaching career as an instructor for a private school in Boston.
Three years later he began his professional association with Harvard, acting as a tutor in French and German until 1872 and continuing as an instructor in medieval history for the next year.
From 1873 to 1877 he was an associate professor of law; in 1877, he became a professor of law.
From 1895 to 1910 he performed the duties of dean of the law school. In 1897, he participated in the establishment of the Harvard Law Review.
Ames distinguished himself as a teacher of
law by utilizing the CASE METHOD introduced by
legal educator and former Harvard Dean
CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS LANGDELL. Langdell’s
approach presented principles of law in relation
to actual cases to which they were applied. By
studying the cases, a student of law was given an
accurate example of the law at work.
Ames extended his talents to the field of
legal literature. He is the author of Lectures on
Legal History, which was published in 1913. He died January 8, 1910, in Wilton, New Hampshire.
CROSS-REFERENCES
Legal Education.
