LANSING, Mich. — Cooley Law School (CLS) was gifted a 136-year-old scroll with special ties to the school’s history.
The scroll, issued by President Grover Cleveland in 1887, appointed Justice Thomas M. Cooley — the school’s namesake — to the recently established Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), according to CLS.
The donation was made by Thomas’s great-granddaughter, Hilary Cooley.
“I am the last of the Cooley lineage and so am distributing keepsakes that I think are of interest to the world, lest they get lost in the shuffle,” says Hilary. “I enclose the scroll from President Grover Cleveland that declares Thomas Cooley to the Interstate Commerce Commission. I believe he was the first chair of this commission. I hope you will put this in your collection of articles from the Cooley family and that it will enhance your history of Mr. Cooley and his legacy.”
The ICC was the nation’s first regulatory commission, school officials explain. Its purpose was to make sure railroads charged fair rates, later evolving to also regulate bus, telephone and trucking companies. Thomas served on the commission from 1887–1891.
The ICC was decommissioned in 1995 after having been made obsolete by modern technology.
“We are honored to be the recipients of this historic document,” says CLS President James McGrath. “As new students enter the law school, they are taught about our namesake’s distinguished record associated with Thomas M. Cooley’s time as a Michigan Supreme Court Justice and being chosen to head the newly created federal Interstate Commerce Commission. This scroll will allow our students to better understand the importance of Thomas M Cooley to the legal community, State of Michigan, and the United States of America.”
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