The curated collection is the Library's reference shelf of work by other
authors. Thirty-nine entries are organized into six categories below. Each
entry has its own page at /reading/library/<slug>/. The
main category-grouped browse is on the Reading Room landing; this page is
the flat "browse all" surface for readers arriving directly.
Reading Room · Browse all
The Curated Collection
Foundational primary sources, historical scholarship, doctrinal court opinions, contemporary scholarship, state-commissioned reports, and the educational and cultural context that puts the school-trust system in its proper frame.
Category A — Foundational primary sources
- An Act for the Admission of Oregon into the Union (Oregon Admission Act) — The Thirty-Fifth Congress of the United States, 1859.
- An Act providing for the Sale of the Lands of the United States, in the territory north-west of the river Ohio, and above the mouth of Kentucky river (Land Act of 1796) — The Fourth Congress of the United States, 1796.
- An Act To enable the people of New Mexico to form a constitution and State government and be admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States; and to enable the people of Arizona to form a constitution and State government and be admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original States (New Mexico-Arizona Enabling Act) — The Sixty-First Congress of the United States, 1910.
- An Act to enable the people of the eastern division of the territory northwest of the river Ohio to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of such state into the Union, on an equal footing with the original states (Ohio Enabling Act) — The Seventh Congress of the United States, 1802.
- An Act to enable the people of Utah to form a constitution and state government, and to be admitted into the Union on an equal footing with the original states (Utah Enabling Act) — The Fifty-Third Congress of the United States, 1894.
- An Ordinance for Ascertaining the Mode of Disposing of Lands in the Western Territory (Land Ordinance of 1785) — The Confederation Congress, 1785.
- An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States North-West of the River Ohio (Northwest Ordinance of 1787) — The Confederation Congress, 1787.
- Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Chapter V, Section II ("The Encouragement of Literature, etc.") — John Adams (principal drafter), adopted by the people of Massachusetts, 1780.
Category B — Historical scholarship, pre-1950
- A History of Public Permanent Common School Funds in the United States, 1795–1905 — Fletcher Harper Swift, 1911.
- A History of the Irreducible School Fund in Oregon — Norman Ray Hawk, 1949.
- First Annual Report of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Michigan — John D. Pierce, Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1837.
- History and Management of Land Grants for Education in the Northwest Territory (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin) — George Washington Knight (Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University), 1885.
- Looters of the Public Domain, embracing a Complete Exposure of the Fraudulent System of Acquiring Titles to the Public Lands of the United States — Stephen A. Douglas Puter and Horace Stevens, 1908.
- The American Journal of Education, Volume I (1855–56) — Henry Barnard, editor, 1855–1856.
- The Public School — History of Common School Education in New York from 1633 to 1904 — Charles E. Fitch and Charles R. Skinner, 1904.
- Twelfth Annual Report of the Secretary of the Board of Education — Horace Mann, 1848.
Category C — Doctrinal court opinions
- Advocates for School Trust Lands v. State of Oregon, 346 Or App 668 (2026) — Oregon Court of Appeals, 2026.
- Andrus v. Utah, 446 U.S. 500 (1980) — Justice John Paul Stevens (opinion of the Court); Justice Lewis F. Powell, Jr., dissenting (joined by Burger, C.J., and Stewart and Rehnquist, JJ.), 1980.
- Asarco Inc. v. Kadish, 490 U.S. 605 (1989) — Justice Anthony M. Kennedy (opinion of the Court); Justice William J. Brennan (concurring in part); Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist (concurring in part, dissenting in part), United States Supreme Court, 1989.
- Branson School District RE-82 v. Romer, 161 F.3d 619 (10th Cir. 1998) — Judge Stephanie K. Seymour (opinion of the Court), United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, 1998.
- Cooper v. Roberts, 59 U.S. (18 How.) 173 (1855) — Justice John Catron (opinion of the Court), United States Supreme Court, 1855.
- Ervien v. United States, 251 U.S. 41 (1919) — Justice Joseph McKenna (opinion of a unanimous Court), United States Supreme Court, 1919.
- Jensen v. Dinehart (Utah, 1982) — Utah Supreme Court, 1982.
- Lassen v. Arizona ex rel. Arizona Highway Department, 385 U.S. 458 (1967) — Justice John Marshall Harlan II (opinion of the Court), United States Supreme Court, 1967.
- Meinhard v. Salmon, 249 N.Y. 458, 164 N.E. 545 (1928) — Chief Judge Benjamin N. Cardozo (opinion of the Court), New York Court of Appeals, 1928.
- Pollard's Lessee v. Hagan, 44 U.S. (3 How.) 212 (1845) — Justice John McKinley (opinion of the Court), United States Supreme Court, 1845.
- Trustees of Vincennes University v. Indiana, 55 U.S. (14 How.) 268 (1852) — Justice John McLean (opinion of the Court), United States Supreme Court, 1852.
Category D — Contemporary scholarship & reference works
- A History of Federal Land Grants to Support Public Schools — Margaret R. Bird, 2005.
- CLASS 2007 Comparative Reference Grids: Enabling Acts and State Constitutions across the 20-State Cohort — Elizabeth Marsh (signed front-matter essay) and institutional CLASS authorship, 2007.
- Enabling Acts: A Brief Explanation, and The Power of You (paired diptych) — Elizabeth Marsh, 2007.
- Funding Public Schools in the United States and Indian Country — David C. Thompson, R. Craig Wood, S. Craig Neuenswander, John M. Heim, and Randy D. Watson, editors, 2024.
- Margaret Bird — Selected Published Essays and Policy Work — Margaret Bird (architect of Utah's school-trust-lands reform; founder of the Children's Land Alliance Supporting Schools; co-author of Schools of the Republic), 1990s–2010s.
- Restatement (Third) of Trusts — American Law Institute (Reporter, John H. Langbein), 2003–2012.
- State Trust Lands in the West: Fiduciary Duty in a Changing Landscape — Peter W. Culp, Andy Laurenzi, Cynthia C. Tuell, 2006.
- State Trust Lands: History, Management, and Sustainable Use — Jon A. Souder and Sally K. Fairfax, 1996.
- The Law of Trusts and Trustees — George G. Bogert, George T. Bogert, and Amy Morris Hess, Current edition (Third).
Category E — State-commissioned studies & reports
- California State Lands Commission Annual Reports — California State Lands Commission, 1938–present (annual series).
- Common School Fund Annual Reports (Oregon) — Oregon Department of State Lands and Oregon State Treasury, 1860–present (annual series).
- Utah Code Title 53C — School and Institutional Trust Lands — Utah State Legislature, 1994.
- Utah Land Trusts Protection and Advocacy Office Annual Reports — Utah Land Trusts Protection and Advocacy Office (Title 53D office), 2010–present (annual series).
- Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration Annual Reports — Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration (SITLA), 1994–present (annual series).
Category F — Educational & cultural context
- A Bill for the More General Diffusion of Knowledge — Thomas Jefferson, 1779.
- McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader (Revised Edition) — William Holmes McGuffey (compiler); revised edition, 1879.
- McGuffey's Fourth Eclectic Reader (Revised Edition) — William Holmes McGuffey (compiler); revised edition, 1879.
- The Cyclopedia of Education — A Dictionary of Information for the Use of Teachers, School Officers, Parents, and Others — Henry Kiddle and Alexander J. Schem, editors, 1877.
- The Federalist No. 10 ("The Same Subject Continued: The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection") — James Madison (writing as Publius), 1787.
