David H. Souter

As R. Eden Martin remembers it, he and future Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter ’61 would spend evenings sparking a fire, drinking from a bottle of cheap scotch whiskey, and discussing life.

Martin and Souter—both Harvard Law School students and freshman proctors at the time—lived side-by-side in Straus Hall A and B entryways, respectively.

Despite Souter’s many prominent legal positions throughout his career, culminating in his appointment to the nation’s highest court, friends and colleagues say that Souter’s quiet intellect, warm demeanor, and tendency to keep his life private have remained consistent since his freshman year at Harvard—and even since his high school years in New Hampshire.

FROM WEARE TO WASHINGTON

As a student at Concord High School, Souter had a reputation for reading every book in the public library. Every day after school, the young Souter spent hours at the library while waiting for his father—who worked at a bank in Concord—before they both made the commute back to their home in Weare, N.H.

“He was clearly the smartest kid that had passed through the high school in a long time,” says Harris A. Berman ’60, a fellow Concord High and Harvard graduate. During college, Berman often gave Souter rides back to Concord.

Berman took an English class with Souter at Concord High and said Souter enjoyed finding the fine points in each lesson and partaking in class debates.

“He spiced up the class just because he was so smart,” Berman says.

Jonathan Lurie ’61, now a professor of history at Rutgers, lived two floors up from Souter in Straus B entryway, the entryway for which Souter would act as proctor during his time at the Law School.

Lurie remembers Souter as being a very quiet yet spiritual student, and often walked through Harvard Yard with Souter to the seminary.

“Neither as a judge, nor as a person, nor as a student, he never wore his distinction on his sleeve.” Lurie says. “That’s what I like most about him.”

As an undergraduate, Souter worked for the Phillips Brooks House Association, was a member of the Hasty Pudding Club, and was named to the Phi Beta Kappa honor society.

Souter wrote his senior thesis on the judicial philosophy of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr., class of 1861—his predecessor on the court and fellow member of the Harvard Phi Beta Kappa society. After graduating, Souter then studied at Oxford University on a Rhodes scholarship before returning to Harvard to attend the Law School and serve as a proctor.

Souter was the type of proctor “that [freshmen] could come visit with and have a beer with,” according to Martin.

Martin adds that Souter often socialized with himself and other proctors, and that he didn’t partake in the competitive culture of the Law School.

“He was a brilliant student, but he didn’t have to study very hard because he didn’t have to,” Martin says, adding that Souter’s effortless mastering of legal concepts was sometimes frustrating. “He was detached from the law school rat race to a certain degree because he never intended to go practice in New York.”

Martin adds that Souter always intended to return to New Hampshire, an ambition Souter indeed realized. After moving back to Concord, he worked as the state’s Assistant Attorney General and then as the Deputy Attorney General.

Souter was appointed to the bench for the first time in 1978, on the Superior Court of New Hampshire. In 1983, he was appointed to the New Hampshire Supreme Court, and in 1990, Bush appointed Souter to sit on the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.

Souter was nominated to the Supreme Court by President George H.W. Bush in 1990 and was confirmed by a Senate vote of 90-9.

Though many assumed Souter would vie for traditional conservative values as a justice, Souter reaffirmed Roe v. Wade and voted against school prayer. At the time of his retirement in 2009, Souter was considered one of the more liberal justices on the court.

THE SAME SOUTER

Despite his appointment to ever-higher positions on the judicial bench, Souter remained a modest and friendly neighbor.

Philip R. Boulter attended Concord High a year below Souter, and maintained a professional relationship with Souter when the two lived in the Concord area. He said that, despite Souter’s status, the judge remained friendly when the two ran into one another while grocery shopping. Boulter added that Souter loved to hike, often in the White Mountains in New Hampshire.

“David is very quiet [and] incredibly bright,” Boulter says. “He’s a personal person who was warm and friendly towards everybody.”

Lurie reconnected with Souter when Souter was on the Supreme Court, sometimes bringing his students to Washington, D.C. where Souter would introduce them to the Court.

After ascending from Straus A-11 to the nation’s highest court, Souter—who Lurie remembered as friendly, private, and smart as a whip—is the same man.

“The one thing I remember about him is that he never changed,” Lurie says.

—Staff writer Caroline M. McKay can be reached at carolinemckay@college.harvard.edu.