Justice Story. That’s the name behind the Story Playground. It honors a legal scholar and Supreme Court Justice Joseph Story who lived from 1779 to 1845.
Story was born in Marblehead Massachusetts. He came from a prominent New England family. His father participated in the Boston Tea Party of 1773. Story went to Harvard College from 1795 to 1798. He graduated second in his class. Then he studied law with an attorney from Marblehead. In 1801 Story was admitted to the Bar. He began a successful practice in Salem Massachusetts.
Story’s first wife Mary Oliver died in 1804. This was less than a year after their marriage. In 1808 Story married Sarah Wetmore. She was the daughter of a judge. Story advanced his career into politics. He served in the Massachusetts State Legislature from 1805 to 1808. He was also Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives. He served in Congress from 1808 to 1809. Story abandoned party politics. He decided they required too great a sacrifice of ideals. He also didn’t like the sacrifice of individual opinion. In 1811 President James Madison nominated him to the Supreme Court.
Story presided over some important judgements. These were some of the most important in Supreme Court history. In Martin v. Hunter’s Lessee in 1816 Story argued something important. He said that the Supreme Court could reverse state court decisions. This was true when a constitutional question was involved. In 1837 he wrote the dissent for the Charles River Bridge case. He argued for the sanctity of contracts.
Justice Story helped found Harvard Law School in 1829. It became the model for university-based legal education in America. He wrote a twelve-volume set of commentaries on American law. Oliver Wendell Holmes a later member of the Supreme Court said something about Story. He said Story had done more than any other English-speaking man in this century. He made the law luminous and easy to understand.
Story strongly opposed slavery. He called it unnecessary unjust and inhuman. He said it was repugnant to justice and humanity. His beliefs were tested in 1841. The Supreme Court heard the case of the slave ship Amistad. Africans seized control of the ship. It was carrying them off the coast of Cuba. Story and the other Supreme Court members faced political pressure. The pro-slavery lobby wanted the Amistads returned to Cuba. President Martin Van Buren was part of that lobby. However the Supreme Court declared that the Amistads had been transported illegally. This violated Spanish law. So they should be restored to their homelands in Africa. Story spoke for the court. He referred to the eternal principles of justice. He also spoke of the ultimate right of all human beings to resist oppression. This applied in extreme cases.
Besides his work as a judge Story had strong ideas about politics and religion. He believed religion was necessary for a peaceful society. Yet he doubted religion would remain strong. This would happen if the government did nothing to encourage it. He wrote that it remains a problem to be solved. Can any free government be permanent? What if public worship of God and the support of religion are not part of the state’s policy?
The city acquired Story Playground on May 8 1958. It opened on July 9 1962. Originally it was called P.S. 100 Playground. This was after the neighboring school. Commissioner Stern gave the park its current name on June 18 1987. So here we are at Story Playground. A place named for a man of law justice and strong beliefs.