Today I woke up early again to run with Dr. Kobylka. We’ve explored more of the neighborhood around the luxurious Ballston Comfort Inn as the days have passed. It really has been good to get out and move before sitting in the reading room all day. After our return, I showered and got ready for the day with Natalie and Zoe before we all headed down for breakfast. Everyone was buzzing at breakfast because it was our last full day in the reading room, and there was a lot to accomplish. I needed to get through Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), one of the last consequential cases in Justice Blackmun’s files, and a couple of other cases so that I could just review cases on our last abbreviated day tomorrow.

I found a great note in Blackmun’s files from Justice Kennedy requesting to speak with Blackmun at his earliest convenience regarding Casey, and that “it should come as welcome news.” This was a clue that Justice Kennedy had decided he was going to vote in favor of Planned Parenthood, which was crucial because he was a swing vote in Casey and some of the other privacy rights cases. Casey is going to be important in the writing of my thesis because it demonstrates that Blackmun became more feminist over time.

Anna and me with the cherry blossoms

After a long but productive day in the library, it was time to get dinner at our favorite spot: We, the Pizza. The class had gone there on Monday night and loved it so much that we decided to come back for our last dinner in D.C. together. Everyone was feeling like they were in a pretty good spot research-wise, and people were talking about what they were going to do for the last day in the reading room. At dinner, we decided that, on our last evening, it was finally time to be tourists. With full stomachs we walked down to the Washington Monument (pictured), Lincoln Memorial and the (empty) reflection pool. It was truly a beautiful evening for walking around. After a week of being with each

It was finally time to be tourists

other, the class was so comfortable and it was cool to see connections being made. From there, it was just a short walk to the White House. Tyler had heard that Niall Horan was performing for St. Patrick’s Day at the White House that evening, so we tried to convince Dr. Kobylka to wait around to see him to no avail. Alas, we headed back to the Comfort Inn on the metro and ended the night with several rounds of Secret Hitler. I feel so lucky to have gone on this research trip, both for the academic and community gains.