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.