Congratulations Hannah Gadway!
Dolan Dobrinsky Rosenblum Bluestein, LLP is pleased to announce that Hannah Gadway is the recipient of the 2025 DDRB Legal Scholarship. A standout student, writer, and advocate, Hannah was selected for her academic excellence, personal perseverance, and deep passion for protecting the rights of artists and communities.
Raised in Calais, Maine, Hannah is a first-generation college student who is graduated from Harvard University with a 3.98 GPA while majoring in History and Literature. Hannah also studied international law and modernist literature at Oxford University.
Throughout her undergraduate career, Hannah demonstrated an unwavering commitment to public service and legal scholarship. She served as Co-President of the Harvard Undergraduate Law Review, conducted research and public tours as a guide at the Harvard Art Museums, and worked as an intern at the Office of U.S. Senator Susan Collins. Most recently, she joined the Center for Art Law as a digital resources assistant, helping to develop accessible legal materials on topics such as Nazi-looted art and intellectual property.
Hannah’s experiences have shaped her vision for a legal career at the intersection of art, ethics, and justice. This fall, she will begin her legal education at Harvard Law School, with the goal of advocating for cultural equity and protecting artists’ rights.
“We were incredibly moved by Hannah’s story, her intellectual curiosity, and her drive to make a meaningful impact through the law,” said founding partner Manuel Dobrinsky. “She exemplifies the spirit of this scholarship, and we are proud to support her journey.”
Now in its seventh year, the DDRB Legal Scholarship competition recognizes one exceptional student annually who demonstrates academic promise, community commitment, and a clear passion for the law. Hannah joins a distinguished group of past recipients, and we look forward to seeing the difference she will make in the legal field and beyond.
Read Hannah’s Scholarship Essay below:
“There are two rules in an art museum: don’t touch the art, and don’t ask where we acquired it. The first rule I found easy to follow from my first days working as a researcher at the Harvard Art Museums. But the second rule was harder to ignore. While I had a central research topic, I strayed away for a moment to answer a question digging at me: “Where did the Museums obtain Vincent van Gogh’s Self Portrait Dedicated to Paul Gaugin, the swirling picture in the galleries about which guests so often asked?” After sorting through ancient files, I found the answer in a grainy black-and-white photo of the masterpiece sitting on a dirty floor. Cramped letters revealed that the little tableau was a Nazi closet.
I was deeply concerned as to how the portrait had gone from Nazi to Harvard property, but I quickly dived into the painting’s origins. The picture had been taken out of the Munich Neue Staatsgalerie when the Nazis rose to power, then placed in the closet because it was deemed “degenerate art,” or unrepresentative of the Nazis’ values. Eventually, the piece was sold to Allied art collectors by the German government. It was a simple story, albeit one quietly ignored in the labels on the walls. Yet, I wondered if the other paintings in the clandestine closet were taken not from the walls of German museums, but from families or artists. Further research confirmed my suspicion that some of the paintings beside the Van Gogh had been taken from Jewish families or so-called “degenerate” artists, and to this day some families are still working to recover their property.
This realization spurred me to examine what happened after art was created. And, while I was able to incorporate these findings into a public tour, my research also made me more curious about how artists and owners’ rights are protected. I realized that art historians are often asked to take the role of an interpreter for visitors, and discovered that I would rather participate both in ensuring that art stays where it belongs and that modern artists understand and enjoy their intellectual property rights. My queries eventually led me to an internship with The Center for Art Law, where I was able to get a glimpse into how my questions could be turned into action. I learned that lawyers can have a role in protecting artist both living and dead and brought my questions full circle by developing a resource for law students about Nazi-looted art.
These experiences have led me to my next step: law school. My research into the origins of art museum collections has also given me the ability to dig into hard questions from which others may shy away. I want to use my legal education to protect art and artists alike. Attending law school will provide me with the training to protect others and ensure that no dream is deferred or stolen from those who cannot stand up for themselves.”