Brainerd Currie was born on December 20, 1912, in Macon Georgia. He graduated from Augusta Junior College, in Augusta Georgia, then received an LL.B. from Mercer University in 1935. He taught first at Mercer, then at Wake Forest College, before resuming his studies at Columbia Law School, where he earned an LL.M. in 1941 and a J.Sc.D. in 1955.
After briefly serving on the Law Faculty at the University of Georgia, Currie worked during World War II in the Offices of Price Administration and Economic Stabilization. From 1946 to 1949, he taught at Duke Law School. He joined the new Law Faculty at the University of California at Los Angeles in 1949, served briefly as Dean of the Law School at the University of Pittsburgh in 1952, then joined the faculty at the University of Chicago Law School, where he remained until returning to Duke in 1961. As a legal scholar, Currie was best known for study of conflict of laws, which arises when the laws of multiple countries or jurisdictions are in contradiction. He also penned nonsense verse and humorous lyrics, with legal themes, the best known of which is "The Rose of Aberlone."
Currie married Elmyr Park in 1935. The couple had three children, Elliott, Carolyn, and David, who also served on the Law Faculty of the University of Chicago. Currie died in Durham in 1965.
From the guide to the Currie, Brainerd. Papers, 1957-1960, (Special Collections Research Center University of Chicago Library 1100 East 57th Street Chicago, Illinois 60637 U.S.A.)
