The Taft family roots trace back to the American Revolution, the Taft history of politics and philanthropy began with jurist and patriarch Alphonso Taft, once a judge, U.S. secretary of war, U.S. attorney general and ambassador. His descendants include newspaper publishers, an Ohio governor, a decorated World War I flying ace, a U.S. president and a Supreme Court justice.

In 1896 when UC established a law department, Alphonso’s son, William Howard Taft, then a federal circuit judge, became dean. The following year, UC began steps to merge with Taft’s alma mater, Cincinnati College, which let UC inherit William as an 1880 alumnus. Another one of Alphonso's sons, Charles, and his wife, Anna Sinton Taft, donated $75,000 to construct a home for the UC College of Law. Alphonso Taft Hall was dedicated in 1925 amid great fanfare.

The core of the UC College of Law is Taft Hall. Further commemorating the Taft name, the college annually hosts the William Howard Taft Lecture on Constitutional Law, established in 1986 to honor its first dean, the only person to have served as both U.S. president and Supreme Court chief justice.