First_women_lawyers_in_the_United_States

List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States

List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States

Add article description

This list of the first women lawyers and judges in each state of the United States includes the years in which the women were admitted to practice law. Also included are women of other distinctions, such as the first in their states to graduate from law school.

Firsts nationwide

Margaret Brent: first woman to act as an attorney in the United States (1648)
Arabella Mansfield: first woman admitted to practice law in the United States (1869)
Charlotte E. Ray: First African American female lawyer in the United States and Washington, D.C. (1872)
Lyda Conley: First Native American female lawyer in the United States (1902)

Law school

Lawyers

Lawyers and the U.S. Supreme Court

Law clerks

State judges

See Women in the United States judiciary

Federal judges

See Women in the United States judiciary

Attorneys General of the U.S.

Deputy Attorney General of the U.S.

Associate Attorney General of the U.S.

Solicitor General of the U.S.

Deputy Solicitor General of the U.S.

Assistant Attorney General of the U.S.

State Attorneys General

State Solicitor General

United States Attorney

Assistant United States Attorney

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney

State Assistant Attorney General

State District Attorneys

  • First female: Edna C. Plummer (1907) in 1918[101][102]
  • First African American female: Patricia Hurt in 1997[103]
  • First openly lesbian female: Bonnie Dumanis (1977) in 2002[104]
  • First Dominican American (female): Camelia Valdes in 2009[105]
  • First Korean American (female): Grace H. Park in 2013[106][107]
  • First Puerto Rican female: Deborah González in 2020[108]

State Deputy District Attorney

Federal Bar Associations

State Bar Association

  • First (African American) female to lead coed state bar: Gertrude Rush (1918) in 1921[110][111][121]
  • First female president of voluntary state bar: Carole Bellows in 1977[122][123]
  • First female president of mandatory/integrated state bar: Donna Willard-Jones from 1979-1980[124][125]
  • First Latino American female president: Mary Torres in 2002[126]
  • First Korean American female president: Esther H. Lim in 2018[127]

Firsts in individual states

Firsts in Washington, D.C.

Firsts in the U.S. territories

See also

Other topics of interest

References

  1. [1]
    Gorecki, Meg (October 1990). "Legal Pioneers: Four of Illinois First Women Lawyers" (PDF). Illinois Bar Journal: 510–515.
  2. [2]
    Parker, Monica R. (2010-01-01). What it Takes: How Women of Color Can Thrive Within the Practice of Law. American Bar Association. p. 6. ISBN 9781590319925. first filipina to practice law in the united states.
  3. [3]
    Women Lawyers' Journal. National Association of Women Lawyers. 1911.
  4. [4]
    Cahill, Cathleen D. (2020-09-29). Recasting the Vote: How Women of Color Transformed the Suffrage Movement. UNC Press Books. ISBN 978-1-4696-5933-6.
  5. [5]
    Robinson, Greg (2016-09-01). The Great Unknown: Japanese American Sketches. University Press of Colorado. ISBN 9781607324294.
  6. [6]
    Congressional Record, V. 148, PT. 13, September 20, 2002 to October 1, 2002. Government Printing Office. 2006. ISBN 9780160767746.
  7. [7]
    Zhao, Xiaojian (2009). Asian American Chronology: Chronologies of the American Mosaic. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 978-0-313-34875-4.
  8. [8]
    Jones, Erika (2016-04-06). "The deaf women in Obama's White House". BBC News. Retrieved 2016-10-18.
  9. [9]
    "Deaf Person of the Month: Claudia Gordon". www.deafpeople.com. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  10. [10]
    Weekes, Princess (February 27, 2018). "Claudia Gordon, the First Deaf Black Woman to Become a Lawyer". www.themarysue.com. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
  11. [11]
    "Margaret Brent biography". msa.maryland.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
  12. [12]
    Ford, Lynne E. (2010-05-12). Encyclopedia of Women and American Politics. Infobase Publishing. ISBN 9781438110325.
  13. [13]
    Myra Bradwell; denied admission to the bar in 1869 because she was a woman; admitted in Illinois in 1890 nunc pro tunc and backdated to 1869.
  14. [14]
    "The Gossip of Gotham [New York City] ... A Russian Girl's Feat". Los Angeles Herald. p. 3. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  15. [15]
    "Christine la Barraque (1906)". The Indianapolis News. 1906-06-05. p. 5. Retrieved 2018-01-10.
  16. [16]
    Smith, Frank Charles; Proctor, Lucien Brock; Chapin, Heman Gerald; Harvey, Richard Selden (1896). The American Lawyer. Stumpf & Steurer.
  17. [17]
    "Blind Workers in Convention". Cullman Times Democrat Archives. September 5, 1907. Retrieved 2018-12-06.
  18. [18]
    Warren, Virginia Lee (March 28, 1934). "Woman Attorney Dashes About the Country Defending Government in Tax Cases" (PDF). Washington Post.
  19. [19]
    "Norma M. Karaian". Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. February 7, 2005. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
  20. [20]
    Watson, Jonathan. "Legacy of American Female Attorneys (2016 rev.)" (PDF). Solano County Law Library. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 7, 2016. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
  21. [21]
    Kinnaird, Lawrence (1966). History of the Greater San Francisco Bay Region. Lewis Historical Publishing Company.
  22. [22]
    Francisco, Chinese Chamber of Commerce of San (1961). San Francisco Chinatown on Parade in Picture and Story.
  23. [23]
    "Member Directory Search". www.gabar.org. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  24. [24]
    "236 S.E.2d 98 (Ga.App. 1977), 53677, Lexington Developers, Inc. v. O'neal Const. Co., Inc". vLex. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  25. [25]
    "Renee Hanover ('69) Remembered as First 'Out' Lesbian Lawyer | University of Illinois Chicago School of Law News". news.law.uic.edu. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
  26. [26]
    "ABQjournal: Claudine Bates-Arthur First Woman on Navajo Court". www.abqjournal.com. Retrieved 2018-02-04.
  27. [27]
    "Navajo Chief Justice Claudeen B. Arthur, 62 (washingtonpost.com)". www.washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 2018-02-04.
  28. [28]
    Robbins, Catherine C. (October 2011). All Indians Do Not Live in Teepees (or Casinos). U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0803239739.
  29. [29]
    "Carin Clauss - Wisconsin Women Making History". Wisconsin Women Making History. 2015-03-04. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  30. [30]
    "Carin Clauss | University of Wisconsin Law School". secure.law.wisc.edu. Retrieved 2017-09-27.
  31. [31]
    "Quadriplegic An Inspiration To All She Meets | The Spokesman-Review". www.spokesman.com. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  32. [32]
    "Obituaries". Los Angeles Times. 1999-05-28. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  33. [33]
    "Obituaries in the News". AP NEWS. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  34. [34]
    "Judge J. Ben McInturff". Washington State Court of Appeals.
  35. [35]
    "Maryknoll School". www.maryknollschool.org. Retrieved 2016-10-20.
  36. [36]
    "ACLU Client Makes History As First Air Force JAG Corps Officer to Wear Hijab". American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  37. [37]
    Miller, Kent (2019-03-26). "First Air Force JAG officer to wear hijab featured in short NBC documentary". Air Force Times. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  38. [38]
    "First Deaf Pakistani-American, Muslim Lawyer: Nida Din". The Daily Moth. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
  39. [39]
    "Belva Lockwood". National Archives. 2016-08-15. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
  40. [40]
    Inc, The Crisis Publishing Company (December 2005). The Crisis. The Crisis Publishing Company, Inc. {{cite book}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  41. [41]
    "Constance Baker Motley: Black History Month profile". www.cnn.com. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  42. [42]
    Hoffman, Brian Gene. "Constance Baker Motley (1921-2005)". Retrieved 2021-02-10.
  43. [43]
    "The First Latina & Latino Lawyers To Argue Before Supreme Court - News Taco". newstaco.com. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
  44. [44]
    "FindLaw's United States Supreme Court case and opinions". Findlaw. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
  45. [45]
    "Arlinda Locklear" (PDF). American Bar Association.
  46. [46]
    Dennis, Yvonne Wakim; Hirschfelder, Arlene; Flynn, Shannon Rothenberger (2016-04-18). Native American Almanac: More Than 50,000 Years of the Cultures and Histories of Indigenous Peoples. Visible Ink Press. ISBN 9781578596072.
  47. [47]
    Hirschfelder, Arlene B.; Molin, Paulette Fairbanks (2012). The Extraordinary Book of Native American Lists. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 9780810877092.
  48. [48]
    "First Arab-American Muslim Woman Argues at U.S. High Court (1)". news.bloomberglaw.com. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
  49. [49]
    Greenhouse, Linda (2006-08-30). "Women Suddenly Scarce Among Justices' Clerks". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  50. [50]
    "Rochelle Shoretz, Sharsheret founder and cancer advocate, is dead at 42 - Diaspora - Jerusalem Post". www.jpost.com. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  51. [51]
    "Mānoa: U.S. Supreme Court justice chooses UH Law graduate to serve as law clerk | University of Hawaii News". manoa.hawaii.edu. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
  52. [52]
    "Kamaile Nichols Turcan KSK'98 | Pauahi Foundation". www.pauahi.org. Retrieved 2018-11-30.
  53. [53]
    "Chickasaw woman to become first Native American to clerk for Supreme Court justice". NewsOK.com. 2018-04-16. Retrieved 2018-12-17.
  54. [54]
    April 14, Tony Mauro |; AM, 2018 at 11:35. "Gorsuch Hires Native American Law Clerk, Likely First in SCOTUS History". National Law Journal. Retrieved 2018-12-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  55. [55]
    Wager, Denise. "Laura Wolk '16 J.D. to clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas | The Law School | University of Notre Dame". The Law School. Retrieved 2018-12-06.
  56. [56]
    Journal, A. B. A. "First female clerk to a federal appeals judge dies at 94". ABA Journal. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
  57. [57]
    Journal, A. B. A. "A life of legal firsts—including romance and marriage". ABA Journal. Retrieved 2019-02-22.
  58. [58]
    "Five Amazing Women Who Shattered The Glass Ceiling". www.ncbar.org. Retrieved 2019-07-07.
  59. [59]
    "Doris Bray | Carolina Law Oral History Project". oralhistoriesproject.law.unc.edu. Retrieved 2019-07-07.
  60. [60]
    "May/June 2022". Federal Bar Association. 2022-06-15. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
  61. [61]
    Magill, Frank N. (2013-05-13). The 20th Century O-Z: Dictionary of World Biography. Routledge. ISBN 9781136593697.
  62. [62]
    Prater, Nia (January 12, 2017). "Loretta Lynch Bids Farewell to Justice Department". U.S. News.
  63. [63]
    "Reagan taps a woman for Justice post" (PDF). The Sunday Register. April 29, 1984.
  64. [64]
    Horwitz, Sari (2017-05-28). "Former Bush official Rachel Brand takes over No. 3 position at Justice Dept". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  65. [65]
    Breslow, Jason (21 April 2021). "Civil Rights Attorney Vanita Gupta Confirmed As Associate Attorney General". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-04-26.
  66. [66]
    "Obama Names Law School Dean Solicitor General | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved 2018-12-17.
  67. [67]
    "Elena Kagan confirmed by U.S. Senate as first woman Solicitor General of the United States | Jewish Women's Archive". jwa.org. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  68. [68]
    Dean, John W. (2015-06-02). The Nixon Defense: What He Knew and When He Knew It. Penguin. ISBN 9780143127383.
  69. [69]
    Chicago Woman Attorney Appointed UN Delegate. Johnson Publishing Company. 1972-09-21.
  70. [70]
    "Mankarious, Jewel Stradford Rogers Lafontant (1922-1997) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed". blackpast.org. 28 March 2009. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  71. [71]
    Buchanan, Paul D. (2009). The American Women's Rights Movement: A Chronology of Events and of Opportunities from 1600 to 2008. Branden Books. ISBN 9780828321600.
  72. [72]
    "The Woman Assistant U.S. Attorney General and the Prisoner at Leavenworth, 1928-29". www.frederickcooksociety.org. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  73. [73]
    "Rose Ochi '59". UCLA Alumni. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
  74. [74]
    "Rose Ochi, Japanese American trailblazer, dies at 81". Northwest Asian Weekly. 2021-01-14. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
  75. [75]
    "Anne X. Alpern Is Dead; Ex-Pennsylvania Justice". The New York Times. 1981-02-04. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-02-10.
  76. [76]
    Weatherford, Doris (2012). Women in American Politics: History and Milestones. Los Angeles: CQ Press. pp. 76–77. ISBN 978-1-60871-007-2.
  77. [77]
    Rutgers, Center for American Women And Politics (accessed 5/23/2007) Archived May 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  78. [78]
    "A Celebration of New Mexico's First Women Lawyers" (PDF). Presented by the New Mexico Women's Bar Association in Cooperation with the State Bar of New Mexico. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
  79. [79]
    Bullis, Don (2011-07-01). New Mexico Historical Biographies. BookBaby. ISBN 9781936744909.
  80. [80]
    García, Sonia R.; Martinez-Ebers, Valerie; Coronado, Irasema; Navarro, Sharon A.; Jaramillo, Patricia A. (2009-06-03). Políticas: Latina Public Officials in Texas. University of Texas Press. ISBN 9780292779983.
  81. [81]
    Ltd, Earl G. Graves (March 1993). Black Enterprise. Earl G. Graves, Ltd.
  82. [82]
    "Essential Politics: Archived stories from December 2016". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
  83. [83]
    "Maura Healey will be the nation's first openly gay AG - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
  84. [84]
    "Trump Announces Sixth Wave of United States Attorney Nominations, Faces Questions About Lack of Women Nominees". The National Law Review. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  85. [85]
    "Virginia Dill McCaty Papers, 1824-2003". INPerspective. 24 (2). Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society: 14. March 2018.
  86. [86]
    "Jenny Durkan: Former U.S. attorney brings experience, high-powered allies, but also draws scrutiny". The Seattle Times. 2017-10-15. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  87. [87]
    "Jenny Durkan elected as first lesbian mayor of Seattle". Washington Blade: Gay News, Politics, LGBT Rights. 2017-11-08. Retrieved 2018-03-05.
  88. [88]
    Zheng, Connie. "Chinese American Heroes - Attorneys" (PDF).
  89. [89]
    "First Native American woman confirmed as federal judge". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
  90. [90]
    Lynne Harlan (2007-11-23). "Native people gain a new role model". Asheville Citizen-Times. Retrieved 2008-02-22. [dead link]
  91. [91]
    "Do the right thing, Dems: Confirm Humetewa, now". East Valley Tribune. 2007-11-19. Archived from the original on 2007-06-24. Retrieved 2008-02-22.
  92. [92]
    "Humetewa, Diane Joyce – Federal Judicial Center". www.fjc.gov.
  93. [93]
    Warikoo, Niraj. "Saima Mohsin to be 1st Muslim US attorney next month". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
  94. [94]
    "Saima Mohsin RLAW '94 to Become First Muslim U.S. Attorney". Rutgers Law. 2021-02-01. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
  95. [95]
    Humanities, National Endowment for the (1906-11-22). "The Rising son. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1896-19??, November 22, 1906, Image 3". The Rising Son. ISSN 2165-929X. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  96. [96]
    Abbott, Karen. ""Mrs. Sherlock Holmes" Takes on the NYPD". Smithsonian. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  97. [97]
    Wishart, David J. (2004). Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0803247877.
  98. [98]
    Godey's Magazine. Godey Company. 1896.
  99. [99]
    Wishart, David J. (2004). Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. U of Nebraska Press. ISBN 9780803247871.
  100. [100]
    Smith, J. Clay Jr. (1999). Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844-1944. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 9780812216851.
  101. [101]
    Goodwin, Joanne; England, Kathleen J. (March 2011). "Pioneering Women in Nevada Law" (PDF). Nevada Lawyer.
  102. [102]
    Johnston, Robert (March 2011). "NEVADA'S FIRST LADIES OF LAW" (PDF). Nevada Lawyer: 18–27.
  103. [103]
    Boyd. “First Black Prosecutor in New Jersey Stripped of Power.” New York Amsterdam News, vol. 90, no. 32, Aug. 1999, p. 4. EBSCOhost, research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=2b04e50b-7148-3851-9f60-8fa4a9f888c0.
  104. [104]
    "Five Things You Didn't Know About Gay San Diego - Out in San Diego - Winter-Spring 2010 - San Diego, Ca". www.sandiegomagazine.com. Retrieved 2017-10-01.
  105. [105]
    "Women's History Month: Camelia Valdes breaks barriers as first Latina prosecutor in New Jersey, first woman to become Passaic County prosecutor". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2022-03-12.
  106. [106]
    NJ.com, Jessica Remo | NJ Advance Media for (2017-09-09). "First woman, minority Union County prosecutor steps down". nj. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
  107. [107]
    "Grace H. Park". Council Korean Americans (CKA). Retrieved 2022-05-20.
  108. [108]
    "Deborah González Makes History in Georgia". Puerto Rico Report. 2020-12-13. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
  109. [109]
    "Clara Foltz: California's First Woman Lawyer". California Courts Newsroom. Retrieved 2018-01-17.
  110. [110]
    "Gertrude Rush, first Black female lawyer in Iowa | African American Registry". www.aaregistry.org. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
  111. [111]
    Smith, John Clay (2000). Rebels in Law: Voices in History of Black Women Lawyers. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 9780472086467.
  112. [112]
    Flora Davis (1999-05-12). Moving the Mountain. Internet Archive. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-06782-2.
  113. [113]
    "First woman president of National Bar Association installed | African American Registry". 2015-08-02. Archived from the original on 2015-08-02. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  114. [114]
    "Clarice Baright | Jewish Women's Archive". jwa.org. Retrieved 2018-12-19.
  115. [115]
    Women Lawyers' Journal. Women Lawyers' Club. 1919.
  116. [116]
    "Chris Dickerson, first Black Mr. America, dies at 82". TheGrio. 2022-01-12. Retrieved 2022-02-04.
  117. [117]
    Margolick, David (1994-02-06). "Conversations/Roberta Cooper Ramo; The A.B.A.'s Party of the First Part Can Play as Many Parts as Anyone". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  118. [118]
    Margolick, David (1994-02-04). "At the Bar; More than a century after its founding, a new honorific at the A.B.A.: Madam President". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-07.
  119. [119]
    "ABA nominates Paulette Brown as first woman of color president". www.americanbar.org. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  120. [120]
    "Mary Smith becomes first woman Native American president-elect nominee". www.americanbar.org. Retrieved 2022-04-06.
  121. [121]
    Rush became the President of the Iowa Colored Bar Association in 1921.
  122. [122]
    "Chief Judge Evans begins series of sweeping changes throughout the court system". Illinois Circuit Court of Cook County. Retrieved 2018-12-31.
  123. [123]
    Bellows was the President of the Illinois State Bar Association which is considered a voluntary bar association.
  124. [124]
    Carter, Terry (May 2003). Barrister in the Backwoods. American Bar Association.
  125. [125]
    Willard-Jones was the President of the Alaska Bar Association, which is considered a unified state bar (mandatory/integrated).
  126. [126]
    Garcia, Elizabeth (August 2013). "Mary Torres: First Hispanic Secretary of the ABA" (PDF). New Mexico Lawyer.
  127. [127]
    "Esther Lim to Serve as D.C. Bar President-Elect". Finnegan | Leading Intellectual Property (IP) Law Firm. Retrieved 2019-01-06.
Share this article:

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article First_women_lawyers_in_the_United_States, and is written by contributors. Text is available under a CC BY-SA 4.0 International License; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.