
legal herstory pioneers

Bella Abzug
lawyer, member of congress
Select contributions:
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Between 1971 and 1977, member of Congress from New York.
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In 1973, primary sponsor of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act.
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In 1974, primary sponsor of the Equality Act.
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Authored the Comprehensive Child Development Act.
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In 1991, co-founded the Women's Environment and Development Organization, an international activist and advocacy network.
Biography: Trackbill, WEDO


Madeleine Albrights
secretary of state, advisor
Select contributions:
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In 1982, joined the academic staff at Georgetown University, directing University's program on women in global politics.
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In 1993, appointed Ambassador to the United Nations by President Clinton.
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In 1997, became the first woman U.S. Secretary of State.
Biography: State Department, Wikipedia

Florence Allen
judge, lawyer
Select contributions:
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In 1917, successfully defended women's right to vote in municipal elections under charter of East Cleveland, State ex rel. Taylor v. French, et al.
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In 1919, secured the women streetcar conductors' right to retain employment after men returned from WWI, Employees v. Cleveland Railway Co.
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In 1920, elected as a judge in the Court of Common Pleas Cuyahoga County, OH.
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In 1922, elected to the OH Supreme Court, the first woman elected to any state supreme court.
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In 1934, appointed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, the first woman to be appointed to the federal appellate court.
Biography: National Park Service


Gloria Allred
attorney, activist
Select contributions:
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In 1980, fought against L.A. County’s practice of shackling pregnant female prisoners during labor and childbirth.
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In 1983, sued an L.A. restaurant for refusing to seat same sex couples.
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In 1984, sued an L.A. dry cleaners for charging more for women's clothing than men's.
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In 1997, represented a woman who was fired for being pregnant.
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In 2004, filed the first suit challenging the ban on same sex marriage in California.
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In 2008, represented CA women farmworkers in a class action suit for gender discrimination.
Biography: LA Times, The New Yorker


Violet Neatley Anderson
attorney, activist
Select contributions:
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In 1922, was the first female prosecutor in Chicago.
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In 1926, was the first Black woman admitted to practice before SCOTUS.
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In 1936, lobbied Congress for the Bankhead-Jones Act, enacted in 1937, which helped low-income farm workers become farm owners.
Biography: Black Past


Barbara Nachtrieb Armstrong
law professor, attorney
Select contributions:
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In 1921, became the first woman tenure track law professor.
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In 1932, wrote the book, Insuring the Essentials: Minimum Wage Plus Social Insurance - A Living Wage Program, which advocating for a living wage, social security and other programs.
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In 1935, drafted the language for the Social Security Act.
Biography: Berkeley Law


Marguerite Kamehaokalani Ashford
lawyer
Select contributions:
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In 1915, was the first woman inducted into the Michigan chapter of the Order of the Coif.
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In 1916, first woman admitted to practice in the territory of Hawaii.
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In 1923, appointed to the Uniform Law Comm'n.
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Between 1934-1953, served as attorney for the territorial legislative body during session, writing much of the legislation of the time.
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In 1950, only woman delegate to the Hawaii Constitutional Convention.
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In 1953, only woman appointed to a major cabinet post in Hawaii, Commissioner of Public Lands
Biography: Wikipedia, ULC, Newspaper


Lemma Barkeloo
lawyer
Select contributions:
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In 1869, was the first woman law student in the United States with Phoebe Couzins.
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In 1870, was the first woman admitted to the Missouri bar and the first woman to try a case in a court in the United States.
Biography: Washington University Journal, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle


Mary McLeod Bethune
activist, presidential advisor
Select contributions:
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In 1904, founded the Daytona Literary and Industrial Training Institute for Negro Girls.
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In 1911, founded the Mary McLeod Hospital and Training School for Nurses.
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In 1924, elected president of the National Association of Colored Women, focusing on political advocacy and women's empowerment.
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Advisor to 4 presidents between 1904 and 1947.
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In 1936, became the first Black woman to head an agency as Director of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration.
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In 1942, served as a member of the advisory board that created the Women's Army Corps.
Biography: Smithsonian, Women's History


Corinne Claiborne ("Lindy") Boggs
member of congress
Select contributions:
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In 1974, inserted the words "or sex or marital status" into the antidiscrimination clause of the 1974 Equal Credit Opportunity Act during mark up in the Banking and Currency Committee
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In 1976, as Chair of the Democratic National Convention, became the first woman to preside over a national political convention.
Biography: House of Representatives


Jane Bolin
judge, lawyer, activist
Select Contributions:
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In 1931, was the first Black woman to graduate from Yale with a law degree.
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In 1939, was the first Black woman to become a judge in the United States.
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As a judge in New York family courts, successfully advocated for ending the assignment of probation officers to children based on race and the practice of segregation in child placement facilities.
Biography: Biography, Mcleod, Jacqueline A., Daughter of the Empire State: The Life of Judge Jane Bolin, p. 62 (University of Illinois Press, 2011)


Myra Bradwell
publisher, suffragist
Select Contributions:
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In 1868, founded the Chicago Legal News, which published information about legal opinions, published laws and ordinances, and criticized corruption.
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1869, her application to become the first Illinois lawyer was denied. In 1890, the Illinois Supreme Court granted her a license to practice law, nunc pro tunc to 1869.
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Helped write the Illinois Married Women's Property Act of 1861 and the Earnings Act of 1869.
Biography: ThoughtCo., Library of Congress


Carol Moseley Braun
senator, lawyer
Select contributions:
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In 1992, was the first Black woman senator.
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Was the first woman to sit on the Senate Finance Committee.
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Successfully convinced the Senate not to renew the design patent for the United Daughters of the Confederacy as it contained the Confederate flag, which had been routinely renewed for almost 100 years.
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Sponsored the Full Faith and Credit for Child Support Orders Act enacted in 1994.
Biography: Congress, House History


Sophonisba Breckenridge
professor, activist, social scientist
Select contributions:
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In 1892, was the first woman admitted to the Kentucky Bar.
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In 1904, was the first woman to graduate from the University of Chicago with a J.D. degree.
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In 1907, was the first woman to earn membership in the Order of the Coif.
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Became a professor at the University of Chicago, essentially creating a social work course of study.
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Involved in the creation of the social welfare policies in the New Deal.
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Was the first woman chosen to represent the United States at an international conference.

Margaret Brent
landowner, "attorney"
Select contributions:
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Beginning in 1638, as an unmarried landowner and businesswoman in Maryland, acted as an attorney in arguing cases for herself, her brother and other women in the court of common pleas.
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In 1648, appeared before the all-male Maryland legislature and asked for the right to vote, which was denied.
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Acted as attorney for Lord Baltimore in settling debts in the protection of the colony.
Biography: Britannica, Wikipedia


Martha Hughes Cannon
state senator, activist
Select contributions:
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In 1895, was the first woman to register to vote in Utah.
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In 1896, elected to the Utah State Senate, becoming the first woman in the United States to serve as a state senator.
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Testified in Congress regarding Utah's women's suffrage work.
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Sponsored legislation to improve the working conditions for women and girls.
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Helped establish Utah's first state board of health.
Biography: Utah Women's History


Shirley Chisholm
member of congress, activist
Select contributions:
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In 1968, became the first Black woman in Congress.
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Sponsored legislation to increase federal funding for childcare, for guaranteed minimum income, federal assistance for education and national school lunch.
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In 1972, was the first Black woman and first woman to seek a major party's nomination for President when she sought the Democratic Party's nomination.
Biography: History, Women's History, U.S. House

Kathryn Clarenbach
professor, activist
Select contributions:
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In 1962, developed continuing education programs for women at the University of Wisconsin.
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Beginning in 1964, chaired the Wisconsin Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women, reviewing and changing laws unfair to women regarding pay equity, access to credit, divorce and marital property, and sexual assault.
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In 1966, was one of the founders and the chair of the National Organization for Women.
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Also founded the National Women's Political Caucus and the Wisconsin Women's Network.
Biography: Wikipedia, University of Wisconsin


Genevieve R. Cline
judge, lawyer
Select contributions:
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Advocated for consumer protections and women's rights.
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In 1922, was the first woman assigned to the post of appraiser of merchandise for the United States Department of Treasury at the Port of Cleveland.
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In 1928, was the first woman appointed to a federal court when President Coolidge appointed her to the U.S. Customs Court.
Biography: U.S. Courts


Hillary Rodham Clinton
lawyer, senator, sec. of state, presidential candidate
Select Contributions:
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In the 1970's, advocated for children through her work at the Children's Defense Fund and the Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families.
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In 1978, appointed by President Carter to the board of the Legal Services Corporation, ensuring equal access to justice, and served as the first woman chair.
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In the 1980's, as fist lady of Arkansas, and in the 1990's as First Lady of the United States, advocated for health care reform and helped create the Children's Health Insurance Program.
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In 2000, was New York's first woman U.S. Senator.
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In 2016, was the first woman to earn a major party's nomination for president.
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From 2009-2013, served as U.S. Secretary of State.
Biography: White House.


Eliza "Lyda" Burton Conley
lawyer, activist
Select Contributions:
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In 1902, was the first woman to be admitted to the Kansas Bar and believed to be the first Native American woman lawyer.
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In 1906, began and led the successful fight to protect the Heron Indian Cemetery, which became a national historic landmark 100 years later.
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In 1910, was the first Native American woman, and third woman, to argue before the U. S. Supreme Court.
Biography: Women's Museum, Amy's Smart Girls


Phoebe Couzins
lawyer, activist
Select Contributions:
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In 1869, along with Lemme Barkeloo, were the two women law students in the United States.
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In 1871, was the first woman to graduate from law school in the United States and the first woman to graduate from George Washington University.
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In 1887, became the first woman U. S. Marshal.
Biography: Wikipedia

Harriet Spiller Daggett
law professor
Select contributions:
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In 1931, became the first woman to hold a full professorship in law.
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In 1939, helped to create a new legal subject, Mineral Rights (Oil and Gas), authoring the definitive treatise on the subject.
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Wrote the first authoritative book on community property law in Louisiana.
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Was instrumental in the establishment of a family law court in East Baton Rouge, LA and other reforms in child welfare and family law.
Biography: Kay, Herma Hill, Paving the Way, 43-44 (1921), In Memoriam: Harriet Spiller Daggett, 27 La. L. Rev. (1966).


Clara Shortridge Foltz
lawyer
Select Contributions:
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In 1878, lobbied the California Governor to sign into law the Woman Lawyer's Bill, giving women the right to practice law in California. Thereafter, became the first woman lawyer in California.
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In 1893, presented the concept of the public defender program and drafted the model statute, which was codified in California in 1921.
Biography: California Bar Journal


Sonia Pressman Fuentes
lawyer
Select Contributions:
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In 1963, on behalf of the ACLU, testified in Congress in favor of the Equal Pay bill.
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Co-founder of NOW.
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In 1965, was the first woman attorney in the General Counsel's office of the EEOC.
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Drafted the EEOC’s decision finding airlines violated Title VII when they terminated or grounded stewardesses based on their age and marital status.
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Drafted the EEOC’s first Guidelines on Pregnancy and Childbirth.


Ruth Bader Ginsburg
associate justice, lawyer, activist
Select contributions:
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Associate Justice, US Supreme Court
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In 1963, led an equal pay campaign with her women Rutgers University colleagues, when she learned they were being paid less than their men counterparts.
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In 1971, successfully argued Reed v. Reed, wherein the Supreme Court held for the first time that a law categorically providing for differential treatment of men and women violates the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause.
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In 1972, co-founded the Women's Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union.


Martha Wright Griffiths
member of congress
Select contributions:
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In 1964, framed the Sex Discrimination amendment to Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
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In 1970, filed the discharge petition bringing the Equal Rights Amendment to the House Floor for a vote and ultimate passage.
Biography: House of Representatives

Mary Hall
lawyer
Select contributions:
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In 1882, the Connecticut Supreme Court issued a decision granting her the right to practice law in the state (In re Hall).
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Practiced law for 40 years, specializing in wills and property rights cases for women.
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In 1884, became Connecticut's first woman notary public.
Biography: CT History, CT Hall of Fame


Aileen Clarke Hernandez
lawyer, activist
Select contributions:
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In 1962, appointed assistant chief of the California Division of Fair Employment Practices enforcing anti-discrimination laws.
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In 1964, first woman appointed to the EEOC, resigning two years later in protest of the EEOC's refusal to take action on sex discrimination cases.
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In 1966, co-founded the National Organization for Women, serving as its president from 1970-1971, helping to organize the Women's Strike for Equality.
Biography: History Makers, Black Past, Wikipedia


Sarah Tilghman Hughes
judge, lawyer, activist
Select contributions:
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In 1954, successfully advocated for an amendment to the Texas Constitution to allow women to sit on juries.
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In 1935, became Texas's first woman state judge.
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In 1961, became Texas's first woman federal judge.
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In 1963, swore in President, Lyndon Johnson, upon President Kennedy's assassination, becoming the first woman to swear in a U.S. President.
Biography: Women in Texas History


Alta Hulett
lawyer
Select Contributions:
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In 1871, after having passed the bar exam but being denied admission to the Bar, successfully lobbied for the passage of legislation in Illinois prohibiting the exclusion of persons from any occupation, profession, or employment on the basis of sex.
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In 1872, became Illinois' first woman lawyer.
Biography: Illinois State Bar Association


Barbara Jordan
lawyer, state legislator, member of congress
Select contributions:
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In 1969, sponsored Texas's ratification of the ERA and successfully proposed an equal rights amendment to the Texas Constitution.
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In 1971, in the Texas Senate, advocated to establish a minimum wage law, antidiscrimination
statements in business contracts, and a Fair Employment Practices Commission. -
In 1972, was the first Black woman elected to Congress from the South.
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In 1975, as a congresswoman, cosponsored legislation expanding the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to include Latinx, Native, and Asian Americans.
Biography: Women's History, TSHA


Herma Hill Kay
law professor, lawyer, activist
Select contributions:
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Was instrumental in launching no-fault divorce in California.
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In 1968, served as the Co-Reporter of the committee that drafted the Uniform Marriage and Divorce Act, that was widely adopted in the U.S.
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In 1992, became the first woman dean of UC Berkeley School of Law.
Biography: Berkeley, ABA Journal

Amalya Lyle Kearse
lawyer, judge
Select contributions:
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In 1979, first first Black woman on a federal appellate court when she was appointed to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
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In 1979, was the first woman elected to a fellowship in the American College of Trial Lawyers


Maud McLure Kelly
lawyer, suffragist, historian
Select contributions:
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In 1908, was the first woman lawyer admitted to practice in Alabama, after a classmate succeeded in having legislation passed changing the Code of Alabama to allow women to practice law.
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Active on the legislative committees of the Birmingham and Alabama Equal Suffrage Associations.
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Searched attics and basements of courthouses collecting, preserving, and donating lost, forgotten and decaying documents and papers including census records, land records, biographies of state officials, etc.
Biography: Samford University, Alabama Women's Hall of Fame, Wikipedia

Florynce Kennedy
lawyer, activist
Select Contributions:
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In 1968, advisory sponsor to this Miss America Protest, demonstrating that the pageant exploited women.
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In 1969, organized lawyers to challenge the constitutionality of New York’s antiabortion laws in a class action lawsuit, Abramowicz v. Lefkowitz, using women who suffered from illegal abortions as expert witnesses.
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In 1971, founded the Feminist Party, which nominated Shirley Chisholm for President.
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In 1973, formulated and participated in the protest to highlight the lack of women's bathrooms at Harvard University.
Biography: Radcliffe, Notable Bios, Wikipedia


Dorothy Kenyon
lawyer
Select Contributions:
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In 1936, as chair of a committee studying procedure in women's courts, advocated for better treatment of sex workers and stronger prosecution of the clients and pimps.
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From 1938-1943, served as the U.S. representative to the League of Nations Committee for the Study of the Status of Women.
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From 1946-1950, served as the U.S. representative to the United Nations Committee for the Study of the Status of Women.
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In 1966, as co-counsel in White v. Crook, successfully argued that women have an equal right to serve on juries.
Biography: Wikipedia


Ada Kepley
lawyer, activist, suffragist
Select Contributions:
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In 1870, became the first American woman to graduate from law school
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Denied the right to practice law due to her gender.
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Advocated for social reform including women's suffrage and temperance.
Biography: Legal Pioneers


Carolyn Burnham Kilgore
lawyer, activist, doctor, teacher
Select contributions:
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In 1865, was the first woman to receive a medical degree in New York, but was only able to practice as a physician's assistant.
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In 1872, 1873, 1874, her applications to sit for the Pennsylvania Bar exam were rejected.
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In 1881, was the first woman admitted to study at Penn Law.
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In 1883, became the first woman to hold both a medical and a law degree.
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in 1886, became the first woman licensed to practice by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
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In 1871, tried to vote but her ballot was rejected. She appealed her ballot rejection to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and lost.
Biography: Alexander Street, Philadelphia citizen

Jewel Lafontant-Mankarious
lawyer, activist
Select contributions:
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In 1946, was the first Black woman to graduate from the University of Chicago Law School.
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In 1963, argued Beatrice Lynumn v. The State of Illinois before the United States Supreme Court, which set the precedent for the 1966 landmark decision Miranda v. Arizona.
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In the Nixon Administration, served as the first woman Deputy Solicitor General, as well as vice chairman of the U.S. Advisory Commission on International, Educational and Cultural Affairs representative to the U.N. General Assembly.
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Between 1989-1993, served in President Bush's State Department as Ambassador-At-Large and Coordinator for Refugee Affairs.
Biography: New York Times, BlackPast


Mary Florence Lathrop
lawyer, journalist, activist
Select contributions:
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Was the first woman to try a case before the Colorado Supreme Court.
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In 1902, successfully argued Clayton v. Hallett, before the Colorado Supreme Court, which established Colorado's law of charitable bequests.
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Practiced probate law, ultimately helping to re-draft Colorado's probate statutes.
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In 1918, was one of the first two women to be admitted to the American Bar Association.
Biography: Colorado's Hall of Fame, The Legacy of Mary Lathrop


Belva Lockwood
lawyer
Select contributions:
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In 1873, completed law studies at George Washington University Law School, but denied a diploma until President Grant intervened.
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In 1876, after denied admission to the Supreme Court Bar due to gender, drafted legislation, passed by Congress allowing qualified women to practice in federal court.
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In 1880, as the first woman member of the Supreme Court Bar, became the first woman to argue in front of the Supreme Court.
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In 1884 (and 1888), first woman to be on the official ballot for POTUS, on the ticket of the National Equal Rights Party.
Biography: SCOTUS, National Archives


Arabella Mansfield
lawyer, suffragist
Select contributions:
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In 1869, sat for the Iowa State bar exam, even though it was restricted to "males over 21".
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In 1869, became the first woman admitted to the licensed bar in the United States when she was admitted in Iowa, after the Iowa Supreme Court ruled that women could not be denied the right to practice law in Iowa.
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Advocated for equal education opportunities and voting rights for women.
Biography: IDHR, Iowa Judicial Branch


Burnita Shelton Matthews
judge, suffragist, lawyer
Select contributions:
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In 1921, began serving as counsel for the Suffragist National Women's Party.
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In 1949, became the first woman to serve on a United States District Court.
Biography: Britannica


Soia Mentschikoff
lawyer, law professor
Select contributions:
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In 1942, as a law student, was named as the assistant to the chief reporter in drafting the Uniform Commercial Code. In 1949, was named the associate chief reporter in drafting the Uniform Commercial Code.
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In 1944, became the one of the first women partners at a major wall street firm.
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In 1947, became the first woman to teach at Harvard, and in 1951, became the first woman to teach at the University of Chicago.
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In 1974, became the first woman president of the AALS, while dean of the University of Miami School of Law.
Biography: Wikipedia, Univ. of Miami


Inez Milholland
lawyer, activist, suffragist
Select contributions:
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In 1909, participated in the shirtwaist and laundry worker strikes advocating for higher wages, shorter hours, and safer working conditions.
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In 1913, helped organize and led the Women's Suffrage Procession in Washington, D.C.
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In 1915, joined the Ford Peace Ship in an effort to stop WWI through negotiation.
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In 1916, toured the United States to gain support for a Constitutional amendment to grant women the right to vote.
Biography: Vassar, New York Times


Patsy Mink
lawyer, member of congress
Select contributions:
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In 1964, was the first Asian-American woman and first woman of color to serve in Congress.
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In 1972, was the first Asian American to run for President.
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Advocated for issues related to childcare and education including the Early Childhood Education Act and the Comprehensive Child Development Act.
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Advocated for gender equality in education as a drafter and/or sponsor of legislation including Title IX, and the Gender Equity in Education Act.
Biography: Biography, House History

Constance Baker Motley
judge, lawyer, activist
Select contributions:
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In 1950, she wrote the original complaint in Brown v. Board of Education.
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In 1962, successfully argued Meredith v. Fair, granting Mr. Meredith the right to be the first Black student to attend the University of Mississippi.
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In 1964, was the first Black woman in the New York State Senate.
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In 1966, became the first Black woman appointed and confirmed to the federal judiciary, when she was confirmed as a U.S. District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York.
Biography: Wikipedia, U.S. Courts

Pauli Murray
lawyer, activist, poet
Select contributions:
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In 1944, formulated the challenge to the "separate" part of "separate but equal," which was successfully used by Thurgood Marshall in 1954 in arguing Brown v. Board of Education.
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Wrote the definitive book on segregation, "States' Laws on Race and Color."
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Coined the term "Jane Crow" to explain the segregation of the sexes.
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In 1966, one of the founding members of the National Organization for Women ("NOW").
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In 1966, as co-counsel in White v. Crook, successfully argued that women have an equal right to serve on juries.
Biography: Pauli Murray Center, The New Yorker

Sandra Day O'Connor
associate justice, lawyer, state senator
Select contributions:
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In 1973, she was the first woman to serve as a state's Majority Leader, when she became the Majority Leader in the Arizona State Senate.
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In 1981, became the first woman nominated and first woman confirmed as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Biography: Wikipedia


Frances Perkins
cabinet member, activist
Select contributions:
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In 1933, as Secretary of Labor for President Roosevelt, became the first woman to serve in a Presidential cabinet.
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Was instrumental in crafting the New Deal, which included a 40 hour work week, minimum wage, unemployment compensation, and an end to child labor.
Biography: Frances Perkins Center, AFL-CIO

Louise Raggio
lawyer
Select contributions:
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In 1967, as Chair of the Texas Family Law Section of the Texas Bar, crafted the Texas Marital Property Act of 1967, giving women the same rights as their husbands upon marriage.
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In the 1970s, became the first woman trustee of the Bar Foundation.
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In 1979, became the first woman elected to be a member of the board of directors of the Texas State Bar.
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Advocated for better conditions for women at the Texas State Capitol.


Jeannette Rankin
member of congress, activist, suffragist
Select contributions:
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Actively worked to amend the constitutions of Washington and Montana to give women the right to vote, both of which were amended in 1911 and 1914, respectively.
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In 1916, was elected to serve in Congress, becoming the first woman elected to U.S. national office.
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In 1918, presented the 19th Amendment to the House for a vote.
Biography: Biography, House of Representatives


Marguerite Rawalt
lawyer, activist
Select contributions:
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In 1943, first woman elected as the President of the Federal Bar Association.
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In 1961, served on President Kennedy's Commission on the Status of Women and then appointed by President Johnson to the Citizen's Advisory Council on the Status of Women.
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In 1966, co-founded the National Organization of Women, serving as Chair of its Legal Committee from 1966-1969 and founding the Legal Defense Fund.
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Created the Marguerite Rawalt Legal Defense Fund, focusing on women's equity cases.
Biography: Fed Bar, TSHA, Wikipedia


Charlotte E. Ray
lawyer
Select contributions:
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First Black woman lawyer, having graduated from Howard University School of Law in 1872.
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First woman admitted to the District of Columbia Bar.
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In 1885, secured a rare reversal of a denied divorce decree based on domestic violence, as the first woman to argue before the District of Columbia Supreme Court.
Biography: History, Wikipedia


Janet Reno
attorney general, lawyer
Select contributions:
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In 1978, became the first woman state attorney in Florida as the State Attorney for Dade County.
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In Miami, created victims' advocacy program to support victims throughout their trials.
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In 1993, became the first woman Attorney General of the United States.
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In 1996, advocated for rights for and funding to support victims of violent crimes.
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In 1998, advocated for including crimes related to gender, disability and sexual orientation as hate crimes.
Biography: Washington Post, CNN, Britannica


Gertrude Durden Rush
attorney
Select contributions:
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In 1910, passed the enumerator's exam and became an enumerator for the Census Bureau.
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In 1912, lead the Charity League, which created the Protection Home for Negro Girls
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In 1918, first Black woman admitted to the Iowa Bar.
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In 1921, first woman elected president of a co-ed bar association, the Iowa Colored Bar Association.
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In 1925, co-founded the National Bar Association after admission to the American Bar Association was denied to her and other Black lawyers.
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Focused her legal practice on women's rights in estate cases.
Biography: UIPress, Census Bureau, Wikipedia


Margaret Chase Smith
member of congress, senator
Select contributions:
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First woman to serve in both houses of congress.
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In 1948, responsible for the passage of the Women's Armed Forces Integration Act, giving women in the armed forced regular status and eligibility for benefits.
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On June 1, 1950, was the first senator to speak out against McCarthy, giving an impassioned speech on the floor against his tactics.
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In January 1964, first woman to be a candidate for a major party nomination for president. Barry Goldwater won the nomination.
Biography: House History


Winifred Stanley
lawyer, member of congress
Select contributions:
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In 1937, successfully advocated for women's right to serve on jury panel in New York.
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In 1938, became the first woman assistant district attorney in Erie County, New York.
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In 1944, proposed the first equal pay act, a bill to amend the NLRA to make it unlawful “to discriminate against any employee, in the rate of compensation paid, on account of sex.”
Biography: House History, Wikipedia


Sarah Weddington
lawyer
Select contributions:
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In 1971 and 1972, was the youngest person to argue in front of the Supreme Court and win when she argued Roe v. Wade.
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Advocating for reforms to Texas rape law including expanding the statute of limitations
on reporting rape from two to three years and barring the questioning of a rape victim regarding her sexual history. -
In 1978-1981, as the Asst. to the President in the Off. of the Asst. for Women’s Affairs was the key strategist for ratification of the ERA and the Senate's extension of the ratification deadline.
Biography: NY Times, Weddington, Practice Panther


Mabel Willebrandt
lawyer
Select contributions:
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First woman public defender in Los Angeles County, defending only women and mostly on prostitution charges.
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In 1921, appointed assistant attorney general, second woman to hold the post, making her the highest ranking woman in the U.S. government.
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In 1927, successfully argued before the Supreme Court that taxes should be paid on illegal income, opening the door to IRS tax evasion cases against mob bosses.
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Responsible for federal prison reforms, including the first woman's facility, industrial programs for prison inmates, and a first-time offender facility.
Biography: WAMS, Wikipedia
