Women Lawyers
Florence Ellinwood Allen
Florence Allen had many famous firsts as a woman judge. Her father had been a member of the Utah House of Representatives as well as a lawyer, and she studied law at the University of Chicago and New York University.
Myra Bradwell
Myra Bradwell was denied admission to the bar on the grounds that she was a woman -- and the Supreme Court of the United States backed up that denial.
Karen DeCrow
President of the National Organization for Women from 1974 to 1977, DeCrow's work as a civil rights lawyer was often in the service of gender equality.
Josephine Goldmark
While not herself a lawyer, Josephine Goldmark and her sister Pauline Goldmark did considerable work on the Brandeis brief that helped to defend protective legislation.
Barbara Jordan
The first Southern African American woman elected to Congress, Barbara Jordan chose a law career to work against racial injustice.
Florence Kelley
Admitted to the Illinois bar in 1894, Florence Kelley is better known for her reform work arguing for legislative changes, especially to protect women and children.
Sandra Day O'Connor
Graduating at the top of her law school class (with William H. Rehnquist who would be her Supreme Court colleague), O'Connor received her LL.D. in 1952. She faced discrimination as a woman early in her legal career.
Charlotte Ray
She was the first African American woman to be admitted to the bar in the United States.
Sonia Sotomayor
Read about Sonia Sotomayor, first Hispanic justice to serve on the United States Supreme Court.
Who was the first woman Supreme Court justice?
Who was the first woman Supreme Court justice in the United States? She was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981.
Women Lawyers
From a 1911 encyclopedia, an outline of some of the international acceptance to that point of women as practicing attorneys.