Ida Viola Wells (February 12, 1878, Greenfield, Missouri – June 14, 1950, Alameda County, California) was an American lawyer.[1]
Ida V. Wells | |
|---|---|
| Born | Ida Viola Wells February 12, 1878 Greenfield, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | June 14, 1950 (aged 72) |
| Nationality | American |
| Education | USC Gould School of Law (LLB) |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
| Spouse |
Lloyd Stowell Shapley
(m. 1943) |
| Parent(s) | Harry Taylor Wells Ella Morella Bennett |
Early life edit
Wells was born to Harry Taylor Wells (1853–1932), a dentist, and Ella Morella Wells (née Bennett; 1856–1939).[2]
Career edit
Wells, in 1916, earned a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Southern California.[3] She was an associate with Arthur Wilson Eckman (1885–1974) in the Walter P. Story Building in the Broadway Theater and Commercial Districts of Los Angeles. For a little over two years, beginning December 18, 1921, Wells was Assistant State Inheritance Tax Attorney for California.[4][2] She resigned January 31, 1924, to take charge of the Women's Bureau of the Johnson-for-President Club of Southern California. She then went on to serve as Deputy City Prosecutor for Los Angeles from about 1927 to about 1939.[5]
Affiliations edit
While studying law at USC, Wells was a member of Phi Delta Delta (USC's Alpha chapter), which, at the time, was the only women's professional law fraternity in the country.[6] Wells went on to become the director of the Women Lawyers' Association. She was president of the Professional Women's Club.[2] She was a member of the Women Lawyers' Club, Republican Study Club, Soroptimist Club, State and County Bar Association, Women's Political League.[2]
Personal life edit
Wells moved to California in 1908 and lived at 1744 West 24th St., Los Angeles, California.[2] Wells, in 1943 in Berkeley, California, married Lloyd Stowell Shapley (1875–1959) (his second of three marriages; her first), a naval captain who, among other things, served as the 23rd Naval Governor of Guam, from April 7, 1926, to June 11, 1929.[7]
References edit
News media
- "Sorority Banquet". The Los Angeles Times. Vol. 35. March 26, 1916. Part 3, p. 6 (right column, bottom) & 8. Retrieved February 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Gets Inheritance Tax Post". The Los Angeles Times. Vol. 41. December 18, 1921. Part 4, p. 14 (column 3, bottom). Retrieved February 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- "Promotion Urged for Bullock – Woman Jurist Suggested for Superior Court Seat by Republic Veterans". The Los Angeles Times. Vol. 46. June 3, 1927. Part 2, p. 1 (column 4). Retrieved February 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com (the article lead relates to Georgia Bullock, who, in 1931, became the first female Superior Court judge in California; the article further states that Wells is Deputy City Prosecutor).
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link)
Books
- Berry, Brian Joe Lobley (1993). "Lloyd Stowell Shapley". The Shapleigh, Shapley and Shappley Families: A Comprehensive Genealogy, 1635–1993. Baltimore: Gateway Press, Inc. p. 273. LCCN 92-79843. OCLC 192111586. Retrieved July 21, 2014 – via Internet Archive.
- Binheim, Max; Elvin, Charles Arthur, eds. (1928). "California: Wells, Ida V.". Women of the West – a series of biographical sketches of living eminent women in the eleven Western States of the United States of America (1928 ed.). Los Angeles: Publishers Press. p. . OCLC 866260441 (
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.){{cite book}}: CS1 maint: postscript (link) - University of Southern California (June 8, 1916). "College of Law – Candidates for the Degree of Bachelor of Laws: Ida Viola Wells". Thirty Third Annual Commencement. p. 10. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
- Wells, H.S.G. (1978). A Wells Story: From Missouri to California [with] Horace T. and Amy Lee Wells. Sacramento, California: H.S.G. Wells (publisher). Retrieved February 12, 2021. OCLC 866461496, 20537405, 1048556012.
