This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Missouri. It includes the year in which the women were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are women who achieved other distinctions such becoming the first in their state to graduate from law school or become a political figure.
Firsts in Missouri's history edit
Law School edit
- First female law graduate: Phoebe Couzins in 1871[1][2]
Lawyers edit
- First female: Lemma Barkeloo (1870)[3]
- First female (practice law in the first congressional district of Maryland): Lois Buhl (1904)[4][5][6]
- First African American female: Dorothy L. Freeman (1942)[7]
- First (African American) female (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights): Frankie Muse Freeman (1937) in 1964[8][9]
- First African American female to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States: Leona P. Thurman (1949)[10][11]
State judges edit
- First female (non-attorney judge): Frances Hopkins in 1915[12][13][14]
- First female elected: Margaret Young (1931) in 1954[15][16]
- First female appointed: Marybelle Mueller (1950) in 1955[17][18][16]
- First female (under the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan): Anna Forder (1974) in 1979[12][19]
- First female elected (circuit court): Ellen Roper (1973) in 1982[15][20]
- First African American female: Evelyn Marie Baker in 1983[12][21][22][23]
- First female (Supreme Court of Missouri): Ann K. Covington (1977) in 1988[24]
- First Hispanic American female (circuit court): Justine Del Muro in 1993[25]
- First female (Supreme Court of Missouri; Chief Justice): Ann K. Covington (1977) from 1993-1995[24]
- First African American female (Missouri Court of Appeals): Lisa White Hardwick (1985) in 2001[26]
- First Asian American (female): Judy Preddy Draper in 2004[27][28]
- First African American female (Chief Judge; Missouri Court of Appeals): Nannette Baker in 2008[29][30]
- First African-American female (Presiding Judge; Twenty-Second Judicial Circuit): Robin Ransom in 2018[31]
- First African-American female (Supreme Court of Missouri): Robin Ransom in 2021[31]
Federal judges edit
- First African American female (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri; Chief Justice): Carol E. Jackson (1976) in 1992 and 2002 respectively[32]
Assistant Attorney General edit
Public Defender edit
- First female: Terry Daley Schwartze in 1980[33]
County Prosecutor edit
Missouri Bar Association edit
- First female president: Doreen Dodson[36]
- First African American female president: Dana Tippin Cutler[37]
Firsts in local history edit
- Hilda Neihardt (1963):[38] First female lawyer to practice law in central Missouri
- Mary Tiera Farrow (c. 1924):[15][39] First female lawyer in Kansas City, Missouri [Jackson County, Clay County, Platte County, and Cass County]
- Leona P. Thurman (1949):[10][11] First African American female lawyer in Kansas City, Missouri [Jackson County, Clay County, Platte County, and Cass County]
- Rosemary Straub Davison:[40][41] First female lawyer in Monroe County, Missouri and Ralls County, Missouri
- Gloria Clark Reno:[42] First African American female to serve as the Presiding Judge for the 21st Judicial Circuit (2018).
- Kayla Jackson-Williams:[43] First African American (female) elected as a judge in Boone County, Missouri (2022)
- Margaret Young (1931):[15][16] First female elected as a Buchanan County Magistrate Judge (1954)
- Delia C. Holt:[44] First female lawyer in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri
- Dana Altieri:[45] First female judge in Lee's Summit (2010) [Cass and Jackson Counties, Missouri]
- Jane Pansing Brown:[46] First female judge in Clay County, Missouri
- Lisa Henderson:[47] First female judge in Dallas County, Missouri (2010)
- Virginia Booth Anding:[48] Reputed to be the first female lawyer in Franklin County, Missouri
- Alma Smith Dodson:[49] First woman admitted to the Bar of Greene County, Missouri
- Edith Messina (1974):[50] First female judge in Jackson County, Missouri (1984)
- Christine Hutson:[51] First female to serve as an Associate Circuit Judge for Laclede County, Missouri
- Hazel Palmer:[52] First female lawyer in Pettis County, Missouri. She would later become a judge.
- Mayce Jones Maness (1929):[34][15][35] First female to serve as a County Prosecutor in Ripley County, Missouri (1942)
- Phoebe Couzins:[1][2] First female law graduate from the University of Washington School of Law in St. Louis, Missouri (1871)
- Dorothy L. Freeman (1942):[7] First African American female lawyer in St. Louis, Missouri
- Mabel Wood Hinckley:[15] First female judge in St. Louis, Missouri
- Esther M. Golly (1931):[53] First female admitted to the Bar of the Circuit Court of St. Louis County. She was also the first female President of the St. Louis County Bar Association.
- Gerre Strehlman Langton:[54] First female to serve as the Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for St. Louis County, Missouri (1960)
- Susan Block (1975):[15] First female elected judge in St. Louis, St. Louis County, Missouri
- Sandra Hemphill (1992): First African American female judge
- Christina Kime:[55] First female judge in Wayne County, Missouri (2018)
See also edit
Other topics of interest edit
References edit
- ^ a b "Women Trailblazers in the Law: Utahs' First 100 Women Lawyers" (PDF).
- ^ a b Waal, Carla; Korner, Barbara Oliver (1997). Hardship and Hope: Missouri Women Writing about Their Lives, 1820-1920. University of Missouri Press. ISBN 978-0-8262-1120-0.
- ^ Legal Gazette. King and Baird. 1870.
- ^ "Lois Buhl of Kirksvillle Granted License to Practice Law". 1904-02-06. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
- ^ "First female lawyer in the Missouri first congressional district". 1904-02-10. Retrieved 2018-08-16.
- ^ Buhl was granted the license by Judge Shelton, and the Macon Republican reported that she stood a "very satisfactory examination" and was the only woman lawyer.
- ^ a b "Breaking the Barriers". www.lb8.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2016-10-07.
- ^ Smith, John Clay (2000). Rebels in Law: Voices in History of Black Women Lawyers. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 9780472086467.
- ^ Chen, Anthony S. (2009-06-15). The Fifth Freedom: Jobs, Politics, and Civil Rights in the United States, 1941-1972. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9780691139531.
- ^ a b Smith, John Clay (2000). Rebels in Law: Voices in History of Black Women Lawyers. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 9780472086467.
- ^ a b Mo. Woman to Practice Before Supreme Court. Jet Magazine. June 28, 1962.
- ^ a b c Justice, Missouri Task Force on Gender and (May 1994). Report of the Missouri Task Force on Gender and Justice. DIANE Publishing. ISBN 9780788106989.
- ^ Women Lawyers' Journal. National Association of Women Lawyers. 1911.
- ^ "Joplin News Herald Newspaper Archives, Dec 20, 1914, p. 9". NewspaperArchive.com. 1914-12-20. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Tokarz, Karen (1986). "Women Judges and Merit Selection Under the Missouri Plan". Washington University Law Review. 64:3.
- ^ a b c d Official Manual, State of Missouri. Secretary of State. 1993.
- ^ "Former judge Marybelle Mueller dies; remembered as first female lawyer to serve as judge in Missouri". seMissourian.com. 2018-10-13. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
- ^ "Marybelle Mueller". seMissourian.com. 2018-10-13. Retrieved 2018-10-15.
- ^ "Former governor remembered for breaking gender barrier in nonpartisan judicial appointments". www.courts.mo.gov. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
- ^ Upon her appointment to the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit
- ^ "Feisty Judge Will Retire After 25 Years". 2008-03-12. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
- ^ "Missouri's first female black circuit judge to retire". seMissourian.com. 2008-03-12. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
- ^ Upon her appointment as a circuit court judge
- ^ a b "Four female judges sit on Supreme Court bench for first time in Court's history". www.courts.mo.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
- ^ Official Manual, State of Missouri. Secretary of State. 1993.
- ^ "Celebrating African-Americans' contributions to Missouri's justice system". www.courts.mo.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-31.
- ^ "Korean Veterans to Hear From Judge Who Is Native of Korea". The Missourian. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
- ^ Draper is also African American and she and her husband became the first African American couple to serve as judges in Missouri.
- ^ "Nannette Baker". College of Communication & Information. 2012-07-17. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
- ^ "Nanette Baker: The Judge Is a Vol". Tennessee Alumnus. 2009-05-18. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
- ^ a b Rizvic, Veneta (January 10, 2019). "St. Louis judge appointed to appeals court". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2019-01-10.
- ^ "Celebrating African-Americans' contributions to Missouri's justice system". www.courts.mo.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
- ^ "Terry Daley Schwartze". Welcome to Maries County, Missouri. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
- ^ a b "The First Century: Women Who Led the Way". MISSOURI ALMANAC, 1993-94.
- ^ a b "Women Who Led the Way". arch.law.wustl.edu. Retrieved 2020-02-27.
- ^ "Doreen Dodson – Missouri Lawyers Media". Missouri Lawyers Weekly. Retrieved 2019-01-01.
- ^ Staff Report (2018-03-16). "Cutler named 2018 Woman of the Year". Missouri Lawyers Media. Retrieved 2019-06-27.
- ^ "Hilda Neihardt". Fremont Tribune. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
- ^ "Back to Professor Thomas". www1.law.umkc.edu. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
- ^ "County's Public Works director calling it a career". dcourier. Retrieved 2017-10-16.
- ^ Ross, Gloria S. "Rosemary Straub Davison: Longtime Activist Put A New, Familiar Face On Old Town Florissant". Retrieved 2017-10-15.
- ^ American, Chris King Of The St Louis. "Gloria Clark Reno becomes St. Louis County's first black presiding judge". St. Louis American. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
- ^ Nava, Valerie. "Kayla Jackson-Williams wins Division 10 associate circuit judge seat". Columbia Missourian. Retrieved 2022-08-12.
- ^ "Out of the past 3/26/05". seMissourian.com. 2005-03-26. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
- ^ "Judge Altieri Runs For Re-Election". Lee's Summit Tribune. 2022-03-26. Retrieved 2023-04-14.
- ^ "JANE PANSING BROWN". Missouri Lawyers Media. 2016-04-12. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
- ^ Campbell, Paul (October 26, 2017). "Dallas County's first woman judge has made her mark". BuffaloReflex.com.
- ^ Masson, Pauline. "Pacific Woman Remembers Life As an Innkeeper on Route 66". The Missourian. Retrieved 2017-10-13.
- ^ "History of the SMBA - Springfield Metropolitan Bar". www.springfieldbar.com. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
- ^ brandon.dumsky@examiner.net, Brandon Dumsky. "First female judge in Jackson County to retire". Examiner. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
- ^ "County Courts of Southwest Missouri" (PDF). Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association. September 2007.
- ^ Democrat, Sedalia. "Number of female lawyers, judges increasing". Sedalia Democrat. Retrieved 2017-10-16.
- ^ "St Louis County Bar Assn in Chesterfield, MO". YP.com. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
- ^ The Key. 1960.
- ^ "Governor Parson Appoints Christina Kime as Wayne County Associate Circuit Judge | Governor Michael L. Parson". governor.mo.gov. Retrieved 2018-12-07.