In honor of March being Women’s History Month, let’s celebrate some badass females that were, & are, pioneers in quite a male-dominated field: law.
- Margaret Brent
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The first woman recorded to practice law in America, Margaret Brent arrived in the colonies in 1638 & shortly thereafter was named executor of Maryland Governor Leonard Calvert’s estate, becoming his trusted counsel for years to come.
- Arabella “Belle” Babb Mansfield
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Mansfield will forever be distinguished as the first woman to be admitted to a state bar in the United States. Following her time at Iowa Wesleyan College, where she graduated valedictorian, Belle joined her brother’s law firm in an apprenticeship position & then made her case in front of a judge to be permitted to take the bar examination. After passing the bar, the Iowa judge ruled that statutes regarding admission into the legal field were much too male-centric, as Belle had pointed out, & legislative bodies removed the gendered language to open the profession up to women just a year later.
- Lyda Burton Conley
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Conley was the first-ever Native American female lawyer, admitted to the Missouri State Bar in 1902 & an active member of the Wyandot tribe. She is best known for her tireless defense of the Huron Place Cemetery in Kansas, which served as a burial ground for many of her ancestors.
- Mabel Walker Willebrandt
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Willebrandt was appointed the first female Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. in 1921, tasked with enforcing Prohibition laws. She was nicknamed “Prohibition Portia” & “Deborah of the Dry.”
- Alta Hulett
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At age 17, Alta helped to draft legislation in Illinois which would become the nation’s first set of laws regarding anti-sex discrimination in employment situations. It was like Title IX in its infancy!
- Ruth Bader Ginsburg
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How could we not mention RBG? After a long career in women’s rights advocacy & becoming the first woman to join the Harvard Law Review — all while raising her first child — RBG is the second woman ever to sit on the Supreme Court, a key player in the recent legalization of same sex marriage. She remains a beacon of hope for females in the legal field.