Category: Women Lawyers

First American Woman to Graduate from Law School Ada Kepley was the first woman in the United States to graduate from law school (1870). When she applied for a license, she was told that Illinois law did not permit women to practice law. By the time the law was overturned, Kepley had diverted her energies to the support of social reforms, particularly the temperance movement. Ada Harriet Miser was born February 11, 1847 to Henry and Ann Miser in Somerset, Ohio, where she spent most of her childhood. Her parents were . In 1860 her family moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where Ada completed two years of high school. The Misers then moved to Effingham, Illinois, a pioneer settlement, where…

Pioneer Women in the American Legal Profession Though women lawyers did not enter the legal profession until after the Civil War, that does not mean that women did not want to become lawyers in the antebellum period. It only means that there were no records kept. First, women were denied admission to law schools, and then they were denied permission to practice law. Either the legislature or the supreme court of each state determined the requirements for admission to the state bar, and as a rule they were not keen on changing the status quo. The entrance of American women into the practice of law formally began in 1869 when Arabella Mansfield was admitted to the Iowa bar. She was…

First Woman Lawyer in the United States Arabella Mansfield (1846-1911) became America’s first woman lawyer when she was admitted to the Iowa bar in 1869. She was allowed to take the bar exam and passed with high scores, despite a state law restricting applicants to white males over the age of 21. Mansfield also became one of the first female college professors and administrators in the United States. She was born Belle Aurelia Babb on May 23, 1846 on a family farm in Burlington, Iowa, the second child of Mary Moyer and Miles Babb. Her older brother Washington Irving Babb was Arabella’s lifelong friend. While she was still young, her father Miles Babb left for California and the Gold Rush….

One of the First Women Lawyers in the United States Belva Lockwood (1830–1917) was the first woman admitted to the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court when she pursuaded Congress to open the federal courts to women lawyers in 1879, and the first woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court. She was also active in working for women’s rights and overcame many social and personal obstacles related to gender restrictions. Lockwood ran for president in 1884 and 1888 on the ticket of the National Equal Rights Party and was the first woman to appear on official ballots. Born Belva Ann Bennett on October 24, 1830 in Royalton, New York, she was the daughter of farmers Lewis Johnson Bennett…