Leona P. Thurman

Leona Pouncey Thurman (1911 – 1985) was an American attorney who became Kansas City, Missouri's first African American female lawyer. She was also Missouri's first African American female lawyer to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States.[1]

Leona Thurman
BornJuly 1, 1911
Russellville, Arkansas, U.S.
DiedMay 1, 1985 (aged 73)
Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
Other namesLeona Pouncey
Alma materHenderson Business College
Howard University (LLB)

Early life and education

She was born on July 1, 1911 in Russellville, Arkansas. Before settling in Kansas City, Missouri, she attended the Henderson Business College in Memphis, Tennessee. She earned her law degree in 1949 from Howard University School of Law

Career

After earning her Bachelor of Laws in 1949, she became the first African American female lawyer in Kansas City.

In 1962, she became the first African American female from Missouri admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court. Additionally, Thurman served as the President of the Southwest Bar Association.[1][2]

Personal life

Thuman married her first husband, James D. Pouncey, in 1937, and pursued a legal career after his death. She married a second time in 1957 to A. Odell Thurman, a school administrator.[3] Thuman died on May 1, 1985 in Kansas City, Missouri.[4]

See also

References
  1. Smith, John Clay (2000). Rebels in Law: Voices in History of Black Women Lawyers. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 9780472086467.
  2. Mo. Woman to Practice Before Supreme Court. Jet Magazine. June 28, 1962.
  3. "Biography of Leona Pouncey Thurman (1911-1985), Attorney | KC History". kchistory.org. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
  4. "Leona P. Thurman, K.C's first Black woman lawyer". African American Registry. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
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