List of first women lawyers and judges in Massachusetts

This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Massachusetts. 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 obtain a law degree or become a political figure.

Firsts in state history

Anna Christy Fall: First female lawyer to argue a case before a jury in Massachusetts

Margaret H. Marshall: First female Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (1999)

Lawyers

• Lelia J. Robinson (1882):[1] First female lawyer in Massachusetts
• Anna Christy Fall (1891):[2] First female lawyer to argue a case before a jury in Massachusetts
• Margaret M. McChesney (1921):[3][4] First female lawyer to appear before the full bench of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (1926)
• Branche E. Braxton (1923):[5] First African American female lawyer in Massachusetts. She is also the first African American female lawyer to practice in the United States District Court in Massachusetts in 1933.
• Jacqueline R. Guild Lloyd (1933):[5] First African American female lawyer to follow her father to the bar and practice law with him
• Katherine Triantafillou (1975):[6][7] First openly LGBT (female) lawyer in Massachusetts

Judges

• Emma Fall Schofield (1908) and Sadie Lipner Shulman (1911):[2] First female judges in Massachusetts (1930)
• Ethel E. Mackiernan (c. 1918):[8][9][3] First female appointed to a full judgeship and become a presiding judge in Massachusetts (c. 1930s)
• Margaret Burnham:[10][11] First African American female judge in Massachusetts (1977)
• María López (1978):[2][12] First Latino American female judge in Massachusetts (1988)
• Sabita Singh (1990):[13] First Indian American female judge in Massachusetts
• Eleanor Coe Sinnott:[14] First Korean American female judge in Massachusetts (2014)

Superior Court

• Jennie Loitman Barron (c. 1914):[15] First female Associate Judge of the Massachusetts Superior Court (c. 1959)

Probate and Family Court

• Judith Nelson Dilday (1974):[2] First person of color appointed as a Judge of the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court (1993)

Appellate Court

• Charlotte Anne Perretta:[16] First female to serve as a Judge of the Massachusetts Appeals Court (1978)
• Geraldine Hines:[17] First African American female to serve as a Judge of the Massachusetts Appeals Court (2013)

Supreme Judicial Court

• Ruth Abrams:[18] First female to serve as a Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (1978)
• Margaret H. Marshall:[19] First female to serve as the Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (1999)
• Barbara Lenk (1979):[20] First openly LGBT female appointed as a Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (2011)

District Court

• Indira Talwani (1988):[21] First Asian Pacific American female appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts (2014)
• Denise J. Casper (1994):[22] First African American female appointed as a Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

Bankruptcy Court Carol. J. Kenner (1986)

Attorneys General

• Martha Coakley (c. 1979):[23] First female serve as the Attorney General of Massachusetts (2007-2015)
• Maura Healey (1998):[24] First openly LGBT female to serve as the Attorney General of Massachusetts (2015)

Assistant Attorney General

• Emma Fall Schofield (1908):[25][26][2] First female Assistant Attorney General in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
• Glendora Putnam (1948):[27][28] First African American female to serve as the Assistant Attorney General of Massachusetts (1964)

United States Attorney

• Carmen Ortiz (1981):[29] First female (and Hispanic American female) to be appointed as the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts (2009)

District Attorney

• Elizabeth “Betsy” Scheibel:[30] First female to become a District Attorney in Massachusetts (1993)
• Rachael Rollins:[31] First African American female to become a District Attorney in Massachusetts (2018)

Bar Association

• Alice E. Richmond:[32] First female to serve as the President of the State Bar of Massachusetts (1986-1987)

Firsts in local history

Alphabetized by county name

Berkshire County

• Harriet L. Kilbourne (1897):[33] First female admitted to the Berkshire County Bar Association [Berkshire County, Massachusetts]
• Andrea Harrington:[34] First female District Attorney for Berkshire County, Massachusetts (2018)

Bristol County

• Mary E. Hyde:[35] First female lawyer in Fall River, Massachusetts [Bristol County, Massachusetts]

Franklin County

• Elizabeth “Betsy” Scheibel:[30] First female to serve as the District Attorney for the Northwestern District in Massachusetts (1993) [Franklin and Hampshire Counties, Massachusetts]

Hampden County

• Elvah H. Young (1899):[36] First female lawyer in Hampden County, Massachusetts

Hampshire County

• Elizabeth “Betsy” Scheibel:[30] First female to serve as the District Attorney for the Northwestern District in Massachusetts (1993) [Franklin and Hampshire Counties, Massachusetts]

Middlesex County

• Martha Coakley (c. 1979):[23] First female District Attorney for Middlesex County, Massachusetts
• Ruth Abrams:[18] First female to serve as the Assistant District Attorney for Middlesex County, Massachusetts
• Haben Girma (2013):[37] First deafblind graduate (who is also female and of Eritrean-Ethiopian descent) of Harvard Law School [Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts]
• Arlene Hassett:[38] First female judge in Lowell, Massachusetts (1972) [Middlesex County, Massachusetts]

Norfolk County

• Anna E. Hirsch:[39] First female (a lawyer) elected as the Registrar of Probate in Norfolk County, Massachusetts (1954)

Suffolk County

• Katherine Triantafillou (1975):[6][7] First openly LGBT (female) lawyer in Massachusetts
• Gene D. Dahmen:[40] First female President of the Boston Bar Association (1987-1988) [Suffolk County, Massachusetts]
• Rachael Rollins:[31] First female (and African American female) to become a District Attorney for Suffolk County, Massachusetts (2018)

Worcester County

• Stephanie Grant (1908):[41] First female admitted to the Worcester Bar Association
• Addie Gillette (1897):[41] First female lawyer to actually practice in Worchester County, Massachusetts

See also

• List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States
• Timeline of women lawyers in the United States
• Women in law

Other topics of interest

• List of first minority male lawyers and judges in the United States
• List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Massachusetts

References

1. "Robinson, Lelia Josephine | School of Law". www.bu.edu. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
2. "A History of Diversity at BU Law | School of Law". www.bu.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
3. "Law School History, Experiences & Records – New England Law | Boston". student.nesl.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
4. Smith, Bonnie Hurd; Law, New England School of; Trail (Organization), Boston Women's Heritage (2008-01-01). Boston women & the law: a walking trail through four centuries of Boston women's legal history. New England Law - Boston. ISBN 9780979121432.
5. Smith, J. Clay, Jr. (1999). Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844–1944. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 0812216857.
6. "A career spent fighting for the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals". Boston University. Retrieved 2020-06-13.
7. Triantafillou, Katherine (Spring 2013). "SAME-SEX CONFLICTS: A PRIMER FOR MEDIATORS" (PDF). Family Mediation Quarterly. 12.
8. "Women's Legal History | Biographical Search". Women's Legal History. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
9. Thomas (pseud.), Dorothy (1957). Women Lawyers in the United States. Scarecrow Press.
10. Holloran, Peter C. (2017-05-01). Historical Dictionary of New England. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781538102190.
11. "Law professor Margaret Burnham named Carnegie Fellow". Retrieved 2018-02-01.
12. Ruiz, Vicki L.; Korrol, Virginia Sánchez (2006-05-03). Latinas in the United States, set: A Historical Encyclopedia. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253111692.
13. "Council confirms Singh, Donatelle for judgeships". Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. 2017-06-22. Retrieved 2018-01-26.
14. "Massachusetts' 1st Korean judge balances identity, education and social intelligence – The Korea Times". www.koreatimesus.com. Retrieved 2018-01-26.
15. "Jennie Loitman Barron". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
16. Marquard, Bryan (13 April 2015). "Charlotte Anne Perretta, 72, first woman to serve on state Appeals Court". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2019-01-12.
17. Thornton ’82, Denise; MA’08. "Geraldine Hines JD'71: Defending Justice | On Wisconsin". Retrieved 2019-01-12.
18. "Ruth Abrams | Jewish Women's Archive". jwa.org. Retrieved 2019-01-12.
19. Marshall, Margaret H. (21 July 2010). "Statement of Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall" (PDF) (Press release). Retrieved 17 October 2013.
20. SALSBERG, BOB. "Barbara Lenk, state's first gay SJC justice, confirmed by Governor's Council". The Herald News, Fall River, MA. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
21. "Indian-American Indira Talwani confirmed as federal judge in Massachusetts". The Economic Times. 2014-05-13. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
22. "Federal judge breaks new ground as first black woman to sit on bench in Massachusetts". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
23. "Martha Coakley, 1st woman elected attorney general and Middlesex district attorney, hopes to become Mass.' 1st female U.S. senator". masslive.com. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
24. "Maura Healey will be the nation's first openly gay AG". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
25. "News Items" (PDF). Women Lawyers' Journal. 2:4. February 1913.
26. Drachman, Virginia G. (2001). Sisters in Law: Women Lawyers in Modern American History. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674006942.
27. Marquard, Bryan (29 June 2016). "Glendora Putnam, 92, civil rights pioneer in legal, government fields". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
28. Hayden, Robert C. (1992-01-01). African Americans in Boston: More Than Three Hundred Fifty Years. Trustees of the Public Library of the City of Boston. ISBN 9780890730836.
29. "U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz Announces Departure". www.justice.gov. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
30. "DA for the Downtrodden: Betsy Scheibel Ends Three Decades as a Victims' Advocate – Alumnae Association". Retrieved 2018-12-24.
31. "Boston, nearby communities elect first woman of color to be district attorney". MSN. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
32. Driscoll, Dawn-Marie (1990). Women and Economic Empowerment. Univ of Massachusetts Press. ISBN 9780870236440.
33. "Women Attorneys-At-Law". wlh-static.law.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2017-10-25.
34. "Historic wins in two Massachusetts primary races". WNYT NewsChannel 13. 2018-09-04. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
35. Allard, Deborah. "Four Fall River women who were ahead of their time". The Herald News, Fall River, MA. Retrieved 2018-02-12.
36. Smith, Frank Charles; Proctor, Lucien Brock; Chapin, Heman Gerald; Harvey, Richard Selden (1899). The American Lawyer. Stumpf & Steurer.
37. "Haben Girma". www.americanbar.org. Retrieved 2018-10-05.
38. "Makes History". Newspapers.com. April 12, 1972. Retrieved 2019-07-10.
39. "Women's History Month for Lawyers: 5 Little-Known Women Lawyer Pioneers". www.nesl.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
40. ABA Journal. American Bar Association. December 1994.
41. "Edna Ione Smith Tyler, business woman, Worcester, MA (1861–1930) | Window On Your Past". windowonyourpast.com. Retrieved 2017-10-16.