List of first women lawyers and judges in Oregon

This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Oregon. 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
Mary Jane Spurlin: First female judge in Oregon
Betty Roberts: First female Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court (1982)

Lawyers

Law Clerk
  • Helen F. Althaus (1945):[3][4] First female to serve as a law clerk for a federal judge in Oregon (1947-1949)
Judges
  • Ethel Graham:[5] First female to temporarily serve as a judge in Oregon (1914)
  • Mary Jane Spurlin (1924):[6] First female judge in Oregon
  • Janice Wilson:[7][8] First openly LGBT judge in Oregon (1991)
  • Youlee You:[9] First Asian American female judge in Oregon (2007)
Tax Court
  • Jill A. Tanner and Coyreen Weidner:[10] First females appointed as Judges of the Oregon Tax Court (1997)
District Court
  • Mercedes Deiz (1960):[2] First African American female to serve as a district court judge in Oregon
Circuit Court
Appellate Court
  • Betty Roberts (1966):[10] First female appointed as a Judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals (1977)
  • Darleen Ortega (1989):[9] First Hispanic American female to become a Judge of the Oregon Court of Appeals (2003)
  • Adrienne Nelson (1993):[14][15] First African American female (and African American in general) to serve as a appellate court judge[16] (2006)
Supreme Court
  • Betty Roberts (1966):[10] First female appointed as a Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court (1982)
  • Virginia Linder (1980):[17][18] First openly LGBT female appointed as a Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court (2007)
  • Lynn Nakamoto (1985):[19] First Asian American (and openly LGBT) female appointed as a Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court (2015)
  • Adrienne Nelson (1993):[14][15] First African American female (and African American in general) to serve as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Oregon (2018)
Bankruptcy Court
  • Polly Higden:[20][10][21] First female appointed as a Judge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Oregon (1983)
District Court
  • Helen Frye (1966):[22] First female appointed as a Judge for the U.S. District Court of Oregon (1980)
  • Ann Aiken (1979): First female appointed as the Chief Judge of the United States District Court Judge for the District of Oregon (2009)
Appellate Court
  • Susan P. Graber (1972):[23] First female appointed as a Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (1998)

Attorney General

Assistant Attorney General
  • Armonica Gilford (1981):[25] First African American female to serve as an Assistant Attorney General for Oregon’s Department of Justice (1989)

Solicitor General
  • Virginia Linder (1980):[17][18] First female (and openly LGBT female) to serve as the Solicitor General of Oregon (1986-1997)

United States Attorney
  • Susan P. Graber (1972):[23] First female to serve as a law clerk for the U.S. Attorneys Office for Oregon

Political Office
  • Kate Brown (1985):[26] First openly LGBT female (a lawyer) elected as the Governor of Oregon (2016)

Bar Association
  • Julie Frantz:[27] First female to serve as President of the Oregon State Bar Association (1992)

Firsts in local history

Alphabetized by county name

Region
  • Barb Haslinger and Alta Brady:[28] First female judges respectively in Central Oregon (1990 and 1994)

Coos County

Deschutes County

Douglas County

Jackson County
  • Jeannette Thatcher Marshall (1946):[32] First female lawyer in Medford, Oregon [Jackson County, Oregon]
  • Beth Heckert:[33] First female District Attorney for Jackson County, Oregon (c. 2013)

Lane County
  • Valerie Love:[9] First Asian American female to become a Judge of the Lane County Superior Court, Oregon (2007)
  • Clara Rigmaiden:[9] First Hispanic American female to become a Judge of the Lane County Superior Court, Oregon (2007)
  • Patty Perlow:[34] First female District Attorney for Lane County, Oregon (2015)
  • Jolie Russo (1988):[35] First female magistrate in Eugene, Oregon (2016) [Lane County, Oregon]

Linn County

Marion County

Multnomah County
  • Jean Lagerquist Lewis (1938):[11][12][13] First female judge in Multnomah County, Oregon (1954)
  • Beatrice Morrow Cannady (Law Degree, 1922):[38] First African American female lawyer to appear in Portland, Oregon [Multnomah County, Oregon][39]
  • Youlee You:[9] First Asian American female to become a Judge of the Multnomah County Superior Court, Oregon (2007)

Washington County

Yamhill County

See also

Other topics of interest

References
  1. Smith, Helen Krebs (October 2008). With Her Own Wings: Historical Sketches, Reminiscences, and Anecdotes of Oregon's Pioneer Women. Wildside Press LLC. ISBN 9781434477767.
  2. Company, Johnson Publishing (February 1983). Ebony. Johnson Publishing Company.
  3. Group, Sinclair Broadcast (2006-02-11). "Helen F. Althaus, Pioneer Woman Lawyer, dies at 95". Ashland Tidings. Retrieved 2019-07-07.
  4. "In Memoriam: Helen F. Althaus". www.osbar.org. Retrieved 2019-07-07.
  5. "Anti-Suffraget [sic], Yet She Acted As State Judge". The Day Book. 1914-03-27. ISSN 2163-7121. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
  6. "Illustrious Firsts: A Timeline - Advocate Magazine - Law School - Lewis & Clark". law.lclark.edu. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
  7. Martin, Mart (2018-04-24). The Almanac Of Women And Minorities In American Politics 2002. Routledge. ISBN 9780429976483.
  8. "Openly LGBT elected in Oregon". www.glapn.org. Retrieved 2019-07-22.
  9. "2000 – 2014". Diversity Storywall. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
  10. "Oregon Women Judges ~ Quick Facts ~" (PDF).
  11. Gierloff, Tami; Library, Associate Dean of the; Law, Professor of. "Illustrious Firsts: A Timeline". law.lclark.edu. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  12. "CATHEDRAL CITY". cdnc.ucr.edu. November 18, 1954. Retrieved 2019-02-26.
  13. McGraw, Noreen. "Judge Jean Lewis" (PDF). A Century of Service: Multnomah County Bar Association 100th Anniversary (1906-2006).
  14. "First African-American, Adrienne Nelson, appointed to Oregon Supreme Court". Statesman Journal. Retrieved 2018-11-09.
  15. "Meet Adrienne Nelson, the Second Black Female Judge in Oregon History". Portland Monthly. Retrieved 2018-11-09.
  16. Upon her appointment to the Multnomah County Circuit Court
  17. "Virginia Linder - Multnomah Bar Association". www.mbabar.org. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
  18. Finnemore, Melody (2012-03-09). "Justice Virginia Linder sets the bar". Daily Journal of Commerce. Retrieved 2018-12-14.
  19. "Lynn Nakamoto first Asian-American on Oregon Supreme Court". Statesman Journal. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
  20. "A Tribute" (PDF).
  21. Wiener, Norman J. (Fall 2007). "Judge Polly Higdon" (PDF). Oregon Benchmarks.
  22. "Archives West: Helen Frye papers, 1971–2011". archiveswest.orbiscascade.org. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
  23. Circuit), United States Court of Appeals (9th (2002). United States Courts, Ninth Circuit, ... Annual Report. Office of the Circuit Executive.
  24. Alvino, Virginia. "Oregon Swears In First Female Attorney General". news.opb.org. Retrieved 2018-11-19.
  25. "Welcome to the Oregon State Bar Online". www.osbar.org. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
  26. Phillips, Amber (2016-11-10). "Meet Kate Brown, the first openly LGBT person to be elected governor of a state". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2018-06-08.
  27. Keenan, Cathy (March 26, 2006). "Five pioneers further cause of women lawyers in Oregon". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2019-01-02.
  28. Stiegler, Judy. "40 Years as Ladies of the Law". The Source Weekly - Bend. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  29. KCBY. "Coos County's first female judge to retire after 23 years". KCBY. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
  30. Hammers, Scott (2014-06-25). "First female judge in Deschutes to retire". The Bulletin. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
  31. News-Review, CARISA CEGAVSKE | Senior Staff Writer The. "Shattered glass: Local women react to Clinton nomination". NRToday.com. Retrieved 2017-10-16.
  32. "Oregon State Bar Online - Jeannette Thatcher Marshall (Obituary)". www.osbar.org. Retrieved 2019-03-20.
  33. Specht, Sanne (2012-05-17). "Heckert has won DA race". Mail Tribune. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
  34. Kellner, Angela. "Lane County Gets Its First Female District Attorney". www.klcc.org. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
  35. Lewis; Portl, Clark Law School 10015 S. W. Terwilliger Boulevard; USA 503-768-6600, Oregon 97219. "OSB Diversity Section and First Year Law Students Celebrate Judges". law.lclark.edu. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  36. "Meet Your Division Officers and Delegates". www.americanbar.org. Retrieved 2017-09-26.
  37. "Candidate for Marion County DA stops by Creekside Chat". Statesman Journal. Retrieved 2019-03-25.
  38. Taylor, Quintard; Moore, Shirley Ann Wilson (2008-08-01). African American Women Confront the West, 1600–2000. University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 9780806139791.
  39. Cannady, though, did not pass the Oregon Bar examination. She is best remembered as an editor and civil rights advocate.
  40. Lewis; Portl, Clark 0615 S. W. Palatine Hill Road; USA 503-768-7000, Oregon 97219. "Class Notes - 1970s". www.lclark.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
  41. "Judge's death leaves opening on Yamhill County court". OregonLive.com. Retrieved 2018-05-30.
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