List of first women lawyers and judges in Pennsylvania

This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Pennsylvania. 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
Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander: First African American female lawyer in Pennsylvania (1927)
Mari Carmen Aponte: First Cuban American female lawyer in Pennsylvania

Lawyers

Law Clerk
Judges
  • Sara M. Soffel:[8][9] First female judge in Pennsylvania (1930)[10]
  • Hannah Elizabeth Byrd:[11][12] First female (non-attorney) magistrate in Pennsylvania (1951)
  • Juanita Kidd Stout:[13] First African American female judge in Pennsylvania (1959)
  • Nusrat Rashid:[14][15] First Muslim (female) judge in Pennsylvania (2019)
Commonwealth Court
  • Genevieve Blatt:[16] First female to serve as a Judge of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania (1972)
  • Doris Smith-Ribner (1972):[17][18] First African American female elected as a Judge of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court (1988)
Supreme Court

Juanita Kidd Stout (1988) First African-American female to serve as a Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court (1988).

District Court

Attorneys General

Deputy Attorney General
  • Dr. M. Louise Rutherford:[27][28] First female to serve as the Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania (1939)
  • Michelle Henry:[29][30] First female to serve as the First Deputy Attorney General of Pennsylvania (2016)

Assistant Attorney General
  • M. Vashti Burr:[31] First female to serve as the Assistant Attorney General for Pennsylvania (1926-1931)

United States Attorney

Assistant United States Attorney
  • Barbara Kosik Whitaker:[33] First female to serve as the Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Middle District of Pennsylvania (1979)

Bar Association
  • Leslie Anne Miller:[34] First female to serve as the President of the Pennsylvania Bar Association (c. 1999)
  • Sharon López:[35] First Latino American female to serve as the President of the Pennsylvania Bar Association (2017)

Firsts in local history

Alphabetized by county name

Allegheny County

Armstrong County

Beaver County

Blair County

Bucks County

Butler County

Cambria County

Carbon County

Centre County

Chester County

Clarion County

Clinton County
  • Gloria Haggerty:[53] First female lawyer in Clinton County, Pennsylvania
  • Kathleen Long:[54] First female Public Defender for Clinton County, Pennsylvania (2014)
  • Angela Harding:[55] First female to serve as a Commissioner for Clinton County, Pennsylvania (2020)

Crawford County

Cumberland County

Delaware County
  • Patricia Holstein:[61] First female District Attorney for Delaware County, Pennsylvania (2001-2002)
  • Nusrat Rashid:[14][15] First African American female to serve as a judge in Delaware County, Pennsylvania (2019)

Erie County

Fayette County
  • Ione Romeika (1948):[63][64] First female lawyer in Fayette County, Pennsylvania
  • Nancy Vernon (1980):[65] First female judge and district attorney in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. She was also the first woman to practice criminal law in the county.[66]

Franklin County

Indiana County

Lancaster County

Lebanon County

Luzerne County

Lycoming County

Monroe County

Montgomery County

Montour County

Northampton County

Northumberland County

Philadelphia County
  • Tillie Thompson Heilbron:[81] First female to serve as the Assistant District Attorney for Philadelphia (c. 1930)
  • Hazel H. Brown:[82] First female judge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania [Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania]
  • Carolyn Engel Temin:[83][84] First female Public Defender in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (c. 1987). She later became a judge. [Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania]
  • Ann Butchart (2005):[85] First openly LGBT judge in Philadelphia and first LGBT candidate in Philadelphia [Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania]

Somerset County

Union County

Wayne County
  • Janine Edwards (1997):[89] First female judge in Wayne County, Pennsylvania. She was also the first female District Attorney in the county's history.
  • Jocelyn Cramer:[90] First female to serve as a Commissioner for Wayne County, Pennsylvania (2020)

York County
  • Sara A. Austin:[91] First female lawyer from York County to serve as the President of the Pennsylvania Bar Association (2016)

See also

Other topics of interest

References
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