Legal Pioneers

Meg Gorecki’s article, “Legal Pioneers: Four of Illinois First Women Lawyers” explores the work of Myra Bradwell, Alta Hulett, Ada Kepley, and Catherine McCulloch in opening the door to the legal profession to women and serving as role models for today’s lawyers.  Though these ladies happen to be legal pioneers of Illinois, its important to note that these four women are also pioneers on a national scale, too.  Given these women’s efforts in Illinois, it should come as no surprise that a 1901 issue of the Chicago Legal News declared “Illinois has more women lawyers than any state in the world and Chicago has more than any other city in the world” (Gorecki 1990).

 In comparing women’s entry to the legal profession with women’s work as doctors, Gorecki notes, “In 1880 there were only two hundred women lawyers in the entire United States, which was less than the number of women doctors practicing in Boston alone”  (Gorecki 1990). Though this article groups the four women together, they each had individual successes.  “Myra Bradwell was the first woman to apply for a license to practice law. Alta Hulett was the first woman to become a lawyer in Illinois, Ada Kepley was the first woman in the world to receive a law degree, and Catherine McCulloch was the first woman in Illinois to become a justice of the peace”  (Gorecki 1990). 

Burnita Shelton Matthews: Pioneer, Lawyer, Feminist, Judge

Christine Wade’s biography of Burnita Shelton Matthews provides valuable insight into the life of a pioneer, lawyer, feminist, and the first woman judge of the Federal District Court Bench. Burnita fought for suffrage, jury service, and women’s equality. She was born in Mississippi on December 28, 1894. Burnita’s father, Burnell Shelton served as Clerk of the Chancery Court and Tax Collector for Copiah County, Mississippi. Burnita often accompanied her father to his office in the courthouse and became comfortable in that environment from an early age. Her mother died when Burnita was just 16, leaving Burnita to care for her four brothers and father. She married Percy Matthews in 1917, the same year Burnita started law school at what is now George Washington University. Percy was a lawyer serving as a judge advocate general in the U.S. Army and supported Burnita’s decision to go to law school. Burnita’s father, despite sending two of his sons to law school, refused to finance her legal education. Thus, Burnita took a job as a clerk in Veteran’s Administration – where she worked all day and attended night classes. During this time, Burnita spent many Sundays picketing the White House for woman suffrage (she was a member of the National Women’s Party). This was a risk in light of her ambitions to become a lawyer. Realizing an arrest record would keep her from practicing law, she would not speak during her protests (it was against the law to speak without a permit). Nevertheless, Burnita passed the District of Columbia Bar in 1920. However, the DC Bar Association returned her application and check for dues (as was the typical practice for women applying for membership despite being licensed to practice law).

Why Care About the History of Women in the Legal Profession?

Mary Clark’s article, “Why Care About the History of Women in the Legal Profession?” considers what theoretical frameworks are useful for evaluating the sigificance of women’s service in the Supreme Court bar and how the history of women in the Supreme Court bar and in the larger profession fit into the broader history of women (Clark Spring 2006).

Following years of active lobbying by Belva Lockwood, congress in 1879 amended the rules of the Supreme Court bar to allow admission of women. Until the turn of the twentieth century, most women of the bar were suffragists – though they were not involved in cases regarding women’s rights (Clark Spring 2006, 59). Most cases heard by women related to contract or property disputes and such women were either in solo practices or practiced with their husbands. Women of the bar in the 1900’s to 1920’s served as government attorneys atlocal, state and national levels. From 1921 to 1929, Mabel Walker Willebrandt of the Justice Deparmtent participated in twenty-two cases on the merits and argued ten of them. Then, not until the 1960’s and 1970’s were women regularly present in the court. This time period brought Constance Baker Motley of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Ruth Bader Ginsburg at the ACLU Women’s Rights Project. Ginsburg briefed and argued the leading women’s rights cases of the 70’s as Director of the Women’s Rights Project. “In contract with historical patterns, a growing number of women advocates have argued feminist causes before the Court, pressing for expanded recognition of sexual harassment, family leave rights, and gay rights. Overall, women have comprised eight percent of Supreme Court Advocates” (Clark Spring 2006, 60-61).