This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Indiana. 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 graduate from law school or become a political figure.
Firsts in Indiana's history
editLawyers
edit- First female: Elizabeth Eaglesfield (1875)[1]
- First female to practice law after appealing to the Indiana Supreme Court: Antoinette Dakin Leach (1893)[2]
- First African American female: Helen Elsie Austin (1930)[3]
- First Asian American female (Filipino descent): Lourdes Dellota Alba (1966)[4]
State judges
edit- First female: Ella Groninger in 1919[5]
- First female (elected): V. Sue Shields in 1964[6][7][8]
- First female (county court): Linda Lucille Chezem in 1975[9]
- First African American female: Phyllis Senegal (1975)[10]
- First female (Indiana Court of Appeals): V. Sue Shields in 1978[6][7][8]
- First female (circuit court): Linda Lucille Chezem in 1982[9]
- First (African American) female (Indiana Supreme Court): Myra C. Selby (1995)[11]
- First female (Chief Justice; Indiana Supreme Court): Loretta Rush in 2014[12]
- First females (Commercial court): Maria Grainger and Heather A. Welch in 2016[13]
Federal judges
edit- First female (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana): Sarah Evans Barker (1969)[14][15]
- First African American (female) (U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana): Tanya Walton Pratt (2010)[16]
- First female (Bankruptcy Court; U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana): Robyn Moberly (2012)[17]
- First African American (female) from Indiana (United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit): Doris Pryor (2022)[18]
- First African American (female) (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana): Cristal C. Brisco in 2024[19]
Attorney General of Indiana
edit- First (African American) female: Pamela Carter from 1993-1997[20][21]
Public Defender
edit- First (African American) female: Harriette Bailey Conn in 1970[22]
United States Attorney
edit- First female (U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana; full term): Virginia Dill McCarty (1977) from 1977-1981[23]
- First female (Northern District of Indiana; Acting): Tina L. Nommay in 2021[24]
Assistant United States Attorney
edit- First female: Sarah Evans Barker (1969) in 1972[14][15]
Bar Association
edit- First female president (Indiana State Bar Association): Jeanne S. Miller in 1988[25]
- First female president (Indianapolis Bar Association): Mary Y. Marsh in 1988[26]
- First African American female president (Indianapolis Bar Association): Cynthia J. Ayers in 2006[26]
Firsts in local history
edit
- Carina Warrington (1915):[27] First female lawyer in Allen County, Indiana
- Karen E. Richards:[28] First female to serve as the Prosecutor for Allen County, Indiana
- Lisa Swaim:[29] First female judge in Cass County, Indiana (2019)
- Clementine Barthold (1980):[30] First female judge in Clark County, Indiana
- Judith Dwyer (1963):[31] First female judge in Daviess County, Indiana (1987)
- Derexa Savage King (1951):[32] First female lawyer in Dubois County, Indiana
- Beth Ann Butsch:[33] First female lawyer and judge (2010) in Fayette County, Indiana
- Susan Orth:[34] First female judge in Floyd County, Indiana (2004)
- Edith Eulalia Hendren (1921):[35] First female lawyer in Greene County, Indiana
- Dena Benham Martin:[36] First female judge in Greene County, Indiana
- AmyMarie Travis:[37] First female appointed as a Judge of the Superior Court of Jackson County (2018)
- Cynthia S. Emkes (1985):[38] First female judge in Johnson County, Indiana (1987)
- Diane Kavadias Schneider:[39] First female magistrate in Lake County, Indiana (1993)
- Susan Hemminger:[40] First female judge in LaPorte County, Indiana
- Kimberly Kiner:[40] First African American female judge in LaPorte County, Indiana
- Linda Lucille Chezem:[9] First female to serve as a Judge of the Lawrence County Court, Indiana (1975)
- Hentietta Trisch Willkie (1897):[41] First woman admitted to the bar in Madison County.
- Angela Warner Sims:[42] First female circuit judge for Madison County, Indiana (2012)
- Ella Groninger:[5] First female judge in Marion County, Indiana (1919)
- Z. Mae Jimison:[43] First African American female appointed as a Judge of the Superior Court in Marion County, Indiana (1988)
- Cynthia J. Ayers:[44] First African American female elected as a Judge of the Superior Court in Marion County, Indiana (1991)
- Heather A. Welch:[45] First (female) commercial court judge in Marion County, Indiana (2016)
- Karen E. Bravo:[46] First African American (female) to serve as the Dean of Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law (2020)
- Janette Surrisi:[47] First female judge in Marshall County, Indiana (2024)
- Helen Hironimus:[48] First female lawyer in Mount Vernon, Posey County, Indiana
- Frances Tilton Weaver (1925):[49] First female lawyer in Porter County, Indiana
- Shelli Wright Johnson (1979):[50] First female lawyer in Portage, Indiana [Porter County, Indiana]
- Mary Harper:[51] First female to serve as the Deputy Prosecutor and Chief Deputy Prosecutor (1975-1981), a Superior Court Judge (1984), and a Judge of the Circuit Court (1996) in Porter County, Indiana
- Lisa M. Traylor-Wolff (1986):[44] First female lawyer in Pulaski County, Indiana
- Maxine E. Ryer Miller (1922):[52] First female lawyer in St. Joseph County, Indiana
- Elizabeth Fletcher Allen (1938):[53] First African American female lawyer in St. Joseph County, Indiana
- Stephanie Steele:[54][55] First African American female to serve as President of the St. Joseph County Bar Association (2019)
- Graciela Olivarez:[56] First (Latino American) female to graduate from Notre Dame Law School (1970) [St. Joseph County, Indiana]
- Helen M. Gougar (1895):[57] First female lawyer in Tippecanoe County, Indiana
- Tamar Althouse Scholz (1893):[58][59][60] First woman to practice law in Evansville, Vanderburgh County, Indiana. She was also the first woman to graduate (1892) from the Indiana University's Department of Law.
- Sue Ann Hartig:[61] First female judicial officer in Vanderburgh County, Indiana
- Mary Margaret “Maggie” Lloyd:[62] First elected female judge in Vanderburgh County, Indiana (2000)
- Elizabeth "Bessie" Jane Eaglesfield (1875):[41] First woman in Indiana admitted to the bar, Vigo County Circuit Court, September 8. 1875.
- Barbara Brugnaux:[63][64] First female judge in Vigo County, Indiana
- Amy Catherine Cornell:[65] First female appointed as a Judge of the Wabash County Superior Court, Indiana (2017)
See also
editOther topics of interest
editReferences
edit- ^ "Indiana Female "Firsts" In the Legal Profession". Judicial Branch of Indiana. Retrieved October 6, 2016.
- ^ Bodenhamer, David J.; Barrows, Robert G. (1994-11-22). The Encyclopedia of Indianapolis. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253112494.
- ^ Cayton, Andrew R. L.; Sisson, Richard; Zacher, Chris (2006-11-08). The American Midwest: An Interpretive Encyclopedia. Indiana University Press. ISBN 0253003490.
- ^ Batas at Katarungan. University of the Philippines Law Center. 1982.
- ^ a b "Woman Special Judge Refuses Man Divorce". South Bend News-Times. 1919-10-14. p. 12. ISSN 2377-7095. Retrieved 2019-02-27.
- ^ a b Selby, Myra C. (1999). "EXAMINING RACE AND GENDER BIAS IN THE COURTS: A LEGACY OF INDIFFERENCE OR OPPORTUNITY?" (PDF). Indiana Law Review. 32 (4).
- ^ a b "Vivian Sue (Blodgett) Shields". Notable Alumni. 1939-01-17.
- ^ a b Elected to the Hamilton County Superior Court. See Seager, p. 18.
- ^ a b c "Linda Lucille Chezem". Notable Alumni. 1946-09-29.
- ^ "Indianapolis Recorder 20 December 1975 — Hoosier State Chronicles: Indiana's Digital Historic Newspaper Program". newspapers.library.in.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
- ^ "Courts in the Classroom: Justice Myra Consetta Selby". www.in.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-20.
- ^ "Indiana's first female chief justice is named". South Bend Tribune. Associated Press. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
- ^ "Indiana's Commercial Court Pilot Project – March 2016 Update". times.courts.in.gov. Retrieved 2024-07-09.
- ^ a b "Barker confirmed as judge". newspaperarchive.com. Retrieved 2018-02-02.
- ^ a b "Judicial Bios". www.indybar.org. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
- ^ III, AMOS BROWN. "Tanya Walton Pratt named Indiana's first African-American federal judge". Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper. Retrieved 2018-01-09.
- ^ Shrake, Alexa (2024-07-02). "First female bankruptcy judge focused on opportunity, not adversity". The Indiana Lawyer. Retrieved 2024-07-03.
- ^ "Doris Pryor, IU grad, will be the first Black judge from Indiana to join Seventh Circuit". www.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2022-12-07.
- ^ Figueroa, Ariana (2024-01-29). "In milestones, Black women from South Carolina and Indiana confirmed as federal judges ⋆ Michigan Advance". Michigan Advance. Retrieved 2024-01-30.
- ^ Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 67, p. 12.
- ^ Jennifer M. York, Who's Who Among African Americans. Gale, 2003.
- ^ "Harriette Vesta Baily Conn, '55, Was IU McKinney's First African-American Female Graduate: Law School News: Robert H. McKinney School of Law: IUPUI". IU Robert H. McKinney School of Law. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
- ^ "Virginia Dill McCaty Papers, 1824-2003". INPerspective. 24 (2). Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society: 14. March 2018.
- ^ "Nommay first woman to lead Northern Indiana U.S. Attorney's Office". The Indiana Lawyer. Retrieved 2022-02-05.
- ^ Seager, Sharon Hannum (Summer 2003). "A Century of Change: Indiana's Women Lawyers". Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History. 15 (3). Indianapolis: Indiana Historical Society: 18.
- ^ a b "Our History".
- ^ "NEWS-SENTINEL GUEST COLUMN: Allen County courts history dates back 195 years". news-sentinel.com/. Retrieved 2019-10-08.
- ^ "Richards says she'll seek fifth term as prosecutor | Local | Journal Gazette". www.journalgazette.net. Retrieved 2019-06-27.
- ^ Wolf, James D. (December 20, 2019). "Swaim becomes county's first female judge". Pharos Tribune.
- ^ TEGNA. "FIrst female Clark Co. judge passes away". WHAS11. Retrieved 2018-01-04.
- ^ Grant, Mike. "Former Daviess County judge dies". Washington Times Herald. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
- ^ "Award recognizes students' writings". Dubois County Herald. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
- ^ "Hon. Beth Ann Butsch | Indiana Court Times". Retrieved 2018-12-27.
- ^ chris.morris@newsandtribune.com, CHRIS MORRIS. "Judge Susan Orth decides not to seek re-election". News and Tribune. Retrieved 2020-06-02.
- ^ "FIRST WOMAN LAWYER IN GREENE COUNTY". www.ancestry.com. October 6, 1921. Retrieved 2018-02-11.
- ^ "Martin fulfills dream by becoming county's first female judge". Greene County Daily World. 2008-11-06. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
- ^ Richart, Jordan (19 May 2018). "Governor appoints county prosecutor to bench". Seymour Tribune. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
- ^ Holtkamp, Michele. "Driven for justice". Daily Journal. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
- ^ Writer, S. (1993, September 15). Community. <em>Times, The (Munster, IN)</em>. Available from NewsBank: Access World News: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&docref=news/16A61C1C5FB26910.
- ^ a b "Kimberly Kiner Obituary - 2017 - Indianapolis, IN - Afterlife". afterlife.co. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
- ^ a b Seager, p. 15.
- ^ Hirsch, Stuart (2012). "Angela Warner Sims sworn in as judge". Herald Bulletin. Retrieved 2018-12-27.
- ^ "Women's History Month (2015): Z. Mae Jimison (1943–2008)" (PDF). Indiana Commission for Women. 2015.
- ^ a b Indiana Law Review. IUPUI University Library. Indiana University School of Law. 1997.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ "Judge Heather Welch retiring from Marion County bench, continuing career in the law - THE INDIANA CITIZEN". 2023-10-25. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
- ^ "Celebrate Black History Month with Dean Karen E. Bravo | Southern District of Indiana | United States District Court". www.insd.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2022-03-16.
- ^ "Gov. Holcomb announces judicial appointments for Marshall and Grant Counties". The Indiana Lawyer. 2024-07-19. Retrieved 2024-08-06.
- ^ "Legal Directory - 2 Indiana Law Journal 1926–1927". Indiana Law Journal. 2: 215. Retrieved 2017-10-16.
- ^ "The Amicus: Winter 1994". Alumni Magazine: The Amicus. January 1, 1994 – via Valparaiso University School of Law.
- ^ "Family Law Attorney | Portage, IN". www.shelliwrightjohnson.com. Retrieved 2017-09-26.
- ^ "Commissioners to name courtroom after retiring Circuit Court Judge Mary Harper". chestertontribune.com. Retrieved 2020-01-08.
- ^ "The SJCBA Occasional". Welcome to the St. Joseph County Bar Association. 2016-05-02. Retrieved 2017-09-26.
- ^ "Local African American History". The History Museum. Retrieved 2017-10-14.
- ^ "'Woman of Steele': St. Joseph County Bar Association set to elect first black female president". ABC57. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
- ^ "St. Joseph County Bar Association". Retrieved August 11, 2019.
- ^ "GRACIELA OLIVAREZ: 1928–1987". New Mexico Historic Women Marker Initiative. Retrieved 2022-03-08.
- ^ "Teacher Guide for "My Place is in the Voting Booth: Hoosier Suffragette Helen M. Gougar"" (PDF).
- ^ "Timeline". Retrieved 2017-09-26.
- ^ "Tamar (Althouse) Scholz". Digital Repository @ Maurer Law. 1872.
- ^ Seager, p. 16.
- ^ "Phenomenal Women recognized - University of Southern Indiana". www.usi.edu. Retrieved 2019-07-17.
- ^ "Judge Mary Margaret "Maggie" Lloyd Selected as a CCO "Outstanding Community Service" Award Winner | City-County Observer". Retrieved 2019-10-08.
- ^ Loughlin, Sue (October 22, 2015). "A place that gave them so much: Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College". Terre Haute Tribune Star. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
- ^ Greninger, Howard. "Judge Brugnaux seeking another term in Superior Court". Terre Haute Tribune Star. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
- ^ Weaver, Wade. "Your News Local | Amy Catherine Cornell Becomes Third Wabash County Superior Court Judge in History". Your News Local. Retrieved 2018-12-27.