Women in the Judiciary--
Florence Ellinwood Allen (First Lady of the Law): Florence graduated from NYU Law school with honors. She went on to become the first Ohio women to become a county prosector. She also was the first women to argue a case to the United States Supreme Court. She was then elected to the State Trial Court where she heard a first degree murder trial. After her experience at the state level, she was appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt to the Federal Court. Her experiences being the first women to succeed in her legal career really sparked the rest of the female motivation to become involved in the legal field. Before Florence, women were not able to participate, let alone succeed, in these types of careers, and she showed the female population that it is possible. Women in The Practice of Law--
Myra Bradwell: In 1870 there were only 5 female attorneys in the local census, so it was not a career that was flooded by women. She began reading law with her husband who was a judge. She decided to take the test to pass the Chicago Bar and ended up succeeding, and passing the test. The Illinois Supreme Court denied her admission to the Illinois State Bar because she was married. When she was upset with the outcome, she took the decision to the United States Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme court upheld the decision of the Illinois court and said "the natural and proper timidity and the delicacy which belongs to the female sex evidently unfits it for many occupations of civil life...Paramount destiny and mission of women are to fulfill the noble and benign office of wife and mother. This is the law of the creator." Eventually, this decision was overturned and Bradwell was granded her license to practice law. However, this story does show how much has changed in the legal field. Women were not allowed to practice law, even if they were smart enough to get the job done because their mission in life was to be a wife and a mother. Wow, times sure have changed.
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