List of first women lawyers and judges in Pennsylvania

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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[]

Judicial Officers[]

State[]

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[]
  • Anne X. Alpern (1927):[19] First female appointed as Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court (1961)
  • Sandra Schultz Newman (1972):[20][21] First female elected as a Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court (1995)
  • Juanita Kidd Stout: First African-American female to serve as a Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court (1988)

Federal[]

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[]

  • Laurie Magid:[32] First female to serve as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania (2008-2009)

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]
  • (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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