List of first women lawyers and judges in Kansas

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This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Kansas. 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 Kansas’ history[edit]

Lutie Lytle: First African American female lawyer in Kansas (1897)

Lyda Conley: First Native American female lawyer in Kansas (1902)

Lawyers[edit]

State judges[edit]

Federal judges[edit]

Attorney General of Kansas[edit]

Assistant Attorney General[edit]

  • First female: Jennie Mitchell Kellogg (1880) from 1891-1893[1][2]

County Attorney[edit]

  • First female: Elfrieda Kenyon around 1939[20]

Political Office[edit]

  • Kathryn O’Loughlin McCarthy (1921):[2] First female (a lawyer) to serve in Congress (1933-1935)
  • Sharice Davids (2010):[21][22] First Native American (Ho-Chunk tribe) and openly-LGBT female (a lawyer) elected to Congress in Kansas (2018)

Kansas Bar Association[edit]

  • First female admitted: Marie Elizabeth Simpson Degeer Gilmore (1887)[2]
  • First female president: Christel E. Marquardt from 1987-1988[23]

Firsts in local history[edit]

  • Lori Bolton Fleming:[15] First female to become a Judge of the Eleventh District of Kansas (2012) [Cherokee, Crawford and Labette Counties, Kansas]
  • Marilyn M. Wilder:[16] First female appointed to the Kansas Judicial District No. 9 (2015) [Harvey and McPherson Counties, Kansas]
  • Nanette L. Kemmerly-Weber:[2] First female to serve as the County Attorney for Allen County, Kansas (1982)
  • Lizzie S. Sheldon (1900):[2][24] First female lawyer in Douglas County, Kansas
  • Jean Shepherd:[25] First female judge in Douglas County, Kansas (1984)
  • Rebeca Mendoza:[26] First Hispanic American female to graduate from the University of Kansas School of Law (1972) [Douglas County, Kansas]
  • Christine Arguello (1980):[27][28] First Hispanic American (female) to receive tenure at the University of Kansas School of Law
  • Maritza Segarra:[29] First female (and first Hispanic American female) judge in Geary County, Kansas (2004) and first Hispanic female appointed to a District Court in the State of Kansas (2007).
  • Ida Tillotson (1881):[2] First female lawyer in Graham County, Kansas
  • Elfrieda Kenyon:[20] First female to serve as the County Attorney for Hodgeman County, Kansas (c. 1939)
  • Gwendolyn Van Derbur Falkenberg (1957):[2][30] First female lawyer in Johnson County, Kansas
  • Carolee Sauder Leek (1959):[31] First female judge in Johnson County, Kansas (1965)
  • Janette Sheldon:[2] First female to serve as the President of the Johnson County Bar Association (1988)
  • Rhonda Mason (1989):[32] First African-American female judge in Johnson County, Kansas (2016)
  • Beulah Wheeler (1925):[2] First African American female lawyer in Leavenworth, Kansas [Leavenworth County, Kansas]
  • Mary H. Cooper:[6][7][8][9] First female probate judge in Beloit, Kansas (1908) [Mitchell County, Kansas]
  • Sally Pokorny:[33] First female to be elected as the County Attorney for Montgomery County, Kansas
  • Thelma Helsper Boatman:[2] First female to be elected as the County Attorney for Norton County, Kansas
  • Shelley Depp (Greenwood) Bloomer:[34] First female to serve as a County Attorney for Osborne County, Kansas (1975)
  • Dorothy M. Jackson:[2] First female district court judge in Lyons, Kansas (1922) [Rice County, Kansas]
  • K. Seely Racine (1934):[2] First female lawyer in Russell County, Kansas
  • Nola Foulston:[35] First female to serve as the District Attorney for Sedgwick County, Kansas (1988)
  • Gloria Flentje: First female to serve as the President of the Wichita Bar Association (1991) [Sedgwick County, Kansas]
  • Maxine Walker Wood:[36] First female to serve as the County Attorney for Seward County, Kansas
  • Jessie Nye: First female law graduate of the Washburn Law School (1912) [Shawnee County, Kansas]
  • Kay McFarland (1964):[12] First female elected to a judgeship in Shawnee County, Kansas (1971)
  • Linda Diane Henry Elrod:[2] First female to serve as the President of the Topeka Bar Association (1986) [Shawnee County, Kansas]
  • Regina Victoria Mills Chambers (1900):[2] First female lawyer in Sheridan County, Kansas
  • LaVone Daily (1957):[2] First female lawyer in Wyandotte County, Kansas
  • Karen Shelor:[2] First female to serve as the President of the Wyandotte County Bar Association (1986)
  • Candice Alcaraz: [37] First African American female district court judge in Wyandotte County, Kansas (2022)

See also[edit]

Other topics of interest[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b The Journal of the Kansas Bar Association. Bar Association of the State of Kansas. 2001-01-01.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Elrod, Linda Diane Henry (2004). “Washburn Law School Celebrates a Century of Welcoming Women” (PDF). Washburn Law Journal. 42.
  3. ^ Smith, John Clay (2000-01-01). Rebels in Law: Voices in History of Black Women Lawyers. University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0472086464.
  4. ^ The Bookman. Dodd, Mead and Company. 1911.
  5. ^ “Nellie Cline – Kansas Memory – Kansas Historical Society”. www.kshs.org. Retrieved 2017-10-16.
  6. ^ a b National Municipal Review. National Municipal League. 1915.
  7. ^ a b The Voter. Voter Company. 1910.
  8. ^ a b “Sayings, Doings, Achievements, Sufferings, Hopes and Fears of Mankind”. www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org. June 1, 1912. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  9. ^ a b The W.B.A. Review. Woman’s Benefit Association. 1910.
  10. ^ “Municipal Court – Judge Jennifer L. Jones”. www.wichita.gov. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  11. ^ “The Honorable Jennifer Jones | The HistoryMakers”. www.thehistorymakers.org. Retrieved 2018-02-01.
  12. ^ a b c “Kay McFarland – Kansapedia – Kansas Historical Society”. www.kshs.org. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
  13. ^ Upon McFarland’s appointment to the Fifth Division of the District Court in Topeka
  14. ^ Kansas Register. Kansas Secretary of State. 1985.
  15. ^ a b PATRICK, NIKKI. “District swears in first female judge”. Morning Sun. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
  16. ^ a b Frey, Chad (January 8, 2016). “First female judge sworn in”. The Kansan. Retrieved 2018-01-06.
  17. ^ Motter, Sarah. “Gov. appoints first Hispanic female to Court of Appeals pending confirmation”. WIBW. Retrieved 2022-09-14.
  18. ^ “District of Kansas | Julie A. Robinson”. www.ksd.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2018-01-19.
  19. ^ LAPIERRE, KAREN. “Larry Steckline: One NW Kansas boy’s journey to success”. The Hays Daily News. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  20. ^ a b Independent Woman. National Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs. 1939.
  21. ^ “Democrat Sharice Davids Becomes First Native American Woman Elected to Congress”. The Daily Beast. 2018-11-07. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
  22. ^ Lawler, Opheli Garcia. “All the Good News From the Midterm Elections”. The Cut. Retrieved 2018-11-07.
  23. ^ “Kansas Judicial Branch – Court of Appeals – Christel E. Marquardt”. www.kscourts.org. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
  24. ^ Court, Kansas Supreme; Banks, Elliot V.; Webb, William Craw; Randolph, Asa Maxson Fitz; Clemens, Gasper Christopher; Dewey, Thomas Emmet; Graham, Llewellyn James; Moore, Oscar Leopold; Hatcher, Earl Hilton (1907). Kansas Reports. Kansas state printing plant.
  25. ^ “Colleagues call retiring Judge Jean Shepherd’s expertise with family law ‘irreplaceable’“. LJWorld.com. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
  26. ^ “KU Law History”. law.ku.edu. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
  27. ^ “Hispanic Heritage: Accomplished judge helps students become lawyers”. KUSA. Retrieved 2018-02-07.
  28. ^ “4 Questions For 4 Latina Criminal Justice Trailblazers: Judge Christine Arguello”. Oxygen Official Site. 2021-09-16. Retrieved 2022-03-04.
  29. ^ “Geary County’s first female judge to retire this year”. YourDU.net. Retrieved 2018-12-10.
  30. ^ Flachsbarth, Annie (Fall 2017). “Alumni Spotlight: Lessons in Dedication, Linda Elrod, ’72” (PDF). Washburn Lawyer. 54:1.
  31. ^ “CAROLEE SAUDER LEEK’s Obituary on Kansas City Star”. Kansas City Star. Retrieved 2017-10-16.
  32. ^ “Lifetime ambition realized for Johnson County’s first African-American judge”. kansascity. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  33. ^ “Douglas County district judge wins prestigious Kansas Women Attorney’s Association award”. LJWorld.com. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
  34. ^ Osborne, Scott Seirer (June 29, 1975). “The attractive young woman in the county attorney’s office is the county attorney”. The Hays Daily News.
  35. ^ “Raising the Bar: America Celebrates 150 Years of Women Lawyers 1869-2019”. Issuu. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  36. ^ Kansas Government Journal. 1955.
  37. ^ Merchant, Josh (2022-08-03). “Candice Alcaraz will become Wyandotte County’s first Black female district judge”. The Beacon. Retrieved 2022-08-12.