List of first women lawyers and judges in Delaware explained

This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Delaware. 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 Delaware's history

Law School

• First female to complete law school without first attending college: Helen Balick (1969) in 1966^[1]

Lawyers

• First females (1923): Evangilyn Barsky and Sybil Ward^[2]
• First female prosecutor: Marguerite Hopkins Bodziak in 1933^[3]
• First Hispanic American (female) (1976): Aida Waserstein^[4]
• First African American female (1977): Paulette Sullivan Moore^[5]
• First Latino American female of Puerto Rican descent (1980): Nivea Castro^{[6] [7]}
• First South Asian Indian (female): Shakuntla Bhaya^[8]

State judges

• First female: Roxana Cannon Arsht (1941) in 1971^{[9] [10]}
• First female (Court of Chancery): Carolyn Berger (1976) in 1984^[11]
• First female (Delaware Superior Court): Susan C. Del Pesco in 1988^[12]
• First African American female: Haile L. Alford in 1992^{[13] [14]}
• First female magistrate (Chief Magistrate; Justice of the Peace Court): Patricia W. Griffin in 1993^[15]
• First female (Delaware Supreme Court): Carolyn Berger (1976) in 1994
• First Hispanic American (female): Aida Waserstein in 1996
• First female (Delaware Court of Common Pleas): Rosemary Betts Beauregard in 1999
• First female (Chief Judge; Delaware Family Court): Chandlee Johnson Kuhn in 2003
• First African American female (Delaware Family Court): Arlene M. Coppadge in 2003
• First female (commissioner; Delaware Court of Common Pleas): Mary M. McDonough in 2004
• First Hispanic American (female) (justice of the peace court): Michelle Jewell in 2010
• First Hispanic American (female) (Delaware Superior Court): Vivian L. Medinilla (née Rapposelli) in 2013^[16]
• First (openly lesbian) female (President of the Delaware Superior Court): Jan R. Jurden in 2015^{[17] [18]}
• First African American (female) (Supreme Court of Delaware): Tamika Montgomery-Reeves in 2020^[19]

Federal judges

• First female (United States Bankruptcy Court): Helen Balick (1969) in 1974
• First female (United States District Court for the District of Delaware): Jane Richards Roth in 1985^[20]
• First female (United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit): Jane Richards Roth in 1991
• First female (Chief Judge; United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit): Sue Lewis Robinson in 2000

Assistant United States Attorney

• First female: Peggy L. Ableman from 1979-1983^[21]

• First female: M. Jane Brady (1977) from 1995-2005^[22]

Deputy Attorney General

• First female: Ruth Farrell in 1962^[23]

Political Office

• First female (House of Representatives): Melanie George Smith in 2002

• First female president: Susan C. Del Pesco^[12]

Firsts in local history

• Frances M. "Mickey" Messina:^[24] First female to serve as a Commissioner for the Kent County Levy Court (1972)
• Cathleen Hutchison: ^[25] First female to serve as Deputy Chief Magistrate for the Justice of the Peace Court in Kent County, Delaware (2017)
• Marguerite Hopkins Bodziak (1931): First female to serve as an Assistant City Solicitor in Wilmington, Delaware (1933) [<nowiki/>[[New Castle County, Delaware]]]
• Sara Pennington:^[26] First female magistrate in New Castle County, Delaware (1953)
• Phila Furry George:^[27] First female lawyer for the Hercules Powder Company in Wilmington, Delaware (1943) [New Castle County, Delaware]
• Haile L. Alford: First African American female to serve on the Superior Court of New Castle County (1992)
• Lisa Roberson Hatfield:^[28] First female to serve as the Alderman's Court for Newark (2007)
• Jan R. Jurden: First female to become President of the New Castle County Superior Court, Delaware (2012)
• Battle Robinson (1971):^[29] First female lawyer in Sussex County, Delaware
• Rosemary Betts Beauregard:^[30] First female judge in Sussex County, Delaware
• Michelle Jewell: First Hispanic American magistrate in Sussex County, Delaware

See also

• List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States
• Timeline of women lawyers in the United States
• Women in law

Other topics of interest

• List of first minority male lawyers and judges in the United States
• List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Delaware

Notes and References

1. Book: Delaware Lawyer: A Publication of Delaware Bar Foundation. 1998. The Foundation. en.
2. Web site: Delaware's First Women Lawyers: The Flow of Acceptability. Paradee. Jacqueline P.. Fall 1993. Delaware Lawyer, 11:3. October 6, 2016.
3. Web site: 2023-10-31 . Program from Celebration of 95 Years of Women in the Delaware Bar – August 23, 2018 . 2024-02-10 . Justice Randy J. Holland Memorial . en.
4. Web site: January 9, 2019 . House Administration Committee Meeting Minutes . HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: STATE OF DELAWARE.
5. Web site: Black Women in Delaware's History. www1.udel.edu. 2016-10-08.
6. Web site: Defying the Stereotype, a Latina Lawyer's Rite of Passage by Nivea Castro - Wendy Angulo Productions. www.wendyanguloproductions.com. 4 January 2018 . 2018-02-17.
7. News: Bar examination yields 77 new lawyers. 1980-10-24. The Morning News. 2020-03-14. 19.
8. Web site: 2023-11-17 . Meet the Indian American lawyer appointed to a key position by Biden - Commonwealth Union . 2024-05-14 . en.
9. News: Roxana Cannon Arsht, Delaware's first female judge. 2018-01-03.
10. Web site: WOMEN AND THE DELAWARE BAR AND BENCH: IT TAKES GENERATIONS. DeMatteis. Claire M.. 2014. Delaware Law Review.
11. News: Del. Supreme Court Justice Berger to retire . USA TODAY . 2018-02-02.
12. Web site: History: Our Judicial Officers - About Us - Superior Court - Delaware Courts - State of Delaware . 2018-12-22 . courts.delaware.gov.
13. Web site: Investiture of the Honorable Haile L. Alford. 1992.
14. Web site: History: Our Judicial Officers - About Us - Superior Court - Delaware Courts - State of Delaware. courts.delaware.gov. 2018-02-02.
15. Book: Delaware Lawyer: A Publication of Delaware Bar Foundation . 2000 . The Foundation . en.
16. DeMatteis. Claire M.. 2014. ARTICLE: WOMEN AND THE DELAWARE BAR AND BENCH: IT TAKES GENERATIONS. Del. L. Rev.. 14. 125.
17. Web site: Jurden becomes first female president of Superior Court . 2018-12-23 . delawareonline . en.
18. Web site: Cohen . Celia . December 2, 2014 . JURDEN JOINS THE LIST FOR JUDICIAL PROMOTIONS . 2022-02-15 . www.delawaregrapevine.com.
19. Web site: Delaware's first African-American Supreme Court Justice sworn in. Schmidt. Nick Ciolino, Sophia. www.delawarepublic.org. 3 January 2020 . en. 2020-01-15.
20. Web site: Hon. Jane Richards Roth: Senior Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Gaza. Anna Shea. September 2017. The Federal Lawyer.
21. Web site: Ableman, Peggy L. Professionals McCarter & English. www.mccarter.com. 2019-06-28.
22. Web site: Judge Brady Sworn In, Opens Up. courts.delaware.gov. en. 2018-11-19.
23. Web site: Our History. www.morrisjames.com. 2019-07-04.
24. Web site: First and only female Levy Court Commissioner passes. Dear. Sophie F.. December 2007. Kent Connections.
25. Web site: Kent County's first DCM .
26. News: Sara Pennington, first female Justice of the Peace in New Castle County, 1953-1961.. The News Journal. 23 February 1993 . 14 . en. 2019-07-10.
27. Web site: Phila Furry George: Obituary. June 29, 1996. The News Journal. en. 2019-03-27.
28. Web site: Neff . Christine . December 21, 2007 . New Alderman Takes Office . Newark Post.
29. DeMatteis. Claire M.. 2014. WOMEN AND THE DELAWARE BAR AND BENCH: IT TAKES GENERATIONS. Delaware Law Review. 14. 125.
30. Web site: History - Court of Common Pleas - Delaware Courts - State of Delaware. courts.delaware.gov. 2018-12-23.