List of first women lawyers and judges in Kansas explained

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

Lawyers

• First female: Jennie Mitchell Kellogg (1880)^[1]
• First African American female: Lutie Lytle (1897)^[2]
• First Native American (Wyandot) female: Lyda Conley (1902)^[3]
• First female to argue a case before the Supreme Court of Kansas: Nellie Cline Steenson^[4]
• First Latino American female:^{[5] [6] [7]} M. Rebeca Mendoza (1975)

State judges

• First female (probate court): Mary H. Cooper in 1908^{[8] [9] [10] [11]}
• First African American female: Jennifer L. Jones (1985) in 1992^{[12] [13]}
• First female (district court): Kay McFarland (1964) in 1973^{[14] [15]}
• First female (Supreme Court of Kansas): Kay McFarland (1964) in 1977
• First female (Kansas Court of Appeals): Mary Beck Briscoe in 1984^[16]
• First female (Chief Justice; Supreme Court of Kansas): Kay McFarland (1964) in 1995
• First female (Eleventh District of Kansas): Lori Bolton Fleming in 2012^[17]
• First female (Ninth District of Kansas): Marilyn M. Wilder in 2015^[18]
• First Jewish female (Supreme Court of Kansas): Melissa Taylor Standridge in 2020^[19]
• First Hispanic American (female) (Kansas Court of Appeals): Rachel L. Pickering in 2022^[20]

Federal judges

• First African American female (U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas): Julie A. Robinson (1981) in 2001^[21]

• First female: Carla Stovall from 1995 to 2003^[22]

Assistant Attorney General

• First female: Jennie Mitchell Kellogg (1880) from 1891 to 1893

County Attorney

• First female: Elfrieda Kenyon around 1939^[23]

Political Office

• Kathryn O’Loughlin McCarthy (1921): First female (a lawyer) to serve in Congress (1933-1935)
• Sharice Davids (2010):^{[24] [25]} First Native American (Ho-Chunk tribe) and openly-LGBT female (a lawyer) elected to Congress in Kansas (2018)

• First female admitted: Marie Elizabeth Simpson Degeer Gilmore (1887)
• First female president: Christel E. Marquardt from 1987 to 1988^[26]

Firsts in local history

• Lori Bolton Fleming: First female to become a Judge of the Eleventh District of Kansas (2012) [<nowiki/>[[Cherokee County, Kansas|Cherokee]], Crawford and Labette Counties, Kansas]
• Marilyn M. Wilder: First female appointed to the Kansas Judicial District No. 9 (2015) [<nowiki/>[[Harvey County, Kansas|Harvey]] and McPherson Counties, Kansas]
• Nanette L. Kemmerly-Weber: First female to serve as the County Attorney for Allen County, Kansas (1982)
• Lizzie S. Sheldon (1900):^[27] First female lawyer in Douglas County, Kansas
• Jean Shepherd:^[28] First female judge in Douglas County, Kansas (1984)
• Rebeca Mendoza:^[29] First Hispanic American female to graduate from the University of Kansas School of Law (1972) [<nowiki/>[[Douglas County, Kansas]]]
• Christine Arguello (1980):^{[30] [31]} First Hispanic American (female) to receive tenure at the University of Kansas School of Law
• Maritza Segarra:^[32] 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): First female lawyer in Graham County, Kansas
• Elfrieda Kenyon: First female to serve as the County Attorney for Hodgeman County, Kansas (c. 1939)
• Gwendolyn Van Derbur Falkenberg (1957):^{[33] [34]} First female lawyer in Johnson County, Kansas
• Carolee Sauder Leek (1959):^[35] First female judge in Johnson County, Kansas (1965)
• Janette Sheldon: First female to serve as the President of the Johnson County Bar Association (1988)
• Rhonda Mason (1989):^[36] First African-American female judge in Johnson County, Kansas (2016)
• Beulah Wheeler (1925): First African American female lawyer in Leavenworth, Kansas [<nowiki/>[[Leavenworth County, Kansas]]]
• Mary H. Cooper: First female probate judge in Beloit, Kansas (1908) [<nowiki/>[[Mitchell County, Kansas]]]
• Sally Pokorny:^[37] First female to be elected as the County Attorney for Montgomery County, Kansas
• Thelma Helsper Boatman: First female to be elected as the County Attorney for Norton County, Kansas
• Shelley Depp (Greenwood) Bloomer:^[38] First female to serve as a County Attorney for Osborne County, Kansas (1975)
• Dorothy M. Jackson: First female district court judge in Lyons, Kansas (1922) [<nowiki/>[[Rice County, Kansas]]]
• K. Seely Racine (1934): First female lawyer in Russell County, Kansas
• Nola Foulston:^[39] 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) [<nowiki/>[[Sedgwick County, Kansas]]]
• Maxine Walker Wood:^[40] First female to serve as the County Attorney for Seward County, Kansas
• Jessie Nye: First female law graduate of the Washburn Law School (1912) [<nowiki/>[[Shawnee County, Kansas]]]
• Kay McFarland (1964): First female elected to a judgeship in Shawnee County, Kansas (1971)
• Linda Diane Henry Elrod: First female to serve as the President of the Topeka Bar Association (1986) [<nowiki/>[[Shawnee County, Kansas]]]
• Regina Victoria Mills Chambers (1900): First female lawyer in Sheridan County, Kansas
• LaVone Daily (1957): First female lawyer in Wyandotte County, Kansas
• Karen Shelor: First female to serve as the President of the Wyandotte County Bar Association (1986)
• Candice Alcaraz:^[41] First African American female district court judge in Wyandotte County, Kansas (2022)

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 Kansas

References

1. Book: The Journal of the Kansas Bar Association. 2001-01-01. Bar Association of the State of Kansas.
2. Book: Smith, John Clay. Rebels in Law: Voices in History of Black Women Lawyers. 2000-01-01. University of Michigan Press. 0472086464.
3. Book: The Bookman. 1911. Dodd, Mead and Company.
4. Web site: Nellie Cline - Kansas Memory - Kansas Historical Society. www.kshs.org. 2017-10-16.
5. Atencio . Dolores S. . 2023 . Luminarias: An Empirical Portrait of the First Generation of Latina Lawyers 1880-1980 . Chicana/O Latina/o Law Review . en . 39 . 1 . 10.5070/cllr.v39i1.61869 . 2024-03-08 . 1061-8899.
6. Book: MALDEF . 1976 . Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund . en.
7. Web site: 2014-12-09 . KU Law Magazine Fall 2014 by University of Kansas School of Law - Issuu . 2024-02-11 . issuu.com . en.
8. Book: National Municipal Review. 1915. National Municipal League. en.
9. Book: The Voter. 1910. Voter Company. en.
10. Web site: Sayings, Doings, Achievements, Sufferings, Hopes and Fears of Mankind. June 1, 1912. www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org. 2019-07-11.
11. Book: The W.B.A. Review. 1910. Woman's Benefit Association. en.
12. Web site: Municipal Court - Judge Jennifer L. Jones. www.wichita.gov. 2018-02-01.
13. Web site: The Honorable Jennifer Jones The HistoryMakers. www.thehistorymakers.org. 2018-02-01.
14. Web site: Kay McFarland - Kansapedia - Kansas Historical Society. www.kshs.org. 2018-12-30.
15. Upon McFarland's appointment to the Fifth Division of the District Court in Topeka
16. Book: Kansas Register . 1985 . Kansas Secretary of State . en.
17. Web site: District swears in first female judge. PATRICK. NIKKI. Morning Sun. en. 2018-12-30.
18. News: Frey . Chad . January 8, 2016 . First female judge sworn in . The Kansan . 2018-01-06.
19. Web site: Standridge ascends to seat on Kansas Supreme Court - Kansas City Jewish Chronicle . 2024-05-16 . www.kcjc.com.
20. Web site: Motter . Sarah . Gov. appoints first Hispanic female to Court of Appeals pending confirmation . 2022-09-14 . WIBW . 26 August 2022 . en.
21. Web site: District of Kansas Julie A. Robinson. www.ksd.uscourts.gov. 2018-01-19.
22. Web site: Larry Steckline: One NW Kansas boy's journey to success. LAPIERRE. KAREN. The Hays Daily News. en. 2018-12-13.
23. Book: Independent Woman. 1939. National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs. en.
24. Web site: Democrat Sharice Davids Becomes First Native American Woman Elected to Congress. 2018-11-07. The Daily Beast. en. 2018-11-07.
25. News: All the Good News From the Midterm Elections. Lawler. Opheli Garcia. The Cut. 2018-11-07. en.
26. Web site: Kansas Judicial Branch - Court of Appeals - Christel E. Marquardt. www.kscourts.org. 2018-12-30.
27. Book: Kansas Reports. 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 state printing plant. en.
28. Web site: Colleagues call retiring Judge Jean Shepherd's expertise with family law 'irreplaceable'. LJWorld.com. 2018-02-09.
29. Web site: |access-date=2022-03-04 |website=law.ku.edu |language=en KU Law History .
30. News: Hispanic Heritage: Accomplished judge helps students become lawyers . KUSA . 2018-02-07.
31. Web site: 2021-09-16 . 4 Questions For 4 Latina Criminal Justice Trailblazers: Judge Christine Arguello . 2022-03-04 . Oxygen Official Site . en-US.
32. Web site: Geary County's first female judge to retire this year. YourDU.net. 10 October 2018 . en. 2018-12-10.
33. Elrod. Linda Diane Henry. 2004. Washburn Law School Celebrates a Century of Welcoming Women. Washburn Law Journal. 42.
34. Flachsbarth. Annie. Fall 2017. Alumni Spotlight: Lessons in Dedication, Linda Elrod, '72. Washburn Lawyer. 54. 1 .
35. Web site: CAROLEE SAUDER LEEK's Obituary on Kansas City Star. Kansas City Star. 2017-10-16.
36. News: Lifetime ambition realized for Johnson County's first African-American judge. kansascity. 2018-01-12.
37. Web site: Douglas County district judge wins prestigious Kansas Women Attorney's Association award. LJWorld.com. en-US. 2018-12-30.
38. Web site: The attractive young woman in the county attorney's office is the county attorney.. Osborne. Scott Seirer. June 29, 1975. The Hays Daily News.
39. Web site: Raising the Bar: America Celebrates 150 Years of Women Lawyers 1869-2019. Issuu. 2 August 2019 . en. 2020-03-10.
40. Book: Kansas Government Journal. 1955. en.
41. Web site: Merchant . Josh . 2022-08-03 . Candice Alcaraz will become Wyandotte County's first Black female district judge . 2022-08-12 . The Beacon . en-US.