List of first women lawyers and judges in Mississippi explained

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

Lawyers

• First female: Susie Blue Buchanan (1918)^{[1] [2] [3]}
• First African American female: Marian Wright Edelman (1963)^[4]
• First known Hispanic American female: Doris Bobadilla (1991)^{[5] [6]}

State judges

• First female: Zelma Wells Price (1929) in 1955^{[7] [8] [9] [10]}
• First African American female: Constance Slaughter-Harvey (1970) in 1976^{[11] [12]}
• First female (Mississippi Supreme Court): Lenore L. Prather (1955) in 1982^[13]
• First female (Mississippi Court of Appeals): Mary Libby Payne in 1995^[14]
• First female (Chief Justice; Mississippi Supreme Court): Lenore L. Prather (1955) in 1998
• First African American female (Mississippi Court of Appeals): Ermea Russell in 2011^{[15] [16]}
• First female (Chief Judge; Mississippi Court of Appeals): Donna Barnes in 2019^[17]
• First African American (female) (Twenty-Second Circuit Court District): Tomika Harris-Irving in 2019^[18]

Federal judges

• First African American (female) (Magistrate Judge; U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi): Linda Anderson in 2006
• First female (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi): Sharion Aycock (1980) in 2007^[19]
• First female (bankruptcy court): Katharine Malley Samson in 2010^[20]
• First African American female (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi): Debra M. Brown (1997) in 2013^[21]

• First female: Lynn Fitch in 2020^[22]

Assistant Attorney General

• First female: Evelyn Gandy (1947) in 1959^[23]

United States Attorney

• First female: Felicia C. Adams in 2011^[24]

Assistant United States Attorney

• First female: Euple Dozier in 1955^[25]

District Attorney

• First African American female: E. Faye Peterson in 2001^[26]

Assistant District Attorney

• First female: Kathy King Jackson in 1977:^[27]

Political Office

• First female (Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi): Evelyn Gandy (1947) from 1976-1980

• First female: Joy Lambert Phillips (1980) in 2005^[28]
• First African American female: Patricia W. Bennett in 2018^{[29] [30]}

Firsts in local history

• Patricia Burchell:^{[31] [32]} First female to serve as the District Attorney for Forrest and Perry Counties, Mississippi (2010)
• Latrice Westbrooks: First African American female to serve as the Assistant District Attorney for the Second Circuit Court District (1997) [<nowiki/>[[Hancock County, Mississippi|Hancock]], Harrison and Stone Counties, Mississippi]
• Michele Purvis Harris (1987): First female (and African American female) to serve as the Chief City Prosecutor for the City of Jackson, Mississippi (1994) [Hinds, Madison and Rankin Counties, Mississippi]
• Mary Lee Toles:^[33] First African American (female) judge in Natchez, Mississippi [<nowiki/>[[Adams County, Mississippi]]]
• Marie Kepper (1954):^[34] First female judge in Forrest County, Mississippi
• Clare Sekul Hornsby:^[35] First female to serve as the president of the Harrison County Bar Association
• Faye Peterson:^[36] First African American female to serve as the District Attorney for Hinds County, Mississippi
• Michele Purvis Harris (1987):^[37] First female (and African American female) to serve as the Chief City Prosecutor for the City of Jackson, Mississippi (1994) and the Public Defender for Hinds County, Mississippi (2012)
• Ermea Russell: First African American female to serve as a circuit judge in Hinds County, Mississippi (1998)
• LaRita Cooper-Stokes:^[38] First African American female elected to serve as a judge in Hinds County, Mississippi (2014)
• Tomie Green:^[39] First female (and African American) to serve as the Senior Circuit Judge in the Seventh Circuit Court District [<nowiki/>[[Hinds County, Mississippi]]]
• Constance Slaughter-Harvey: First African American female graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law [<nowiki/>[[Lafayette County, Mississippi]]]. She was the first African American female judge in Scott County, Mississippi (1976).
• Edna Loeb (1936):^[40] First female lawyer in Lowndes County, Mississippi
• Patricia Wise: First female (and African American female) to serve as President of the Magnolia Bar Association [<nowiki/>[[Pike County, Mississippi]]]
• Shequeena McKenzie:^[41] First African American (female) judge in McComb, Mississippi (2022) [<nowiki/>[[Pike County, Mississippi]]]
• Carol L. White-Richard:^[42] First African-American female to serve as the Public Defender for Washington County, Mississippi
• Caroline Crawley Moore:^[43] First female prosecutor in Winton County, Mississippi (2008)
• Ruth Campbell (1918):^[44] First female called to the Yazoo County Bar Association, Mississippi

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 Mississippi

References

1. Book: Wilkerson, Lyn. Slow Travels-Mississippi. 2010-11-08. Lyn Wilkerson. 9781452332291. en.
2. Web site: Sara Buchanan. Newspapers.com. en. 2019-03-27.
3. Buchanan was also the first female admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Mississippi (1916), as well as argue a murder case before that court (1917).
4. Web site: Edelman, Marian Wright (1939-) The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed. www.blackpast.org. en. 2018-01-20.
5. Web site: 1991 Alumna Doris Bobadilla Profiled by The Atlantic College of Law. law.loyno.edu. en. 2018-02-17.
6. News: A Lawyer Who Loves Her Job. Lam. Bourree. The Atlantic. 2018-02-17. en-US.
7. Book: The Mississippi Encyclopedia. Ownby. Ted. Wilson. Charles Reagan. Abadie. Ann J.. Lindsey. Odie. Thomas. James G.. 2017-05-25. Univ. Press of Mississippi. 9781496811592. en.
8. News: The Mid-Delta Judge Zelma Price is dead. February 25, 1974. Newspapers.com. 2018-02-01. en.
9. Book: Mississippi Government and Politics: Modernizers Versus Traditionalists. Krane. Dale. Shaffer. Stephen D.. 1992. U of Nebraska Press. 080327758X. en.
10. Web site: Capital Area Bar Association. caba.ms. 2018-12-31.
11. Book: Mississippi Black History Makers. Sewell. George A.. Dwight. Margaret L.. 2012-01-20. Univ. Press of Mississippi. 9781617034282. en.
12. Book: Congressional Record, V. 147, Pt. 6, May 9, 2001 to May 21 2001. October 2005. Government Printing Office. 9780160729669. en.
13. Web site: Collins Speaker Series: Lenore Prather » Mississippi State University Libraries . 2018-02-02 . lib.msstate.edu . en.
14. Web site: Wells . Valerie . Mary Libby Payne . 2018-12-31 . www.jacksonfreepress.com . en.
15. Web site: MCLaw Judicial Data Project . 2018-12-31 . judicial.mc.edu.
16. Web site: EJ Russell seated on appellate court The Jackson Advocate . 2018-12-31 . en-US.
17. Web site: Progress . David Helms Pontotoc . Chief Judge Donna Barnes sworn in as first woman to lead Court of Appeals . 2019-02-22 . Daily Journal . en.
18. Web site: Copiah County native honored as nation's first female federal trial judge - State of Mississippi Judiciary News. courts.ms.gov. 2020-03-06.
19. Web site: Mississippi College Beacon Magazine A Benchmark Appointment. www.mc.edu. 2018-02-01.
20. Web site: Summer 2011 . News About You . Louisiana Tech Magazine.
21. Web site: School Of Architecture News - Debra M. Brown as Mississippi's first African-American female U.S. District Judge. caad.msstate.edu. en. 2018-01-09.
22. Web site: Gates . Jimmie E. . Lynn Fitch elected Mississippi's first female attorney general . 2022-03-02 . The Clarion-Ledger . en-US.
23. Web site: 'A Lady of Many Firsts': Press Coverage of the Political Career of Mississippi's Evelyn Gandy, 1948-83. 2017-12-13. American Journalism. en-US. 2018-12-13.
24. Web site: Mississippi's 2 U.S. attorneys resign. The Clarion Ledger. en. 2019-01-01.
25. Book: Franks, Mona Robinson Mills and Bob. Fulton. 2017. Arcadia Publishing. 9781467123792. en.
26. Web site: Henry . Daja E. . 2024-01-19 . Meet the 5 Most Powerful People in Mississippi’s Hinds County Justice System . 2024-01-19 . The Marshall Project . en.
27. Web site: Circuit Judge Kathy King Jackson of Pascagoula honored by Mississippi Bar Foundation. Staff. Mississippi Press. gulflive.com. en-US. 2019-01-01.
28. Web site: The Mississippi Bar :: Past Presidents. www.msbar.org. 2018-12-31.
29. Web site: Judges Westbrooks, Owens and Wise honored as Trailblazers - State of Mississippi Judiciary News. courts.ms.gov. 2018-12-31.
30. Web site: Faculty Directory. Mississippi College School of Law. 2018-12-31.
31. Web site: Governor appoints first female DA in Forrest County . 2019-01-01 . WDAM . en-US.
32. Web site: Herrington . Charles . New D.A. sworn-in for Forrest-Perry counties . 2019-03-27 . WDAM 7 . en-US.
33. Web site: Celebrating Black History: Local museum adds unique dimension to Natchez story. Murphy. Patrick. 2020-02-28. Mississippi's Best Community Newspaper. 2020-03-14.
34. News: Marie Kepper Forged Path for Women in Pine Belt. Beveridge. Lici. June 18, 2017. U.S. News & World Report.
35. Web site: Women in the Profession. Winter 2011–2012. The Mississippi Lawyer.
36. News: Black Women Break Barriers In Mississippi With Historic Court Wins. Richards. Kimberley. 2018-11-30. Huffington Post. 2018-12-31. en-US.
37. Web site: Michele Purvis Harris Alumni and Constituency Relations. www.jsums.edu. 2019-01-01.
38. Web site: LaRita Cooper-Stokes, first Black woman judge in Hinds County, dies at 64 . 2023-05-09 . The Clarion-Ledger . en-US.
39. Web site: 2022-02-02. Judge Tomie Green to retire. 2022-02-02. WJTV. en-US.
40. Web site: ISJL - Mississippi Columbus Encyclopedia. Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life. 2018-02-13.
41. Web site: 2021-03-04 . Hometown Heroes: The first female African American Judge in the City of McComb . 2022-08-28 . WJTV . en-US.
42. Web site: Three state judges honored by Mississippi Bar Foundation - State of Mississippi Judiciary News. courts.ms.gov. 2019-01-01.
43. Web site: Aldermen appoint Kelley to Municipal Judge seat Starkville Daily News. starkvilledailynews.com. en. 2018-12-31.
44. Web site: Virginia Ruth Campbell. Newspapers.com. en. 2019-03-27.