List of first women lawyers and judges in Missouri explained

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

Law School

• First female law graduate: Phoebe Couzins in 1871^[1]

Lawyers

• First female: Lemma Barkeloo (1870)^[2]
• First female (practice law in the first congressional district of Maryland): Lois Buhl (1904)^{[3] [4] [5]}
• First African American female: Dorothy L. Freeman (1942)^[6]
• First (African American) female (U.S. Commission on Civil Rights): Frankie Muse Freeman (1937) in 1964^{[7] [8]}
• First African American female to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States: Leona P. Thurman (1949)^{[9] [10]}

State judges

• First female (non-attorney judge): Frances Hopkins in 1915^{[11] [12] [13]}
• First female elected: Margaret Young (1931) in 1954^{[14] [15]}
• First female appointed: Marybelle Mueller (1950) in 1955^{[16] [17]}
• First female (under the Missouri Nonpartisan Court Plan): Anna Forder (1974) in 1979^[18]
• First female elected (circuit court): Ellen Roper (1973) in 1982^[19]
• First African American female: Evelyn Marie Baker in 1983^{[20] [21] [22]}
• First female (Supreme Court of Missouri): Ann K. Covington (1977) in 1988^[23]
• First Hispanic American female (circuit court): Justine Del Muro in 1993^[24]
• First female (Supreme Court of Missouri; Chief Justice): Ann K. Covington (1977) from 1993-1995
• First African American female (Missouri Court of Appeals): Lisa White Hardwick (1985) in 2001^[25]
• First Asian American (female): Judy Preddy Draper in 2004^{[26] [27]}
• First African American female (Chief Judge; Missouri Court of Appeals): Nannette Baker in 2008^{[28] [29]}
• First African-American female (Presiding Judge; Twenty-Second Judicial Circuit): Robin Ransom in 2018^[30]
• First African-American female (Supreme Court of Missouri): Robin Ransom in 2021

Federal judges

• First African American female (U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri; Chief Justice): Carol E. Jackson (1976) in 1992 and 2002 respectively^[31]

Assistant Attorney General

• First female: Margaret Young (1931)

Public Defender

• First female: Terry Daley Schwartze in 1980^[32]

County Prosecutor

• First female: Mayce Jones Maness (1929) in 1942^{[33] [34]}

• First female president: Doreen Dodson^[35]
• First African American female president: Dana Tippin Cutler^[36]

Firsts in local history

• Hilda Neihardt (1963):^[37] First female lawyer to practice law in central Missouri
• Mary Tiera Farrow (c. 1924):^[38] First female lawyer in Kansas City, Missouri [<nowiki/>[[Jackson County, Missouri|Jackson County]], Clay County, Platte County, and Cass County]
• Leona P. Thurman (1949): First African American female lawyer in Kansas City, Missouri [<nowiki/>[[Jackson County, Missouri|Jackson County]], Clay County, Platte County, and Cass County]
• Rosemary Straub Davison:^{[39] [40]} First female lawyer in Monroe County, Missouri and Ralls County, Missouri
• Gloria Clark Reno:^[41] First African American female to serve as the Presiding Judge for the 21st Judicial Circuit (2018).
• Kayla Jackson-Williams:^[42] First African American (female) elected as a judge in Boone County, Missouri (2022)
• Margaret Young (1931): First female elected as a Buchanan County Magistrate Judge (1954)
• Delia C. Holt:^[43] First female lawyer in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri
• Dana Altieri:^[44] First female judge in Lee's Summit (2010) [<nowiki/>[[Cass County, Missouri|Cass]] and Jackson Counties, Missouri]
• Jane Pansing Brown:^[45] First female judge in Clay County, Missouri
• Lisa Henderson:^[46] First female judge in Dallas County, Missouri (2010)
• Virginia Booth Anding:^[47] Reputed to be the first female lawyer in Franklin County, Missouri
• Alma Smith Dodson:^[48] First woman admitted to the Bar of Greene County, Missouri
• Edith Messina (1974):^[49] First female judge in Jackson County, Missouri (1984)
• Christine Hutson:^[50] First female to serve as an Associate Circuit Judge for Laclede County, Missouri
• Hazel Palmer:^[51] First female lawyer in Pettis County, Missouri. She would later become a judge.
• Mayce Jones Maness (1929): First female to serve as a County Prosecutor in Ripley County, Missouri (1942)
• Phoebe Couzins:^[52] First female law graduate from the University of Washington School of Law in St. Louis, Missouri (1871)
• Dorothy L. Freeman (1942): First African American female lawyer in St. Louis, Missouri
• Mabel Wood Hinckley: First female judge in St. Louis, Missouri
• Esther M. Golly (1931):^[53] First female admitted to the Bar of the Circuit Court of St. Louis County. She was also the first female President of the St. Louis County Bar Association.
• Gerre Strehlman Langton:^[54] First female to serve as the Assistant Prosecuting Attorney for St. Louis County, Missouri (1960)
• Susan Block (1975): First female elected judge in St. Louis, St. Louis County, Missouri
• Sandra Hemphill (1992): First African American female judge
• Christina Kime:^[55] First female judge in Wayne County, Missouri (2018)

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 Missouri

References

1. Book: Waal . Carla . Hardship and Hope: Missouri Women Writing about Their Lives, 1820-1920 . Korner . Barbara Oliver . 1997 . University of Missouri Press . 978-0-8262-1120-0 . en.
2. Book: Legal Gazette. 1870. King and Baird.
3. News: Lois Buhl of Kirksvillle Granted License to Practice Law. 1904-02-06. 2018-08-16.
4. News: First female lawyer in the Missouri first congressional district. 1904-02-10. 2018-08-16.
5. Buhl was granted the license by Judge Shelton, and the Macon Republican reported that she stood a "very satisfactory examination" and was the only woman lawyer.
6. Web site: Breaking the Barriers. www.lb8.uscourts.gov. 2016-10-07.
7. Book: Smith, John Clay. Rebels in Law: Voices in History of Black Women Lawyers. 2000. University of Michigan Press. 9780472086467. en.
8. Book: Chen, Anthony S.. The Fifth Freedom: Jobs, Politics, and Civil Rights in the United States, 1941-1972. 2009-06-15. Princeton University Press. 9780691139531. en.
9. Book: Smith, John Clay. Rebels in Law: Voices in History of Black Women Lawyers. 2000. University of Michigan Press. 9780472086467. en.
10. Book: Mo. Woman to Practice Before Supreme Court. June 28, 1962. Jet Magazine. en.
11. Book: Justice, Missouri Task Force on Gender and. Report of the Missouri Task Force on Gender and Justice. May 1994. DIANE Publishing. 9780788106989.
12. Book: Women Lawyers' Journal. 1911. National Association of Women Lawyers.
13. News: Joplin News Herald Newspaper Archives, Dec 20, 1914, p. 9. 1914-12-20. NewspaperArchive.com. 2018-10-15.
14. Tokarz. Karen. 1986. Women Judges and Merit Selection Under the Missouri Plan. Washington University Law Review. 64:3.
15. Book: Official Manual, State of Missouri. 1993. Secretary of State.
16. News: Former judge Marybelle Mueller dies; remembered as first female lawyer to serve as judge in Missouri. 2018-10-13. seMissourian.com. 2018-10-15.
17. News: Marybelle Mueller. 2018-10-13. seMissourian.com. 2018-10-15.
18. Web site: Former governor remembered for breaking gender barrier in nonpartisan judicial appointments. www.courts.mo.gov. 2018-02-08.
19. Upon her appointment to the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit
20. News: 2008-03-12 . Feisty Judge Will Retire After 25 Years . 2018-01-12.
21. News: 2008-03-12 . Missouri's first female black circuit judge to retire . seMissourian.com . 2018-01-31.
22. Upon her appointment as a circuit court judge
23. Web site: Four female judges sit on Supreme Court bench for first time in Court's history . 2018-01-04 . www.courts.mo.gov.
24. Book: Official Manual, State of Missouri . 1993 . Secretary of State . en.
25. Web site: Celebrating African-Americans' contributions to Missouri's justice system . 2018-01-31 . www.courts.mo.gov.
26. Web site: Korean Veterans to Hear From Judge Who Is Native of Korea . 2022-04-14 . The Missourian . en.
27. Draper is also African American and she and her husband became the first African American couple to serve as judges in Missouri.
28. Web site: 2012-07-17 . Nannette Baker . 2019-07-31 . College of Communication & Information.
29. Web site: 2009-05-18 . Nanette Baker: The Judge Is a Vol . 2019-07-31 . Tennessee Alumnus . en-US.
30. Web site: St. Louis judge appointed to appeals court. Rizvic. Veneta. January 10, 2019. www.bizjournals.com. 2019-01-10.
31. Web site: Celebrating African-Americans' contributions to Missouri's justice system. www.courts.mo.gov. 2018-01-12.
32. Web site: Terry Daley Schwartze. Welcome to Maries County, Missouri. 2019-03-25.
33. Web site: The First Century: Women Who Led the Way. MISSOURI ALMANAC, 1993-94.
34. Web site: Women Who Led the Way. arch.law.wustl.edu. 2020-02-27.
35. Web site: Doreen Dodson – Missouri Lawyers Media. Missouri Lawyers Weekly. en-US. 2019-01-01. Louis. St. Mo 63102421-1880.
36. Web site: Cutler named 2018 Woman of the Year. Staff Report. 2018-03-16. Missouri Lawyers Media. en-US. 2019-06-27.
37. News: Hilda Neihardt. Fremont Tribune. 2018-01-20.
38. Web site: Back to Professor Thomas . 2018-01-20 . www1.law.umkc.edu.
39. News: County's Public Works director calling it a career . dcourier . 2017-10-16.
40. News: Ross . Gloria S. . Rosemary Straub Davison: Longtime Activist Put A New, Familiar Face On Old Town Florissant . 2017-10-15.
41. Web site: American . Chris King Of The St Louis . Gloria Clark Reno becomes St. Louis County's first black presiding judge . 2019-07-17 . St. Louis American . en.
42. Web site: Nava . Valerie . Kayla Jackson-Williams wins Division 10 associate circuit judge seat . 2022-08-12 . Columbia Missourian . en.
43. News: Out of the past 3/26/05. 2005-03-26. seMissourian.com. 2017-10-17.
44. Web site: 2022-03-26 . Judge Altieri Runs For Re-Election . 2023-04-14 . Lee's Summit Tribune . en-US.
45. News: JANE PANSING BROWN. 2016-04-12. Missouri Lawyers Media. 2018-01-06.
46. News: Dallas County's first woman judge has made her mark. Campbell. Paul. October 26, 2017. BuffaloReflex.com.
47. News: Pacific Woman Remembers Life As an Innkeeper on Route 66. Masson. Pauline. The Missourian. 2017-10-13.
48. Web site: History of the SMBA - Springfield Metropolitan Bar. www.springfieldbar.com. 2017-10-17.
49. News: First female judge in Jackson County to retire. [e-mail]. Brandon Dumsky. Examiner. 2018-01-04.
50. Web site: County Courts of Southwest Missouri. September 2007. Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association.
51. News: Number of female lawyers, judges increasing. Democrat. Sedalia. Sedalia Democrat. 2017-10-16.
52. Web site: Women Trailblazers in the Law: Utahs' First 100 Women Lawyers.
53. Web site: St Louis County Bar Assn in Chesterfield, MO. YP.com. 2017-10-17.
54. Book: The Key. 1960. en.
55. Web site: Governor Parson Appoints Christina Kime as Wayne County Associate Circuit Judge Governor Michael L. Parson. governor.mo.gov. 2018-12-07.