List of first women lawyers and judges in South Carolina explained

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

Law School

• First female law graduate: Claudia J. Sullivan (1918)^[1]

Lawyers

• First female: James M. Perry (1918)^[2]
• First African American female: Cassandra E. Maxwell (1938)^[3]
• First female to practice in South Carolina's federal courts: Sue Evelyn Lester^[4]

State judges

• First female (magistrate): Kitty Herbert in 1979^[5]
• First female (judge): Judy Bridges in 1983^{[6] [7]}
• First female (Acting; South Carolina Supreme Court): Carol Connor in 1984^[8]
• First female (South Carolina Supreme Court): Jean H. Toal in 1988
• First female (South Carolina Circuit Court): Carol Connor in 1988
• First African American female (family court): Abigail Rogers in 1991^{[9] [10]}
• First female (South Carolina Court of Appeals): Carol Connor in 1993^[11]
• First female (Chief Justice; South Carolina Supreme Court): Jean H. Toal in 2000

Federal judges

• First female (federal court): Jean Galloway Bissell in 1984^[12]
• First female (United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit): Karen J. Williams (1980) in 1992^[13]
• First African American female (U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina): Margaret B. Seymour (1977) in 1998^[14]
• First African American female from South Carolina (United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit): DeAndrea G. Benjamin in 2023^[15]

Deputy Attorney General

• First female: Karen L. Henderson^{[16] [17]}

United States Attorney

• First female: Sherri Lydon in 2018^[18]

• First female president: Elaine Fowler in 1993
• First African American female president: Shaheena Bennett in 2024^[19]

Firsts in local history

• Courtney Clyburn-Pope:^[20] First female (and African American) to serve as a resident judge (Second Judicial Circuit) in Aiken County, South Carolina (2019)
• Grace White (1937):^[21] First female lawyer in Beaufort, South Carolina [<nowiki/>[[Beaufort County, South Carolina]]]
• Mabel Lee Parrott Shuler:^[22] First female (non-attorney) magistrate in Berkeley County, South Carolina (1984)
• Clyde Best Sandifer:^[23] First female (non-attorney) magistrate in Bamberg County, South Carolina (1960)
• Hannah R. Axelman (1931):^{[24] [25]} First female lawyer in Charleston County, South Carolina
• Ruth Cupp:^[26] First female lawyer admitted to the Charleston County Bar Association
• Margie Elizabeth Fuller Cannon:^[27] First female magistrate in Charleston County, South Carolina (1968)
• Barbara Usher Griffin:^[28] First female magistrate judge for Chester County, South Carolina
• Nettie B. Cusack: First African American Female Probate Judge in Dorchester County (2005-2011)
• Carolyn Smith Knight:^[29] First female magistrate in Florence County, South Carolina
• Nancy Isabelle Richardson Shelley:^[30] First female magistrate in Orangeburg County, South Carolina (1999)
• Jasmine Twitty:^{[32] [33] [34]} First female (and African American female) to become the youngest judge appointed in Easley, South Carolina (Pickens County, South Carolina; 2015)
• Karen Sanchez Roper:^[35] First female resident judge in Pickens County, South Carolina (2016)

See also

• List of first women lawyers and judges in South Dakota
• 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 South Carolina

References

1. Web site: History - School of Law University of South Carolina. www.sc.edu. en. 2018-01-03.
2. Web site: SCWLA - Timeline. www.scwla.org. 2016-10-06.
3. Book: Smith, J. Clay Jr.. Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844–1944. 1999-01-01. University of Pennsylvania Press. 0812216857. en.
4. Web site: Women's Legal History Biographical Search. Women's Legal History. en-US. 2017-10-25.
5. Web site: 2011–2012 . 119th Session, H. 4810 . South Carolina General Assembly.
6. Book: Burke . W. Lewis Jr. . Madam Chief Justice: Jean Hoefer Toal of South Carolina . Assey . Joan P. . 2015-12-22 . Univ of South Carolina Press . 9781611176933 . en.
7. News: Women - South Carolina Encyclopedia . en-US . South Carolina Encyclopedia . 2018-01-10.
8. Web site: State's first female circuit court judge dies at 54 . 2023-11-20 . Spartanburg Herald Journal . en-US.
9. Cook. Julian Abele. 1996. Washington. Linn. Dream Makers: Black Judges on Justice. Michigan Law Review. 94. 6. 1479–1494. 10.2307/1289957. 0026-2234.
10. Web site: 1995 Permanent Senate Journal Printed Pages 3080-3089 - South Carolina Legislature Online. 2021-02-23. www.scstatehouse.gov.
11. Web site: State's first female circuit court judge dies at 54 . 2023-11-20 . Spartanburg Herald Journal . en-US.
12. Web site: SCWLA - South Carolina Women Lawyers Association. www.scwla.org. 2019-01-03.
13. News: SC native, federal judge retires after Alzheimer's diagnosis . en . 2018-02-09.
14. Web site: 1999-2000 Bill 3608: The Honorable Margaret B. Seymour, Resolutions - South Carolina Legislature Online. www.scstatehouse.gov. 2018-01-19.
15. Web site: Civility on the bench . 2024-02-22 . University of South Carolina . en.
16. Book: Judiciary, United States Congress Senate Committee on the. Confirmation Hearings on Federal Appointments: Hearings Before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Ninety-ninth Congress, First Session, on Confirmation Hearings on Appointments to the Federal Judiciary and the Department of Justice. 1987. U.S. Government Printing Office. en.
17. Book: Congress, United States. Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress. 1990. U.S. Government Printing Office. en.
18. News: SC's first female US attorney Sherri Lydon is on the job. thestate. 2018-10-05. en.
19. Web site: Board of Governors . 2024-07-16 . South Carolina Bar . en.
20. Web site: Aiken County gets first resident judge in almost 80 years. Girardeau. Tripp. Aiken Standard. en. 2019-07-22.
21. Web site: USC Beaufort's first downtown student housing to open soon TheDigitel. www.thedigitel.com. en. 2018-02-12.
22. News: Mabel Lee Parrott Shuler. Berkeley Independent. 2018-03-12. en.
23. News: Mabel Clyde Best Sandifer. Arizona Republic Archive. 2018-03-12. en.
24. Web site: CurranGallery. CurranGallery. en. 2017-10-16.
25. News: About - Charleston County Bar Association. Charleston County Bar Association. 2018-01-04. en-US.
26. Web site: Our History: Ruth Cupp, attorney, legislator, historian – City of North Charleston, SC . 2024-08-13 . en-US.
27. Web site: Pioneering female magistrate dies. Post and Courier. en. 2019-07-09.
28. Web site: Obituary for Barbara Usher Griffin. Home. Pollard Funeral. Obituary for Barbara Usher Griffin. en. 2019-07-09.
29. Web site: Judge Carolyn Smith Knight. SCNow. en. 2019-07-09.
30. GLEATON, D. (2002, September 30). A lifetime of reading: Edisto Book Club marks 75th anniversary with tree plantings. <em>Times and Democrat, The (Orangeburg, SC)</em>. Available from NewsBank: Access World News: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&docref=news/115E0FFC0134F9A8.
31. Black The Sun News, G. (2003, February 2). JUDGE SHELLEY A HARD WORKER, HONEST, FAIR, COMPASSIONATE. <em>Sun News, The (Myrtle Beach, SC)</em>, p. C2. Available from NewsBank: Access World News: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&docref=news/0F902A9B38362BBC. First female magistrate in Horry County, South Carolina
    • Foye Covington:^[30]
32. News: How Jasmine Twitty is Making History as a 25-Year-Old Judge. 2016-04-20. 2018-02-02. en.
33. Web site: Making History: Jasmine Twitty becomes youngest appointed judge in America Black Star News. www.blackstarnews.com. 2018-02-02.
34. Web site: Meet 26-Year-Old Judge Jasmine Twitty. Gershman. Jacob. 2016-05-18. WSJ. en-US. 2018-02-02.
35. Web site: Pickens County gets first woman resident judge. The Greenville News. en. 2018-12-26.