Zanzye H.A. Hill Explained

Zanzye H.A. Hill
Birth Date:January 12, 1906
Birth Place:Yazoo City, Mississippi
Death Date:April 4, 1935
Death Place:Yazoo City, Mississippi
Occupation:Lawyer

Zanzye Herterzena A. Hill (January 12, 1906 – April 4, 1935) was Nebraska's first African American female lawyer.[1]

Early life and education

Hill was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska,[2] the daughter of Pinck M. E. Hill and Eliza Johnson Hill.[3] Her older sister Brevy Hill Miller became a newspaper columnist;[4] her younger sister XaCadene Hill Fox became a physician.[5]

She graduated from Lincoln High School in 1924.[6] She completed a bachelor's degree at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (UNL) in 1927.[7] In 1929, Hill—whose poetry appeared in campus publications[8] [9] —became UNL's first African American female law graduate.[10] [11] She was a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority chapter at UNL,[12] and the only Black member of the university vesper choir. She was also active with the Interracial Commission of the university YWCA.[13]

Career

Shortly after law school, Hill became the first African American woman admitted to practice law in Nebraska. She taught briefly at Tuskegee Institute, and worked as chief counsel for an Arkansas insurance company.

Personal life and legacy

Hill died in 1935, in Mississippi, at the age of 29.[14] She had been in poor health for some time, and was hospitalized for a surgery shortly before her death.[15] Hill's achievements were recalled when Elizabeth Davis Pittman became the second Black woman was admitted to the Nebraska bar, in 1948.[16] In 1982, Hill was one of the five historical Nebraskans honored during the state's first Women's History Week.[17]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Book: Smith, John Clay . Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844-1944 . 1999 . University of Pennsylvania Press . 9780812216851 . 465 . en.
  2. News: 1929-06-09 . Admitted to Bar . 6 . The Lincoln Star . 2023-01-14 . Newspapers.com.
  3. Book: Keister . Douglas . Lincoln in Black and White: 1910-1925 . Zimmer . Edward F. . 2008 . Arcadia Publishing . 9780738561622 . 78 . en.
  4. News: Miller . Brevy . 1948-10-28 . Household Hints . 8 . The Voice . 2023-01-14 . Newspapers.com.
  5. Edler, Frank, and Mary K. Stillwell. "Celebrating Women's History Month: Rubie Shakespeare and Brevy Hill Miller, two local women who made a difference" Lincoln City Council Minutes, In Lieu of Directors' Organizational Meeting (March 29, 2021): 3-4.
  6. Lincoln High School, The Links (1924 yearbook): 35. via Ancestry.
  7. News: 1927-10-21 . College of Law Honors Colored Co-Ed . 1 . The Monitor . 2023-01-14 . Newspapers.com.
  8. Breaux . Richard M. . 2004 . The New Negro Arts and Letters Movement among Black University Students in the Midwest, 1914-1940 . Great Plains Quarterly . 24 . 3 . 153–154 . 23533959 . 0275-7664.
  9. Book: The Harlem Renaissance in the American West: The New Negro's Western Experience. Wintz. Cary D.. Glasrud. Bruce A.. 2012-05-22. Routledge. 9781136649103. en.
  10. Book: Black Women of the Harlem Renaissance Era. Bracks. Lean'tin L.. Smith. Jessie Carney. 2014-10-16. Rowman & Littlefield. 9780810885431. en.
  11. Web site: September 15, 2004 . Great Plains Quarterly looks at New Negro movement in Midwest . 2019-08-30 . UNL News Releases.
  12. News: 1929-03-10 . University Young People of Negro Race are Winning Recognition in Many Lines of Study and Activities . 43 . The Nebraska State Journal . 2023-01-14 . Newspapers.com.
  13. News: 1927-12-16 . Understanding of Racial Conditions Students' Object . 1 . Omaha Monitor . 2023-01-14 . Newspapers.com.
  14. News: 1935-04-05 . Miss Zanzye Hill Dead; State's First Colored Woman Attorney Dies in South . 8 . The Nebraska State Journal . 2023-01-14 . Newspapers.com.
  15. News: 1935-04-05 . Miss Zanzye H. Hill Dies in Mississippi . 4 . The Lincoln Star . 2023-01-14 . Newspapers.com.
  16. News: 1948-09-30 . Omaha Woman Admitted to Bar . 1 . The Voice . 2023-01-14 . Newspapers.com.
  17. News: 1982-03-07 . History Week Salutes Women . 85, 91 . Omaha World-Herald . 2023-01-14 . Newspapers.com.

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