Stories from Trailblazing Women Lawyers

Stories from Trailblazing Women Lawyers
Author: Jill Norgren
Publisher: NYU Press
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2020-11-03
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1479805998

The captivating story of how a diverse group of women, including Janet Reno and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, broke the glass ceiling and changed the modern legal profession In Stories from Trailblazing Women Lawyers, award-winning legal historian Jill Norgren curates the oral histories of one hundred extraordinary American women lawyers who changed the profession of law. Many of these stories are being told for the first time. As adults these women were on the front lines fighting for access to law schools and good legal careers. They challenged established rules and broke the law’s glass ceiling.Norgren uses these interviews to describe the profound changes that began in the late 1960s, interweaving social and legal history with the women’s individual experiences. In 1950, when many of the subjects of this book were children, the terms of engagement were clear: only a few women would be admitted each year to American law schools and after graduation their professional opportunities would never equal those open to similarly qualified men. Harvard Law School did not even begin to admit women until 1950. At many law schools, well into the 1970s, men told female students that they were taking a place that might be better used by a male student who would have a career, not babies. In 2005 the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession initiated a national oral history project named the Women Trailblazers in the Law initiative: One hundred outstanding senior women lawyers were asked to give their personal and professional histories in interviews conducted by younger colleagues. The interviews, made available to the author, permit these women to be written into history in their words, words that evoke pain as well as celebration, humor, and somber reflection. These are women attorneys who, in courtrooms, classrooms, government agencies, and NGOs have rattled the world with insistent and successful demands to reshape their profession and their society. They are women who brought nothing short of a revolution to the profession of law.

Paving the Way

Paving the Way
Author: Herma Hill Kay
Publisher: University of California Press
Total Pages: 375
Release: 2021-04-13
Genre: History
ISBN: 0520378954

The first wave of trailblazing female law professors and the stage they set for American democracy. When it comes to breaking down barriers for women in the workplace, Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s name speaks volumes for itself—but, as she clarifies in the foreword to this long-awaited book, there are too many trailblazing names we do not know. Herma Hill Kay, former Dean of UC Berkeley School of Law and Ginsburg’s closest professional colleague, wrote Paving the Way to tell the stories of the first fourteen female law professors at ABA- and AALS-accredited law schools in the United States. Kay, who became the fifteenth such professor, labored over the stories of these women in order to provide an essential history of their path for the more than 2,000 women working as law professors today and all of their feminist colleagues. Because Herma Hill Kay, who died in 2017, was able to obtain so much first-hand information about the fourteen women who preceded her, Paving the Way is filled with details, quiet and loud, of each of their lives and careers from their own perspectives. Kay wraps each story in rich historical context, lest we forget the extraordinarily difficult times in which these women lived. Paving the Way is not just a collection of individual stories of remarkable women but also a well-crafted interweaving of law and society during a historical period when women’s voices were often not heard and sometimes actively muted. The final chapter connects these first fourteen women to the “second wave” of women law professors who achieved tenure-track appointments in the 1960s and 1970s, carrying on the torch and analogous challenges. This is a decidedly feminist project, one that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg advocated for tirelessly and admired publicly in the years before her death.

Pinstripes and Pearls

Pinstripes and Pearls
Author: Judith Hope
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2003
Genre: Law students
ISBN: 074321482X

They look back on law school as a time of enormous personal and intellectual growth.".

Trailblazers: 33 Women in Science Who Changed the World

Trailblazers: 33 Women in Science Who Changed the World
Author: Rachel Swaby
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Total Pages: 210
Release: 2016-09-13
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 0399553967

Florence Nightingale. Sally Ride. Ada Lovelace. These names and others are etched in history and included here as part of an awe-inspiring collection of profiles of thirty-three of the most influential women in science—women whose vision, creativity, passion, and dedication have changed the world. Aspiring scientists, young history enthusiasts, and children who enjoy learning about the world will be fascinated by these riveting snapshots—and parents who enjoyed the film Hidden Figures will find this to be the perfect extension. Covering important advancements made by women in fields such as biology, medicine, astronomy, and technology, author Rachel Swaby explains that people aren’t born brilliant scientists. They observe and experiment as kids and as adults, testing ideas again and again, each time learning something new. Kids are sure to come away with a renewed curiosity about the world and the realization that the road to discovery can be positively thrilling. “This collective biography is most timely. An interesting, engaging collection . . . that will encourage readers to explore further and perhaps pursue their own scientific curiosities.” —Kirkus Reviews “The descriptions of the women’s lives often have a quiet poetry. Readers . . . will find much to admire in these accomplished and unconventional women.” —Publishers Weekly “Swaby’s powerful book serves as an indispensable reminder that women have always been essential to science and innovation. Certain to inspire the next generation of scientists.” —Nathalia Holt, New York Times bestselling author of Rise of the Rocket Girls: The Women Who Propelled Us, From Missiles to the Moon to Mars

Petticoats and Prejudice - Women's Press Classics

Petticoats and Prejudice - Women's Press Classics
Author: Constance Backhouse
Publisher: Canadian Scholars’ Press
Total Pages: 498
Release: 2015-02-01
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0889615225

Drawing on historical records of women’s varying experiences as litigants, accused criminals, or witnesses, this book offers critical insight into women’s legal status in nineteenth-century Canada. In an effort to recover the social and political conditions under which women lobbied, rebelled, and in some cases influenced change, Petticoats and Prejudice weaves together forgotten stories of achievement and defeat in the Canadian legal system. Expanding the concept of “heroism” beyond its traditional limitations, this text gives life to some of Canada’s lost heroines. Euphemia Rabbitt, who resisted an attempted rape, and Clara Brett Martin, who valiantly secured entry into the all-male legal profession, were admired by their contemporaries for their successful pursuits of justice. But Ellen Rogers, a prostitute who believed all women should be legally protected against sexual assault, and Nellie Armstrong, a battered wife and mother who sought child custody, were ostracized for their ideas and demands. Well aware of the limitations placed upon women advocating for reform in a patriarchal legal system, Constance Backhouse recreates vivid and textured snapshots of these and other women’s courageous struggles against gender discrimination and oppression. Employing social history to illuminate the reproductive, sexual, racial, and occupational inequalities that continue to shape women’s encounters with the law, Petticoats and Prejudice is an essential entry point into the gendered treatment of feminized bodies in Canadian legal institutions. This book was co-published with The Osgoode Society for Canadian Legal History.

No Stopping Us Now

No Stopping Us Now
Author: Gail Collins
Publisher: Little, Brown
Total Pages: 465
Release: 2019-10-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0316286494

The beloved New York Times columnist "inspires women to embrace aging and look at it with a new sense of hope" in this lively, fascinating, eye-opening look at women and aging in America (Parade Magazine). "You're not getting older, you're getting better," or so promised the famous 1970's ad -- for women's hair dye. Americans have always had a complicated relationship with aging: embrace it, deny it, defer it -- and women have been on the front lines of the battle, willingly or not. In her lively social history of American women and aging, acclaimed New York Times columnist Gail Collins illustrates the ways in which age is an arbitrary concept that has swung back and forth over the centuries. From Plymouth Rock (when a woman was considered marriageable if "civil and under fifty years of age"), to a few generations later, when they were quietly retired to elderdom once they had passed the optimum age for reproduction, to recent decades when freedom from striving in the workplace and caretaking at home is often celebrated, to the first female nominee for president, American attitudes towards age have been a moving target. Gail Collins gives women reason to expect the best of their golden years.

Women Trailblazers of California

Women Trailblazers of California
Author: Gloria G Harris
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2011-11-16
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1614236216

In a series of biographical profiles, this volume celebrates the lives and achievements of women who made history in the Golden State. Throughout California’s history, remarkable women have been at the core of change and innovation. In this fascinating volume, Gloria Harris and Hannah Cohen relate the stories of forty women whose struggles and achievements have paved the way for generations. Coming from all walks of life and entering a variety of fields—from activism and conservation to science, medicine, entertainment, and more—these women overcame prejudice, skepticism and injustice to prove that women can do anything. Visionary architect Julia Morgan designed Hearst Castle; Dolores Huerta co-founded United Farm Workers; Donaldina Cameron, the angry angel of Chinatown, rescued brothel workers; and silent film actress Mary Pickford helped form United Artists Pictures. From fearless pioneers to determined reformers, Harris and Cohen chronicle the triumphs and disappointments of diverse women who dared to take risks and break down barriers.

Sisters in Law

Sisters in Law
Author: Linda Hirshman
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2015-09-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0062238485

The New York Times–bestselling “gossipy, funny, sometimes infuriating, and moving tale of two women so similar and yet so different” (NPR). The relationship between Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg—Republican and Democrat, Christian and Jew, western rancher’s daughter and Brooklyn girl—transcends party, religion, region, and culture. Strengthened by each other’s presence, these groundbreaking judges, the first and second to serve on the highest court in the land, have transformed the Constitution and America itself, making it a more equal place for all women. Linda Hirshman’s dual biography includes revealing stories of how these trailblazers fought for their own recognition in a male-dominated profession. She also makes clear how these two Supreme Court justices have shaped the legal framework of modern feminism, including employment discrimination, abortion, affirmative action, sexual harassment, and many other issues crucial to women’s lives. Sisters in Law combines legal detail with warm personal anecdotes that bring these women into focus as never before. Meticulously researched and compellingly told, it is an authoritative account of our changing law and culture, and a moving story of a remarkable friendship. “A thorough, accurate, and most readable account of the careers of the two first women to serve as Justices of the Supreme Court.” —Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens “Smart, startling, and profoundly moving.” —Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Cleopatra “Superb.” —Library Journal, starred review “Irresistible.” —New York Times Book Review “Vital...Part of what makes Hirshman such a likable writer—in addition to her wit and ability to explain the law succinctly without dumbing it down—is her optimism.” —Washington Post