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First 100 WomenIn 2001, the NHWBA undertook to identify the first 100 women admitted to practice law in New Hampshire. Our purpose was simple – to celebrate the women who led the way for today’s women lawyers. About the ProjectKay Sternenberg planted the seed for this project after attending a similar celebration in Vermont. A committee was formed and work began in earnest. The architect of this project was Kristin Thompson, who at the time was working at the Supreme Court as a clerk to Senior Associate Justice (ret.) Sherman D. Horton, Jr., and later to Associate Justice (ret.) James E. Duggan. Her early inquiries revealed that, while the New Hampshire Bar Association identifies the gender of its members, it does not maintain comprehensive records of admittees to the Bar prior to the unification of the Bar in 1968. On the other hand, the Supreme Court records from 1878 to 1977 enter the names of all attorneys admitted to practice in a separate administrative docket number on the day they were admitted. Countless hours were spent by a committee of approximately 20 people to research both the identities of the first 100 women and additional background information. We remain grateful to this day for their work and dedication to this project and for the rich history that they uncovered for the benefit of all women of the New Hampshire Bar. |
The First 100 Women
The right of women to apply for admission to the bar of the State of New Hampshire was won by Marilla Marks Ricker, of Dover, New Hampshire, an attorney already admitted to practice in Washington, D.C. It was Ricker’s Petition, 66 N.H. 207 (1890), which allowed women, previously denied, to seek license to practice law in New Hampshire. However, Marilla Ricker never sought admission in New Hampshire herself.
The first woman admitted to practice law in New Hampshire was 8 years old when the Ricker decision came down. Classmates of New Hampshire native Agnes Winifred "Winnie" McLaughlin predicted that she would become a lawyer. She did indeed, on June 30, 1917. It took 60 years before there were 100 women admitted to practice law in this state. The 100th woman, Nancy O. Dodge, was admitted on November 1, 1977.
You may view or download the complete booklet, "A Celebration of New Hampshire's First 100 Women Lawyers" highlighting each of these amazing women.
1. Agnes Winifred McLaughlin 2. Jennie Blanche Newhall 3. Margaret Sheehan Blodgett 4. Helen George 5. Sara T. Knox 6. Esther Gottesfeld Lublin 7. Miriam G. Rosenblum 8. Pauline Swain Merrill 9. Harriet E. Mansfield 10. Paula Ladday 11. Florence T. Cavanaugh 12. Nina N. Frankman 13. Marguerita M. Hurley 14. Evelyn C. Earley 15. Emily Marx 16. Beatrice F. Little 17. Beryle M. Aldrich 18. Mary Alice Fountain 19. Celia D.R. Novins 20. Evangeline V. Tallman 21. Doris Louise Bennett 22. Mary E. Perkins 23. Pauline B. Barnard 24. Mabelle Fellows Murphy 25. Leila L. Maynard | 26. Ida V. C. Milligan 27. Ruth I. Moses 28. Margaret Quill Flynn 29. Lucille Kozlowski 30. Irma A. Matthews 31. Catharine B. Sage 32. Anne M. Howorth 33. Rachel Hallett Johnson 34. Caroline R. Grey 35. Constance M. Mehegan 36. Winnifred M. Moran 37. Constance J. Betley 38. Helen White 39. Judith Dunlop Ransmeier 40. Mary Susan Stein Leahy 41. Laura Jane Kahn 42. Martha Margaret Davis 43. Eleanor S. Krasnow 44. Susan B. Monson 45. Julia N. Nelson 46. Dorothy R. Sullivan 47. Jean K. Burling 48. Donna W. Economou 49. Alexandra T. Breed 50. Linda Stewart Dalianis | 51. Claudia Cords Damon 52. Georgia C. Griffin 53. Barbara Sard 54. Bruce Earman Viles 55. Joyce Ann Wilder 56. Joan L. Carroll 57. Anne Swift Almy 58. Sharon Ann Coughlin 59. Anne M. Goggin 60. J. Campbell Harvey 61. Judith Miller Kasper 62. Patricia McKee 63. Ellen J. Musinsky 64. Brenda T. Piampiano 65. Janina Stodolski 66. Elizabeth B. Sullivan 67. Priscilla B. Fox 68. Micki B. Stiller 69. Mae C. Bradshaw 70. Anne Cagwin Hagstrom 71. Deborah J. Cooper 72. Lynne M. Dennis 73. Nancy E. Ebb 74. Abigail Elias 75. Alice S. Love | 76. Stephanie T. Nute 77. Elaine R. Warshell 78. Catherine Ravinski 79. Carolyn W. Baldwin 80. Dorothy Bickford-Desmond 81. Charlotte Crane 82. Pamela D. Kelly 83. Janine Gawryl 84. Cathy J. Green 85. Jody D. Handy 86. Dona L. Heller 87. Carolyn H. Henneman 88. Constance G. Jackson 89. Barbara R. Keshen 90. Karin Kramer 91. Jane R. Lawrence 92. Ellen L. Arnold 93. Lizbeth Lyons 94. Elizabeth Marean Mueller 95. Marilyn Billings McNamara 96. Margaret B. Morin 97. Nancy V. Sisemoore 98. Susan Vercillo Duprey 99. Lanea A. Witkus 100. Nancy O. Dodge |