1934 September 2

Clara Shortridge Foltz Dies – First Female Lawyer in California

 

An early feminist activist in California, Clara Shortridge Foltz was not only the first female lawyer in the state but was instrumental in creating the state’s public defender system.

When she first sought to be admitted to the California Bar, she was ineligible. California law allowed only white males to become members. She authored a bill, known as the “Woman Lawyer Bill,” which changed “white male” to “person.” The bill became law and in 1787 she passed the exam  and was admitted to the California Bar.

Foltz then practiced law in San Diego, and later in New York City. Toward the end of the nineteenth century she became an active suffragist. At the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, she made a presentation advocating the then-radical notion of public defenders for indigent criminal defendants. At the age of 81, she became the first woman to run for governor of California. And in 1910, after she had moved to Los Angeles, she was appointed the first female deputy district attorney in the United States.

Foltz died on September 2, 1934 at age 85.

Learn more about this pioneering woman: Sharon Avey, The Lady Lawyer: Clara Shortridge Foltz (2001)

Find data on women lawyers from the ABA Commission on Women: http://www.americanbar.org/groups/women/resources/statistics.html

Read more about Clara Shortridge Foltz here

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