IIT Chicago Kent College of Law - Transcript Yearbook (Chicago, IL)

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THE. if Q I i The Honorable Dean of the University' of Buffalo makes the following favorable comment: For many years the School of Law of the University of Buffalo has admitted students of both sexes, and during the present year we have in attendance about twenty young women out of a total of some three hundred and seventy-five students. It has been my general conviction that with rare' exceptions the young .women students showed a devotion to their work, and an enthusiasm in their studies, considerably beyond that shown by the average young man, and that they generally were able to attain very good scholastic standing. There have been several occasions where honors have-been awardedto young women. The doors of Boston University Law School were opened to women in 1872. At the present time it has about fifty women students as compared with about seven hundred men students, the number of women students averaging about this same number for the past few years. Scholastically the women students compare very favorably with the men, and in some instances they have made much better records. The faculty has found as a general thing that the women students are much- more earnest and con- scientious about their work than the men. Last year this university grad4 uated a woman at the head of a class of two hundred seventy-six students, a rather distinguished honor. Word comes from the University of Pennsylvania to the effect that it has graduated twenty-five women students and has five enrolled at the present time. Two of these women graduated cum laude, one in 1897 and one in 1923, a distinction very difficult to attain. The correspondent further states the proportion of failures among women is no greater than among men. National University School of Law, Washington, D. C., claims the dis- tinction of graduating one of the first few women ever admitted to the bar, Miss Belva Lockwood of the class of 1871. At present, out of about seven hundred students, forty are women. Quoting the Dean: We are glad to have them in the school. They exert a desirable influence upon the men. They seem to betas a class more conscientious in studying their text books and case books than the men. They have taken a very much larger per- centage of honors than is proportionate to their numbers. Miss jessica Dee, a graduate of the class of 1923, carried the highest honors every year she was in school, and now holds a responsible position as an Examiner in the Patent Office, Vlfashington, D. C. Honorable H. S. Richards, Dean of the University of Vlfisconsin, writes as follows: T find women students are a good deal like men students. Some are, inferior, and some are the equal of men studentsg some take a high rank. I should say in proportion to their numbers they attain a higher average than the men. A notable instance in recent years is that of Miss Miriam Frye, at present in the office of John Thompson, Attorney, Oshkosh, Wiscoiisiii. She graduated in 1924 at the head of the class, her average being considerably higher than that of anyone else in the class. Recently she argued a case before the Supreme Court. - Reports from other schools likewise show that women are carrying off their share of the honors. Last June, Mrs. Louise Garrett Griffen gradu- 1 192 Page 138

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THE, , Mrs. Bullock is very highly thou-ght of and widely known in her profession in this city. , Aside from the actual practice of the profession, a thorough legal knowl- edge is an invaluable asset to any person whether man or woman. We heartily recommend the study of law to all women who are interested in civic affairs or club life or wish to broaden their intellectual ,horizon other- wise. It is an excellent substitute for a liberal education and has a tendency to make the human mind broader and more tolerant of the rights of others and give an appreciation of the responsibilities of the individual to himself and to the community and the state. - In 1918 Yale University School of Law first admitted women students. Since that time the number of women studying law there has gradually increased from one C1918-19195 to eighteen in 1924. .The Registrar reports that the women students are earnest and hardworking and average in schol- arship about the same as men. A few have graduated with honors. Last June two of this University's women graduates brought honor upon them- selves and their alma mater, one of them ranking first, and the other third, in the Connecticut bar-examinations. i Honorable J. P. Hall, Dean of the University of Chicago Law School, expresses his ideas on the subject in the following manner: Our school has admitted women law students from its establishment in 1902, and some of our best students have been women. I think the average standing of the women has been higher than that of the men, due doubtless to the fact that few women begin the study of law who have not considerable natural apti- tude for it, while a good many men go into it because it is a traditional profession for men. In proportion to their numbers, womenlhave won con- siderably more than their share of honors here. I know of no reason why women should not be as acceptable in every way in a law school as men. And now we have very encouraging words from the Lone Star State. Following is the experience and attitude of the University of Texas: The dean, together with the other members of the faculty, is most encouraging toward the.women students in the School, conceding abso- lutely equal opportunities, expecting equal preparation, granting no special favors to sex. ' This School has always been open to women 'since its establishment in 1883, but the first woman to register and graduate was Rose Zeloskey, in 1911. There are eight registered this year, out of a total of three hundred and eighty students, and since 1914, there have been from two to five women graduating in each senior class. The records show that while in school the women compare favorably with the men, about the same per cent making good grades and 'a smaller per cent failing. Neither prejudice nor favor can be shown, if any exists, as all students use numbers instead of names on their examination papers and the instructors and quizmasters who grade the papers never know the identity of the writers. Therefore the good grades of the pretty girls must be at- tributed to brains, not beauty. This year two women are on the student editorial board of the Texas Law Review, the highest honor that can be won by scholarship. 1925 li R Page 137

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' 1 THE. 2 TRANSCRIPT , ated from the University of Iowa, having the highest average in her class which numbered about forty-five. In 1917 Miss Lenore Marie Simpson graduated from Kansas City School of Law with the summa cum laude degree. Likewise, in 1916, Miss Mary F. Lathrop received the faculty prize, the highest scholastic honor of the University of Denver School of Law. Miss Lathrop has been a conspicuous success as a legal practitioner, and has a large and lucrative' practice, mostly in the way of probate law and management of estates. At the University of Cincinnati, within recent years, on three 'separate occasions, women students won the highest honors given by the School. Last year, at Hastings College of Law, University of Cali- fornia, the student graduating with highest honors was a woman. ' There are still a number of law schools which do not admit women. As long as women are admitted to the bar, they should be given equal oppor- tunities with young men to obtain a legal education. We think it has been proven that women possess the same vigor' of thought, the same mental grasp, and are capable of mastering the same legalsubjects, as men. It would seem that they have the ability to prosecute the same course of study as the young men, and with equal prospect of benefit, success and honor. I The value of a legal education for women is well stated by Austin Abbot, as follows: Some study of the law is of prime importance in the complete education of every human being. The mental discipline in a thorough study of legal practice is unequalled. It tends to make the mind more reasonable, consistent, logical and well-balanced, and is as useful to women as to men, whether they apply the knowledge to the practice of law or to any other vocation. ' . Women have laboredunder great disadvantages in getting started in practice. They have not been given the opportunities for admission into law firms that have been accorded to men with the same records. Their foothold in the legal profession has been something striven for and secured by sheer dint of earnest endeavor. However, the prospect in the future is brighter than in the past, as the old prejudices are melting away and people are putting their trust in professional women more and moref Through conscientious, intelligent work, women are demanding and obtaining recog- nition by bench and bar. H Today there are seventeen hundred thirty-eight women lawyers, judges and justices in the United States. , The most notable here in Chicago is Miss Mary Bartelme, Judge of the Superior Court of Cook County. Other dis- tinguished women members of the bar are Mrs. Mabel Walker Willebrandt, Assistant Attorney General of the United States, in charge of prohibition enforcement, and Judge Florence E. Allen, of the Supreme Court of Ohio. Women are just beginning to find their place in politics. We now have women legislators, senators, judges and governors. Legal education has proved to be the most likely to lead to public office, and consequently, as women realize this fact, more and more of them with ambitions for public office will acquire such an education. More power to them. 1925 in H Page I 39