List of first women lawyers and judges in Oregon explained

This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Oregon. It includes the year in which the women were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are women who achieved other distinctions such becoming the first in their state to graduate from law school or become a political figure.

Firsts in Oregon's history

Lawyers

• First female: Mary Leonard (1885)^[1]
• First African American female: Mercedes Deiz (1960)^[2]

Law Clerk

• First female to clerk for a federal judge in Oregon: Helen F. Althaus (1945) from 1947-1949^{[3] [4]}

State judges

• First female (temporary): Ethel Graham in 1914^[5]
• First female: Mary Jane Spurlin (1924)^[6]
• First female (circuit court): Jean Lagerquist Lewis (1938) in 1961^{[7] [8] [9]}
• First African American female: Mercedes Deiz (1960) in 1969
• First female (Oregon Court of Appeals): Betty Roberts (1966) in 1977^[10]
• First female (Supreme Court of Oregon): Betty Roberts (1966) in 1982
• First openly lesbian female: Janice Wilson in 1991^{[11] [12]}
• First females (tax court): Jill A. Tanner and Coyreen Weidner in 1997
• First female (Chief Judge; Oregon Court of Appeals): Mary Deits in 1997^[13]
• First Hispanic American female (Oregon Court of Appeals): Darleen Ortega (1989) in 2003
• First African American (female) (appellate court): Adrienne Nelson (1993) in 2006^{[14] [15] [16]}
• First Asian American female: Youlee Yim You in 2007^{[17] [18]}
• First openly lesbian female (Supreme Court of Oregon): Virginia Linder (1980) in 2007^{[19] [20]}
• First openly lesbian and Asian American (female) (Oregon Court of Appeals): Lynn Nakamoto (1985) in 2011^{[21] [22]}
• First openly lesbian and Asian American (female) (Supreme Court of Oregon): Lynn Nakamoto (1985) in 2015
• First African American (female) (Supreme Court of Oregon): Adrienne Nelson (1993) in 2018
• First female (Chief Justice; Supreme Court of Oregon): Martha Lee Walters in 2018^[23]
• First Laotian American (female): Chanpone Sinlapasai in 2022^[24]
• First South Asian (female) (Supreme Court of Oregon): Aruna Masih in 2023^[25]
• First Arab American (female) and first Muslim American (female) (Multnomah County Circuit Court): Rima Ghandour in 2023.

Federal judges

• First female (U.S. District Court of Oregon): Helen Frye (1966) in 1980^[26]
• First female (U.S. Bankruptcy Court): Polly Higden in 1983^{[27] [28]}
• First female (magistrate; United States District Court for the District of Oregon): Janice Stewart in 1993
• First female (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit): Susan P. Graber (1972) in 1998^[29]
• First female (Chief Judge; United States District Court Judge for the District of Oregon): Ann Aiken (1979) in 2009
• First Asian American (female) (magistrate; United States District Court for the District of Oregon): Youlee Yim You in 2016
• First Asian American (female) (U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit): Jennifer Sung in 2021^[30]
• First African American female (United States District Court for the District of Oregon): Adrienne Nelson (1993) in 2023

Attorney General

• First [Jewish] female: Ellen Rosenblum (1975) in 2012^{[31] [32]}

Assistant Attorney General

• First (African American) female (Department of Justice): Armonica Gilford (1981) in 1989^[33]

Solicitor General

• First openly lesbian female: Virginia Linder (1980) from 1986-1997

United States Attorney

• First female (law clerk): Susan P. Graber (1972)

Political Office

• First openly bisexual female (governor): Kate Brown (1985) in 2015^[34]

Oregon State Bar Association

• First female president: Julie Frantz in 1992^[35]
• First Asian American (female) president: Liani J. Reeves in 2020^[36]

Firsts in local history

• Barb Haslinger and Alta Brady:^[37] First female judges respectively in Central Oregon (1990 and 1994)
• Paula Bechtold (1975):^[38] First female judge in Coos County, Oregon
• Diana Wales (1977):^[39] First female lawyer in private practice in Roseburg, Oregon [<nowiki/>[[Douglas County, Oregon]]]
• Jeannette Thatcher Marshall (1946):^[40] First female lawyer in Medford, Oregon [<nowiki/>[[Jackson County, Oregon]]]
• Beth Heckert:^[41] First female District Attorney for Jackson County, Oregon (c. 2013)
• Valerie Love: First Asian American female to become a Judge of the Lane County Circuit Court, Oregon (2007)
• Clara Rigmaiden: First Hispanic American female to become a Judge of the Lane County Circuit Court, Oregon (2007)
• Patty Perlow:^[42] First female District Attorney for Lane County, Oregon (2015)
• Jolie Russo (1988):^[43] First female magistrate in Eugene, Oregon (2016) [<nowiki/>[[Lane County, Oregon]]]
• Sharon Cox Stevens (1978):^[44] First female lawyer in Linn County, Oregon
• Hattie Bratzel Kremen:^[45] First female District Attorney for Marion County, Oregon (1956-1964)
• Jean Lagerquist Lewis (1938): First female judge in Multnomah County, Oregon (1954)
• Beatrice Morrow Cannady (Law Degree, 1922):^[46] First African American female lawyer to appear in Portland, Oregon [Multnomah County, Oregon]^[47]
• Youlee You: First Asian American female to become a Judge of the Multnomah County Superior Court, Oregon (2007)
  • Rima Ghandour:^[48] First Arab American female and first Muslim American to serve as a judge in Multnomah County, Oregon Nancy W. Campbell:^[49] First female judge in Washington County, Oregon
• Carol E. Jones:^[50] First female judge appointed to the Yamhill County Circuit Court [<nowiki/>[[Yamhill County, Oregon]]]

See also

• List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States
• Timeline of women lawyers in the United States
• Women in law

Other topics of interest

• List of first minority male lawyers and judges in the United States
• List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Oregon

References

1. Book: Smith, Helen Krebs. With Her Own Wings: Historical Sketches, Reminiscences, and Anecdotes of Oregon's Pioneer Women. October 2008. Wildside Press LLC. 9781434477767. en.
2. Book: Ebony. February 1983. Johnson Publishing Company. en.
3. Web site: Helen F. Althaus, Pioneer Woman Lawyer, dies at 95. Group. Sinclair Broadcast. 2006-02-11. Ashland Tidings. 2019-07-07.
4. Web site: In Memoriam: Helen F. Althaus. www.osbar.org. 2019-07-07.
5. News: Anti-Suffraget [sic], Yet She Acted As State Judge]. The Day Book. 1914-03-27. 2019-02-27. 2163-7121.
6. Web site: Illustrious Firsts: A Timeline - Advocate Magazine - Law School - Lewis & Clark. law.lclark.edu. en. 2018-01-06.
7. Web site: Gierloff . Tami . Library . Associate Dean of the . Law . Professor of . Illustrious Firsts: A Timeline . 2019-02-26 . law.lclark.edu . en.
8. Web site: November 18, 1954 . CATHEDRAL CITY . 2019-02-26 . cdnc.ucr.edu.
9. Web site: McGraw . Noreen . Judge Jean Lewis . A Century of Service: Multnomah County Bar Association 100th Anniversary (1906-2006).
10. Web site: Oregon Women Judges ~ Quick Facts ~ .
11. Book: Martin, Mart. The Almanac Of Women And Minorities In American Politics 2002. 2018-04-24. Routledge. 9780429976483. en.
12. Web site: Openly LGBT elected in Oregon. www.glapn.org. 2019-07-22.
13. Web site: 2004-11-22 . Deits steps down from appeals court • Daily Journal of Commerce . 2022-05-24 . Daily Journal of Commerce . en-US.
14. News: First African-American, Adrienne Nelson, appointed to Oregon Supreme Court . en . Statesman Journal . 2018-11-09.
15. News: Meet Adrienne Nelson, the Second Black Female Judge in Oregon History . Portland Monthly . 2018-11-09.
16. Upon her appointment to the Multnomah County Circuit Court
17. Web site: 2000 – 2014. Diversity Storywall. en-US. 2018-12-24.
18. Web site: 2016 . Oregon Benchmarks . U.S. District Court of Oregon Historical Society.
19. Web site: Virginia Linder - Multnomah Bar Association . 2018-05-30 . www.mbabar.org . en.
20. Web site: Finnemore . Melody . 2012-03-09 . Justice Virginia Linder sets the bar . 2018-12-14 . Daily Journal of Commerce . en-US.
21. News: Lynn Nakamoto first Asian-American on Oregon Supreme Court . en . Statesman Journal . 2018-01-20.
22. Web site: Hon. Lynn Nakamoto . American Bar Association.
23. Web site: Walters first woman sworn in as chief justice of Oregon Supreme Court . 2022-05-24 . Statesman Journal . en-US.
24. Web site: De Dios . Austin . 2022-12-17 . Oregon appoints the first Laotian judge in the United States . 2023-04-28 . oregonlive . en.
25. Web site: Wong . Peter . 2023-08-16 . Oregon Supreme Court gets its first South Asian justice . 2023-08-17 . PortlandTribune.com . en.
26. Web site: Archives West: Helen Frye papers, 1971–2011 . 2018-01-06 . archiveswest.orbiscascade.org . en.
27. Web site: A Tribute.
28. Wiener. Norman J.. Fall 2007. Judge Polly Higdon. Oregon Benchmarks.
29. Book: Circuit), United States Court of Appeals (9th . United States Courts, Ninth Circuit, ... Annual Report . 2002 . Office of the Circuit Executive . en.
30. Web site: NAPAWF Congratulates Lucy Koh and Jennifer Sung in Historic Federal Bench Confirmation for Asian American Women. 2022-01-27. NAPAWF. en-US.
31. Web site: Oregon Swears In First Female Attorney General. Alvino. Virginia. news.opb.org. en. 2018-11-19.
32. SALES/JTA, B. (2020, July 22). Ellen Rosenblum: Taking on Trump's federal forces in Portland - "The federal administration has chosen Portland to use their scare tactics to stop our residents from protesting police brutality and from supporting the Black Lives Matter movement," Rosenblum said.. <em>Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)</em>. Available from NewsBank: Access World News: https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&docref=news/17C601CECB119A58.
33. Web site: Welcome to the Oregon State Bar Online. www.osbar.org. 2019-06-22.
34. News: Meet Kate Brown, the first openly LGBT person to be elected governor of a state. Phillips. Amber. 2016-11-10. Washington Post. 2018-06-08. en-US. 0190-8286.
35. Web site: Five pioneers further cause of women lawyers in Oregon. Keenan. Cathy. March 26, 2006. www.bizjournals.com. 2019-01-02.
36. Web site: Liani J. Reeves . 2022-03-07 . bullardlaw.com.
37. Web site: 40 Years as Ladies of the Law. Stiegler. Judy. The Source Weekly - Bend. en. 2019-03-04.
38. News: Coos County's first female judge to retire after 23 years. KCBY. KCBY. 2018-01-04. en-US.
39. News: Shattered glass: Local women react to Clinton nomination. News-Review. CARISA CEGAVSKE Senior Staff Writer The. NRToday.com. 2017-10-16. en.
40. Web site: Oregon State Bar Online - Jeannette Thatcher Marshall (Obituary). www.osbar.org. 2019-03-20.
41. Web site: Heckert has won DA race. Specht. Sanne. 2012-05-17. Mail Tribune. 2019-03-25.
42. Web site: Lane County Gets Its First Female District Attorney. Kellner. Angela. www.klcc.org. en. 2019-03-25.
43. Web site: OSB Diversity Section and First Year Law Students Celebrate Judges. Lewis. Portl. Clark Law School 10015 S. W. Terwilliger Boulevard. law.lclark.edu. en. 2019-06-28. USA 503-768-6600. Oregon 97219.
44. Web site: Meet Your Division Officers and Delegates. www.americanbar.org. 2017-09-26.
45. Web site: Candidate for Marion County DA stops by Creekside Chat. Statesman Journal. en. 2019-03-25.
46. Book: African American Women Confront the West, 1600–2000. Taylor. Quintard Taylor. Quintard. Moore. Shirley Ann Wilson. 2008-08-01. University of Oklahoma Press. 9780806139791. en.
47. Cannady, though, did not pass the Oregon Bar examination. She is best remembered as an editor and civil rights advocate.
48. Web site: 2023-04-30 . Board proclaims April 2023 Arab American Heritage Month in Multnomah County . 2023-12-19 . Multnomah County . en.
49. Web site: Class Notes - 1970s. Lewis. Portl. Clark 0615 S. W. Palatine Hill Road. www.lclark.edu. en. 2018-12-24. USA 503-768-7000. Oregon 97219.
50. News: Judge's death leaves opening on Yamhill County court. OregonLive.com. 2018-05-30. en-US.