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The story of Florence Allen, the first woman judge in the United States, and women’s transformation of the legal system.
Florence Allen was the first woman judge many times over—first federal appellate court judge, first elected to a state supreme court, and first shortlisted for the U.S. Supreme Court. During Allen’s forty years on the bench, the country swung between progressivism and conservatism, with passage of a constitutional amendment for women’s voting rights, two world wars, the Red and Lavender Scares, and the New Deal.
Amid these changes, women used their new political standing to transform the courts, first by becoming active agents in the justice system, and then by developing theories of public law, social justice, and fair process. Exploring Allen’s fascinating legal life, Tracy Thomas recounts the larger history of how women infiltrated the legal system as judges, lawyers, jurors, and legislators to demand a more representative system of justice for the welfare of all.
Tracy Thomas is Seiberling Chair of Constitutional Law and Director of the Center for Constitutional Law at the University of Akron School of Law.
"While Florence Allen's many 'firsts' are unique and more than noteworthy, she was so much more than a woman who pioneered the judiciary. The First Woman Judge does justice to the story of how this remarkable woman was able to rise to various judicial positions, all the while enduring the prejudices and challenges of her male colleagues and remaining undaunted."—Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, first woman chief justice of the Ohio Supreme Court
“Florence Allen broke every barrier but one. First woman elected judge. First woman on a federal appeals court. Shortlisted for the Supreme Court—yet never appointed. This revelatory, carefully researched biography exposes how Allen transformed American courts. Her fight opened the door for generations of women judges to come. Thomas's book is important reading for anyone who cares about the history of the legal profession and the future of the judiciary.”—Renee Knake Jefferson, Doherty Endowed Chair in Legal Ethics and Professor of Law, University of Houston, and coauthor of Shortlisted: Women in the Shadows of the Supreme Court
“The First Woman Judge recounts the illuminating story of a judicial trailblazer, Florence Allen, who dedicated her life to the law. Allen’s legacy proved women’s qualification for the highest courts of state and federal judiciaries, setting a path for future women like me to serve in those roles.”—Judge Deborah Cook, Senior Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and formerly Justice of the Ohio Supreme Court
“One of the leading voices in feminist legal history today, Professor Tracy Thomas situates this masterful portrait of Judge Florence Allen within the broader history of women, law, and the twentieth century. The result is a fascinating and important book that illuminates how women in our nation’s past have shaped its future.”—Paula A. Monopoli, Distinguished University Professor of Law, University of Maryland Carey School of Law, and author of Constitutional Orphan: Gender Equality and the Nineteenth Amendment
“The best biography yet on Florence Allen, a luminary who has yet to take her proper place in legal and political history. This snappy and well-written biography places Allen’s legal decision-making in historical context and fully analyzes how her sex shaped her career.”—Sally J. Kenney, Professor Emerita of Political Science, Tulane University, and author of Gender and Justice: Why Women in the Judiciary Really Matter