Phoebe Wilson Couzins undoubtedly would have been proud of the inroads women have made in the legal profession since she graduated 125 years ago from the School of Law -- the school's and Washington University's first female graduate.
"Of all the remarkable women lawyers in our country's history, Phoebe Couzins is one of the most heroic," said Karen Tokarz, J.D., L.L.M., professor of law. "In 1869, when Phoebe Couzins decided to go to law school and become a lawyer, she had never met another woman University graduate, woman law student or woman lawyer."
Today, about 40 percent of the law school's total enrollment of 647 students is made up of women, and 19 percent of the first-year class is made up of minority students. Of the 33 full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty, 12 are women and four are minorities.
Founded in 1867, the law school admitted its first female students in 1869, making it the first in the country to accept students regardless of gender. Columbia University did not admit women until 1919; Harvard, until 1950; and the University of Notre Dame, until 1967.
To celebrate Couzins' trailblazing, the University's Women's Law Caucus (WLC) is selling commemorative T-shirts. Featuring an etched portrait of Couzins, the gray T-shirts with purple lettering were designed by Joe Erker, husband of Colleen Erker, the law school's registrar. All proceeds will go to a WLC fund for summer stipends for students working on public-interest law projects relating to women.
"Phoebe Couzins was a path-breaker and a risk-taker, and we hope to follow her example," said Vicky Shusterman, a second-year law student and WLC president. "She established a precedent of women who are capable, who are willing to take a chance and, in the end result, be successful. As female law students, we realize that many obstacles still exist. However, her efforts inspire us to meet and overcome those challenges."
Couzins graduated in the fall of 1871, as both the University's and the law school's first female graduate.
"Although she had no role model or mentor, Phoebe Couzins dreamed of getting a legal education, entering the legal profession and, in her words, 'opening new paths for women,'" Tokarz said. "She was sustained by an astounding courage of conviction, which has been passed on to today's Washington University women law students and faculty."
Couzins was admitted to the Missouri Bar soon after graduation, giving her the distinction of being only the third or fourth woman licensed to practice in the United States. Lemma Barkaloo, Missouri's first woman lawyer, was admitted to Washington University at the same time as Couzins and attended for one year but chose to take the bar exam in 1870, without finishing law school.
Couzins later helped found the National Woman Suffrage Association, along with prominent suffragists Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. President Grover Cleveland appointed Couzins the first woman U.S. marshal in 1887.
In commemoration of the 125th anniversary of the first woman law graduate to be admitted to the Missouri Bar, The Lawyers Association of St. Louis and The Women Lawyers' Association of Greater St. Louis will host an Oct. 24 dinner at the Hyatt Regency St. Louis to recognize women lawyers in the St. Louis area who graduated from law school 40 years ago or more. Tokarz will be the featured speaker, addressing the history of women in the practice of law and their contributions to the profession.
For more information about the dinner, contact Jennifer Finley at (314) 421-2811. For more information about the T-shirts, call Kathy Laurent, second-year law student and WLC secretary, at (314) 727-5816.
-- Ann Nicholson
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