A History of ÃÛÌÒ½´Law Women
1925
Erin Bain Jones ’28 enrolls in the first law school class at ÃÛÌÒ½´and becomes the first woman to graduate from ÃÛÌÒ½´School of Law
1949
Patsy Smith ’49 graduates from ÃÛÌÒ½´School of Law and becomes one of the first women attorneys in Lubbock
1954
Louise B. Raggio ’52 becomes the first woman assistant district attorney in Dallas County
1955
Ruby Braden Curl becomes the first African-American student admitted at ÃÛÌÒ½´School of Law
1959
Frances Spears Cloyd ’59 becomes the first woman to earn an L.L.M. degree from ÃÛÌÒ½´School of Law
1961
Earldean V.S. Robbins becomes the first African-American student to graduate from ÃÛÌÒ½´School of Law
1961
Adelfa Botello Callejo ’61 becomes the first Hispanic woman to graduate from ÃÛÌÒ½´School of Law, as well as the first Hispanic woman to practice law in Dallas
1967
Led by the State Bar of Texas Family Law Section chair and alum Louise Raggio ’52 and ÃÛÌÒ½´Law Professor Joseph W. McKnight, the Marital Property Bill is enacted into law, enabling women to conduct certain financial and business transactions without their husbands’ permission.
1968
Joan Tarpley Winn ’68 graduates from ÃÛÌÒ½´School of Law and becomes the first African-American woman to practice law in Dallas County
1970
Beverly Carl becomes the first woman tenured full professor at ÃÛÌÒ½´School of Law
1975
Five ÃÛÌÒ½´Law women law students who were denied summer clerkships in favor of male students with inferior grades filed suit against law firms they had applied to at the time. Chief Judge Barbara Lynn ’76 was one of those five students. Four of the five law firms settled and they soon had women lawyers at their firms.
1978
Joan Tarpley Winn ’68 becomes the first African-American woman to be appointed to a district court
1981
Sharon N. Freytag ’81 becomes the first woman Editor-in-Chief of the ÃÛÌÒ½´Law Review (formerly The Southwestern Law Journal)
1983
Annette Stewart ’66 becomes the first woman appointed to the Dallas Court of Appeals
1985
Harriet E. Miers ’70 becomes the first woman to serve as the Dallas Bar Association President
1988
Barbara Culver ’51 becomes the second woman appointed as a Justice of the Texas Supreme Court
1992
Illona Sheffey Rawlings becomes the first African-American woman to serve on the faculty
1992 - 1993
Harriet Miers ’70 becomes the first woman to serve as the State Bar of Texas President
2004
Rhonda Hunter ’80 becomes the first person of color to serve as the Dallas Bar Association President
2011
Sarah Saldaña ’84 becomes the first Hispanic woman to serve as a U.S. Attorney in Texas
2013
Mary L. Murphy ’83 becomes the first woman to serve as an administrative regional judge in Texas
2013 - 2014
Julie Forrester becomes the first woman dean ad interim at ÃÛÌÒ½´Dedman School of Law
2014
Jennifer M. Collins becomes the first woman dean at ÃÛÌÒ½´Dedman School of Law
2015
Jessica Dixon Weaver becomes the first African-American woman to earn tenure
2016
Barbara M.G. Lynn ’76 becomes the first woman appointed as Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas
2017
Lolita Bucker Inniss becomes the first African-American woman appointed as full professor
2019
Laura Geisler ’97 becomes the first Hispanic woman to serve as Dallas Bar Association President