On Monday, February 14, 2011, the Illinois Supreme Court Historic Preservation Commission and the University of Illinois College of Law will open a new exhibit on early women attorneys in Illinois. The opening will take place at 2 PM in the Law School’s atrium at 504 East Pennsylvania Avenue in Champaign, Illinois. February 14th is a noteworthy date because on that date in 1894, Myra Bradwell died at the age of 63. The exhibit will feature such women as Myra Bradwell whose efforts to gain admission to the bar in Illinois (1869) became a national story, one that is often cited more than a century later.
Also included will be:
- Ada Kepley, Illinois’ first woman to graduated from law school (1870) and the first Illinois woman to practice in court.
- Alta Hulett, Illinois’ first woman to become a licensed attorney; she was only 19 (1873).
- Florence Kelley, the first woman factory inspector (1890s); headed Illinois’ efforts to improve working conditions for women and children.
- Catherine Waugh McCulloch, the first woman in Illinois to serve as justice of the peace (1907).