Women's History Month, which is observed annually in March, is a celebration of women's contributions to history, culture, and society across time and place. To commemorate Women's History Month here at the law library, we put together a collection of books that celebrate women's achievements in the legal field and beyond. Furthermore, this display aims to reflect a diverse array of perspectives from women of many different backgrounds.
Women have had a long, storied evolution in the legal profession, with Arabella Mansfield becoming the first woman lawyer admitted to a state bar in 1868. A few years later in 1872, Charlotte E. Ray became the first African American woman lawyer admitted to the District of Columbia state bar association. Representation in the profession was still slim for a long time, however. According to the American Bar Association, women made up only 5 percent of lawyers from 1950 to 1970. That number steadily increased over time, rising to 38 percent in 2022. Many books in the display tell stories of these first trailblazing women and their experience breaking into the field.
In curating this book display, though, I wanted to expand the focus beyond representation in the legal profession. Women, especially women of color and trans women, have long been at the forefront of social justice movements and the fight for equality. As I was deciding which books to include in the display, I wanted to be thoughtful about intersectionality and choose a selection of books that represented a wide array of experiences.
Some books in the display include:
Off with her head: three thousand years of demonizing women in power
Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot
Keetsahnak / Our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Sisters
Feminist Theory of Violence: A Decolonial Perspective
First Fifteen: How Asian American Women Became Federal Judges
Lady justice: women, the law, and the battle to save America
How we get free: Black feminism and the Combahee River Collective
Against white feminism: notes on disruption
Tomorrow will be different: love, loss, and the fight for trans equality
We are still here: Afghan women on courage, freedom, and the fight to be heard
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