In the 1870s Clara Shortridge Foltz was abandoned by her husband in San Jose, California, with five children to feed and support. She began a dress making business but a local sheriff took her sewing machine away to pay her ex-husband’s debts. Clara wanted to sue for the machine’s return but no male lawyer would take her case. She joined the woman suffrage movement as a lecturer and began reading law books on the side.
After a long struggle, Clara became a California lawyer. She presented her idea of having a public defender available to criminal defendants at a meeting of the Board of Lady Managers during the Chicago 1893 World’s Fair. Today, that concept is being used to provide assistance to impoverished criminal defendants across America. In 2002 the Criminal Courts building in Los Angeles was rededicated as the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in honor of California’s first woman attorney. Go to to Learn more about this courageous, fascinating woman on Wikipedia.
1 Comment
4/29/2020 03:31:29 pm
I have been in this building for jury duty, but had no idea who she was!
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