Firsts in the federal district's history
Law school enrollments and degrees
- Marie Louise Bottineau Baldwin (1914): [1] [2] First Native American (Ojibwe) female student to graduate from Washington College of Law
- Renee Grosshandler Baum, Helen Marie Chambers, Patricia Anna Collier, Mary Gertrude Henseler, Katherine Rutherford, Agnes Anne Neill Williams, and Helen Elsie Steinbinder: [3] First female students to enroll at the Georgetown University School of Law (1951). Baum was the first of the original women enrolled to graduate in 1953. [ Washington, D.C.]
- Ruth Marshall Paven: First female to graduate with an LLB from the Georgetown University School of Law (1953)
- Hortense E. Spinner and Florinell M. Washington: [3] First African American female students to enroll at the Georgetown University School of Law, though they did not attend (1952)
- Serena E. Davis and Mabel Dole Haden: [3] First African American female graduate students at Georgetown University School of Law (1955) [ Washington, D.C.]
- Helen E. Steinbinder and Mabel Dole Haden: First females to graduate with an LL.M. degree from the Georgetown University School of Law (1956). Haden was the first African American female to earn the degree. [ Washington, D.C.]
Lawyers
- Charlotte E. Ray (1872): [4] First female (and African American) lawyer in Washington, D.C. and to practice before the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia (1872)
Law clerk
- Cornelia Groefsema Kennedy: [5] First female to serve as a law clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
Judges
- Marilla Ricker (1882): [6] First female appointed as a United States Commissioner in Washington, D.C. (1891)
- Mary O'Toole (1914): [7] First female judge appointed to the municipal court of Washington, D.C. (1921)
- Burnita Shelton Matthews (1919): [8] First female to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (1949) in Washington, D.C.
- Marjorie Lawson (1950): [9] [10] First African American female judge in Washington, D.C. (1962)
- Julia Cooper Mack (1951): [11] First African American female to serve on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. (1975)
- Patricia Wald (1959): [12] [13] First female to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1979)
- Norma Holloway Johnson (1962): [14] First African American female judge appointed as a U.S. District Court Chief Judge (1997) in Washington, D.C.
- Judith W. Rogers (1968): [15] First African American female to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1994)
- Vanessa Ruiz (1975): [16] [17] First Hispanic female to serve on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals (1994)
- Zinora Mitchell-Rankin (1979): [18] First African American female to serve on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia with a spouse simultaneously serving as a judicial officer (1990) [19]
- Kara Farnandez Stoll (1997): [20] First Latino American female to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C. (2015)
- Neomi Rao: [21] First South Asian American female to serve on the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (2019)
- Eleni M. Roumel: [22] First Greek American female to serve on the United States Court of Federal Claims (2020)
- Florence Y. Pan: [23] First Asian American (female) to serve on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (2021)
- Loren AliKhan: [24] First Asian American (female) to serve on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals (2022)
- Rupa Ranga Puttagunta: [25] [26] First South Asian Indian American (female) to serve on the Superior Court of the District of Columbia (2022)
- Ana C. Reyes: [27] First Hispanic American female and openly LGBT person to serve on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia (2023)
Attorney general
- Judith W. Rogers (1968): [15] First female (and African American) to serve as the D.C. Corporation Counsel (1979) [later renamed Attorney General of the District of Columbia]
United States Attorney
- Wilma A. Lewis (1981): [28] First female to serve as the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia (1998-2001)
- Jessie K. Liu (1998): [29] First Asian American female to serve as the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia (2017)
Assistant United States Attorney
- Mazellah (M.) Pearl McCall (1919): [30] First female appointed as the Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia (1921)
Bar association
- Marna Tucker: [31] [32] First female to serve as the president of the D.C. Bar Association (1984)
- Pauline Schneider: [33] First African American female to serve as president of the D.C. Bar Association
- Brigida Benitez: [34] First Latino American female to serve as the president of the D.C. Bar Association (2014-2015)
- Esther H. Lim: [35] First Korean American female to serve as the president of the D.C. Bar Association (2018)
Faculty
- Jane Cleo Marshall Lucas (1944): [36] [37] First African American woman to teach full-time at Howard Law School, Washington, D.C.
