Ruth Kern

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Ruth Ellen Kern (1914 - January 26, 2002) was an American lawyer, community leader and feminist. Kern was an early pioneer in law for women in El Paso, Texas. She was also outspoken against myths regarding violence against women, sharing her own experiences with rape with the public. Kern was an active member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and a law suit she filed for an inmate led to El Paso County to construct a new jail with better conditions for inmates.

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The United States of America (USA), commonly known as the United States or America, is a country comprising 50 states, a federal district, five major self-governing territories, and various possessions. At 3.8 million square miles, the United States is the world's third or fourth largest country by total area and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe's 3.9 million square miles. With a population of over 327 million people, the U.S. is the third most populous country. The capital is Washington, D.C., and the most populous city is New York City. Most of the country is located contiguously in North America between Canada and Mexico.

Feminism is a range of social movements, political movements, and ideologies that share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that societies prioritize the male point of view, and that women are treated unfairly within those societies. Efforts to change that include fighting gender stereotypes and seeking to establish educational and professional opportunities for women that are equal to those for men.

El Paso, Texas City in Texas, United States

El Paso is a city and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, in the far western part of the state. The 2018 population estimate for the city from the U.S. Census was 682,669, making it the 22nd largest city in the United States. Its metropolitan statistical area (MSA) covers all of El Paso and Hudspeth counties in Texas, and has a population of 840,758.

Contents

Biography

Kern was born in Chicago to Swedish immigrants and grew up poor in the South Side. [1] [2] Kern raised her family and attended college and university classes part-time at the University of Chicago and the Chicago Kent College of Law. [3] At the college of law, she was the only woman in her class and she earned the Kappa Beta Pi Honor Key. [2] [4] She was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1946. [3] She started working first as a legal editor for the Commerce Clearing House Association and was about to go into private practice when her son's health prompted a move to El Paso, Texas in 1947. [3] Kern married for a second time in 1948. [2] She became the secretary to County Judge Victor B. Gilbert until her pregnancy with twins interrupted her career. [3] Kern had to take the job as a secretary because she had trouble getting hired as a lawyer. [5] Kern worked as a housewife and did civic work for the next fifteen years before she decided to go back into law. [3] [1] In 1966, she divorced her second husband. [2] Kern was admitted to the Texas state bar in 1967. [6] She started her own private practice in 1968, since law firms weren't hiring many women in the city. [5] She was the only woman doing full-time private practice in El Paso at the time. [3] [7] Her practice was known as Kern & Rosen and Kern took care of family law, while her partner, Stanley Rosen worked on business law. [1] [2] Kern also taught classes part-time at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) for three years until her law practice grew too busy. [1]

Chicago City in Illinois, United States

Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the most populous city in Illinois, as well as the third most populous city in the United States. With an estimated population of 2,705,994 (2018), it is the most populous city in the Midwest. Chicago is the county seat of Cook County, the second most populous county in the United States, and portions of the city extend westward into neighboring DuPage County. It is the principal city of the Chicago metropolitan area, often referred to as Chicagoland. At nearly 10 million people, the metropolitan area is the third-largest in the United States.

Swedes are a North Germanic ethnic group native to Sweden. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, in particular Finland, with a substantial diaspora in other countries, especially the United States. Swedes are an officially recognized minority in Finland and Estonia.

South Side, Chicago Area of City of Chicago, Illinois, USA

The South Side is an area of the city of Chicago. It is the largest of the three Sides of the city that radiate from downtown—the others being the North Side and the West Side. The South Side is sometimes referred to as South Chicago, although that name can also refer to a specific community area on the South Side.

Kern was a member and served as president of the El Paso chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). [8] Kern often took on indigent defense cases. [1] One, filed around 1975 sued El Paso County due to the poor conditions in the jail. [1] This lawsuit led to the construction of a new jail. [9] She also defended conscientious objectors to the Vietnam War. [1] In 1974, the El Paso Women's Political Caucus (EPWPC) endorsed Kern for the position of judge at the Court of Domestic Relations in El Paso, which she lost to Enrique Pena after a "hard fight." [10] [2] Kern was also a very outspoken feminist and brought issues like rape and women's rights to the forefront of public discussion. [11] [12] Kern used her own experiences to dismiss myths about rape. [1] [6] [13] She also served as vice chair of a shelter for women facing domestic violence, the Transitional Living Center, which she co-founded in 1977. [2] [14] Kern also co-founded and served as the first president of the El Paso Women's Bar Association. [15]

American Civil Liberties Union Legal advocacy organization

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." Officially nonpartisan, the organization has been supported and criticized by liberal and conservative organizations alike. The ACLU works through litigation and lobbying and it has over 1,200,000 members and an annual budget of over $100 million. Local affiliates of the ACLU are active in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. The ACLU provides legal assistance in cases when it considers civil liberties to be at risk. Legal support from the ACLU can take the form of direct legal representation or preparation of amicus curiae briefs expressing legal arguments when another law firm is already providing representation.

Poverty state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money

Poverty is not having enough material possessions or income for a person's needs. Poverty may include social, economic, and political elements.

El Paso County, Texas County in the United States

El Paso County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 census, the population was 800,647, making it the sixth-most populous county in the state of Texas. Its seat is the city of El Paso, the sixth-most populous city in Texas and the 19th-most populous city in the United States. The county was created in 1850 and later organized in 1871.

In 1993, Kern was inducted into the El Paso Women's Hall of Fame. [16] Kern died in her home from an illness on January 26, 2002. [9]

El Paso Womens Hall of Fame

The El Paso Women's Hall of Fame honors and recognizes the accomplishments of El Paso women. It is sponsored by the El Paso Commission for Women and was established in 1985. The first inductees were honored in 1990.

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Kern Place Place in Texas, United States

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The Border Network for Human Rights (BNHR) is a nonprofit group based in El Paso, Texas, that advocates for immigration reform and human rights. The organization also documents cases of the abuse of immigrants at the hands of United States Government authorities. Efforts by BNHR to systematically document and report abuse of immigrants has led to fewer incidents in the El Paso area, according to the group. BNHR is working to make their approach a national model for reform.

Peter E. Kern

Peter E. Kern was a jeweler and real-estate entrepreneur in El Paso, Texas and Skagway, Alaska. Kern Place in El Paso is named after him. Kern was keenly interested in astrology. Kern was a Freemason and had been a member of the El Paso Lodge No. 130 for fifty years. He was also interested in the Egyptian swastika, which he made into jewelry and worked into various designs. Kern was also known for building the first Queen Anne house in the city, which was located on North Oregon Street. Kern lived at 1308 Cincinnati Street. The gate to the neighborhood was on Robinson Street:

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Kate Moore Brown was an American musician, clubwoman and traveler who lived in El Paso, Texas. Brown was one of the first graduates of El Paso High School. She was the first person to teach music in the public schools in Texas and El Paso and was the first woman to own a bicycle in El Paso. Brown is also one of the original creators of the El Paso International Museum which later became the El Paso Museum of Art.

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Becky Duval Reese is an American curator and art museum director. She is best known for her work as the director of the El Paso Museum of Art (EPMA) and oversaw the museum's move in 1998. She was inducted into the El Paso Women's Hall of Fame in 2005.

Alicia Rosencrans Chacón is an American politician. She is best known for several firsts in El Paso, Texas. Chacón was the first woman elected to El Paso government when she became county clerk in 1974. She was also the first Hispanic woman to serve on the Ysleta Independent School District Board and as an alderman in El Paso. She later became the first woman and first Hispanic person in 100 years to serve as a judge for the El Paso area. A school, the Alicia R. Chacón International School is named after her.

Sandra Rushing is an American women's college basketball coach. She has served as head coach at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), Delta State University, and the University of Central Arkansas (UCA). When she left UTEP, she had the best record for women's basketball in the school's history. Rushing was inducted into the El Paso Women's Hall of Fame in 1999.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Aschoff, Susan (10 September 1978). "Ruth Kern Replace Domesticity With Outspokeness". El Paso Times. Retrieved 2018-07-30– via Newspapers.com. and "Lawyer Overcomes Sex Discrimination". El Paso Times. 10 September 1978. p. 2-C. Retrieved 2018-07-30– via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Viescas, Carol (26 August 1979). "Homemaker, Mom, Lawyer Named Feminist of the Year". El Paso Times. Retrieved 2018-07-30– via Newspapers.com.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Ruth Kern Candidate for Court-at-Law Judge". El Paso Times. 5 December 1973. Retrieved 2018-07-30– via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ Leibson, Art (26 September 1971). "EP Lawyer Completed Her Studies 20 Years Before Entering Practice". El Paso Times. Retrieved 2018-07-31– via Newspapers.com.
  5. 1 2 Butler, Tom (11 December 1977). "Women Attorneys: Finding a Job First Step". El Paso Times. Retrieved 2018-07-30– via Newspapers.com. and "Finding a Job First Step". El Paso Times. 11 December 1977. p. 11A. Retrieved 2018-07-30– via Newspapers.com.
  6. 1 2 Neu, Cynthia (11 October 1976). "Feminist Outraged at Being Raped: 'Let People Know'". El Paso Times. Retrieved 2018-07-30– via Newspapers.com. and "Feminist Outraged at Being Raped". El Paso Times. p. 9-A. Retrieved 2018-07-30– via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ "Joins Bar After Years of Study". El Paso Times. 28 September 1967. Retrieved 2018-08-01– via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Anne Holder '76 Feminist, Outstanding Women Named". El Paso Times. 27 August 1976. Retrieved 2018-07-31– via Newspapers.com.
  9. 1 2 Peregrino, David (27 January 2018). "'Heroine' Kern Dies at 87, Leaves Behind Civil Rights Legacy". El Paso Times. Retrieved 2018-07-30– via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Ruth Kern Endorsed". El Paso Herald-Post. 25 October 1974. Retrieved 2018-07-30– via Newspapers.com.
  11. ↑ Viescas, Carol (14 January 1975). "Ruth Kern Backs Women's Rights at AAUW Luncheon". El Paso Times. Retrieved 2018-07-31– via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Attorney Speaks on 'Rights'". El Paso Herald-Post. 6 April 1974. Retrieved 2018-07-31– via Newspapers.com.
  13. ↑ Clarke, Christian (8 March 1995). "Violence Survivors to Share Their Triumphs at Rally". El Paso Times. Retrieved 2018-07-31– via Newspapers.com. and "Night". El Paso Times. 8 March 1995. p. 2-D. Retrieved 2018-07-31– via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ Crowder, David (30 March 2015). "Stephanie Karr, Executive Director, Center Against Family Violence". El Paso Inc. Archived from the original on 31 July 2018. Retrieved 2018-07-31.
  15. ↑ Scharrer, Gary (31 May 1997). "Texas House Honors El Pasoan". El Paso Times. Retrieved 2018-07-31– via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ McGill, Danielle (23 February 1993). "6 to be Inducted Into Women's Hall of Fame". El Paso Times. Retrieved 2018-07-31– via Newspapers.com.
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