Sadie Lipner Shulman

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Sadie Lipner Shulman (1891-December 23, 1998 [1] ) was, along with Emma Fall Schofield, the first female judge in Massachusetts. [2]

Contents

Early life and education

Shulman was born in 1891 in New York City. [3] [1] She was one of two women the Boston University School of Law class of 1911 where she graduated cum laude. [3] [4] [1]

Career

She began practicing law after graduation, [3] largely in family law. [4] With her husband, Charles Shulman, she had a private law practice. [3] She was Counsel for Boston Civic Service House beginning in 1913. [4] In 1924, Shulman became the first woman to be appointed as an investigator of a divorce case. [4]

In 1926, Shulman became the first female assistant corporation counsel for the City of Boston. [3] [4] [1] She served in the position until 1930. [1] She was appointed as a judge to the Dorchester District Court in 1930 by Governor Frank G. Allen, becoming the first woman in Massachusetts appointed to the bench with Emma Fall Schofield. [3] [4] [1] She was sworn in on December 17, 1930 by Allen. [1]

Shulman did not want to retire from the bench, saying it was where she was most happy. [3] Her most controversial case involved sentencing the juvenile driver of a stolen vehicle to view the corpse of the pedestrian he killed. [3] [1] She thought it was successful, as none of the juveniles involved ever re-offended. [1]

Personal and civic life

Shulman lived in Boston. [5] In 1953, she helped establish a scholarship for women who wanted to study law at Boston University and then later made a donation to construct a study lounge for women. [3] [1] The lounge was named for her. [1] She was also active in a number of other religious and civic organizations. [3]

Shulman was a delegate to the 1932 Republican National Convention [3] and was the first female president of the Boston University Law School Alumni Association. [3] [1]

As a member of Boston's Jewish community, she responded to the National Recovery Administration's call to assist those suffering from the Great Depression. [6] Her husband, Charles Shulman, led the campaign. [6]

Later life and death

In her later years, she would walk the halls of the nursing home in Johnson City, Tennessee where she lived, "sentencing" others who were there. [3] At the time of her death, she had seven grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. [1] Her funeral was held in Brookline, Massachusetts. [1]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Judge Sadie Shulman, at 107, first woman on a Mass. bench". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. December 29, 1998. p. 47. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  2. ↑ "A History of Diversity at BU Law | School of Law". www.bu.edu. Retrieved 2018-12-13.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Vile, John R. (2003). Great American Judges: An Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 385. ISBN   978-1-57607-989-8 . Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Shulman, Sadie Lipner". Women's Legal History, Stanford University . Retrieved February 5, 2020.
  5. ↑ Official report of the proceedings of the eighteenth Republican national convention, held in Cleveland, Ohio. Tenny Press. 1924. p. 64. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  6. 1 2 Shubow, Joseph L. (September 3, 1933). "Boston Jews Active in Campaign for Nra". Jewish Daily Bulletin. p. 5. Retrieved February 5, 2020.
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