Dorothy L. Freeman

Dorothy L. Freeman was Missouri’s first African American female lawyer.[1][2]

Freeman was born in St. Louis, Missouri. She attended Sumner High School and Stowe Teachers College before earning a scholarship to Lincoln University School of Law.[3] She entered the institution in 1939 and worked as a student assistant for the library.[3] In 1942, Freeman became the first African American woman to graduate from Lincoln University School of Law and to be admitted to practice law in Missouri. While studying at Lincoln, she worked as a student assistant in the library and as a secretary for Silas Garner, a Black attorney and law school staff member.[4] Due to an instructor shortage, Freeman was approached to serve as an educator at the law school. However, the school closed briefly in 1943, and Freeman instead became the first African American woman lawyer in St. Louis, Missouri.[5][6][7][8]

See also

• List of first women lawyers and judges in Missouri

References

1. Smith, John Clay (1999). Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844-1944. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN 9780812216851.
2. Martin, Catherine (2018). "An Award of Integrity". Missouri Lawyers Weekly.
3. Longa, Ernesto A. "A History of America's First Jim Crow Law School Library and Staff" (PDF).
4. Epps Jr., Willie J. (Winter 2021). "Black Lawyers of Missouri: 150 Years of Progress and Promise". Missouri Law Review. 86 (1): 1–209 – via EBSCO.
5. Wesley, Doris A.; Price, Wiley; Morris, Ann (1999). Lift Every Voice and Sing: St. Louis African-Americans in the Twentieth Century : Narratives. University of Missouri Press. ISBN 9780826212535.
6. "Celebrating African-Americans' contributions to Missouri's justice system". www.courts.mo.gov. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
7. ""What's Up" - St Louis Post-Dispatch (MO), November 2, 2016". Archived from the original on August 30, 2019. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
8. "Breaking the Barriers". www.lb8.uscourts.gov. Retrieved 2019-08-30.