Agnes Jane Westbrook Morrison (1854-1939) was West Virginia’s first female lawyer.[1]

Morrison was born in 1854 in Wheeling, Virginia, to Henry Westbrook and Martha Barratt.[2] By 1895, Morrison would become West Virginia College of Law's first female graduate. Her husband Charles Sumner Morrison was a classmate and he graduated the same year.[3][4][5][6][7] She became the first female admitted to practice law in West Virginia the following year and subsequently set up a law practice with her husband in Wheeling.[8] Morrison's legacy included being a founder of the women's organization Collegiate Alliance of Wheeling, which has stayed in existence long after her death.[9]

Morrison died on September 24, 1939, in Taylortown, Pennsylvania.[2]

See also

References

  1. "Women's Legal History" (PDF). Stanford University. 1997.
  2. 1 2 Pennsylvania Historic and Museum Commission; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; Pennsylvania (State). Death certificates, 1906–1967; Certificate Number Range: 083001-086000
  3. Record, The West Virginia. "There aren't enough of us". wvrecord.com. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
  4. Association, WVU Alumni; Barbe, Waitman (1903). Alumni Record: West Virginia University. Alumni Association.
  5. The West Virginia Lawyer. West Virginia State Bar. 1990.
  6. "Celebrating Women in Law". Legal Aid of West Virginia. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
  7. Doherty, William T.; Summers, Festus Paul (1982). West Virginia University, Symbol of Unity in a Sectionalized State. West Virginia University Press. ISBN 9780937058169.
  8. Foster, Teree E.; Fallon, Sandra M. (April 1995). "West Virginia's Pioneer Women Lawyers". West Virginia University - The Research Repository @ WVU.
  9. "WVU College of Law Magazine 2015". Issuu. Retrieved 2019-08-26.
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