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This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in North Carolina. It includes the year in which the women were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are women who achieved other distinctions such as becoming the first in their state to graduate from law school or become a political figure.
Firsts in North Carolina's history
= Lawyers
=First female (act as attorney): Ann Marwood Durant in 1673
First female: Tabitha Ann Holton (1878)
First female (practice law without male partners): Lillian Exum Clement (1917)
First African American female: Ruth Whitehead Whaley (1933)
= Law Clerk
=First female to clerk for the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in North Carolina: Doris Gray
= State judges
=First female (non-attorney): Mamie Dowd Walker in 1934
First female (superior court): Susie Sharp (1928) in 1949
First African American female: Elreta Melton Alexander-Ralston (1947)
First female (North Carolina Supreme Court): Susie Sharp (1928) in 1962
First female (Chief Justice; North Carolina Supreme Court): Susie Sharp (1928) in 1975
First female (Twenty-Second Judicial District): Kimberly S. Taylor (1977) in 1986
First African American female (superior court): Shirley L. Fulton in 1989
First (African American) female (Thirteenth Judicial District): Ola M. Lewis in 1993
First female (Twenty-Fourth Judicial District): Rebecca Eggers-Gryder
First Hispanic American (female) (judicial officer): Georgia J. Lewis
First African American (female) (North Carolina Supreme Court): Patricia Timmons-Goodson in 2006
First female (to swear daughter into judicial office): Tanya T. Wallace in 2018
First Iranian American (female): Sam Hamadani in 2018
First Native American females (North Carolina District Courts): Angelica Chavis McIntyre and Brooke Locklear Clark in 2018
First African American female (Chief Justice; North Carolina Supreme Court): Cheri Beasley in 2019
First openly lesbian female: Alyson A. Grine in 2021
First Native American female (Superior Court of North Carolina): Jessica Locklear in 2024
= Federal judges
=First African American (female) (United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit): Allyson Kay Duncan in 2003
First female (U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina): Catherine Eagles (1982) in 2010
= United States Attorney
=First African American (female) (Western District of North Carolina): Dena J. King in 2021
= District Attorneys
=First female: Jean E. Powell in 1989
First African American female: Belinda J. Foster in 1993
= Assistant District Attorney
=First African American female (Thirteenth Prosecutorial District): Wanda G. Bryant
= Public Defender
=First female: Mary Ann Tally in 1974
= Political Office
=First female (North Carolina General Assembly): Lillian Exum Clement (1917) in 1920
First female (U.S. Senator): Elizabeth Dole (1965) from 2003 to 2009
First openly lesbian female (North Carolina Senate from the Ninth District): Julia Boseman (1992) in 2005
= Bar Associations
=First female president (North Carolina Bar Association): Rhoda Bryan Billings from 1991 to 1992
First female president (North Carolina State Bar): M. Ann Reed from 2000 to 2001
Firsts in local history
Margaret Fonvielle Heyward (1943): First female lawyer admitted to the Bar Association in Southeastern North Carolina
Beirne Minor Harding: First female District Attorney for the Twenty-Third Judicial District [Alleghany, Ashe, Wilkes and Yadkin Counties, North Carolina].
Rebecca Eggers-Gryder: First female to serve as a Judge of the Twenty-Fourth Judicial District in North Carolina [Avery, Madison, Mitchell, Watauga and Yancey Counties, North Carolina]
Belinda J. Foster: First African American female to serve as the District Attorney of Caswell and Rockingham Counties, North Carolina (1993)
Alyson A. Grine: First openly LGBT female to serve as a Judge of the Judicial District 15B (2021) [Chatham and Orange Counties, North Carolina]
Ashley Welch: First female District Attorney for the Thirtieth Judicial District in North Carolina (2014) [Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon, and Swain Counties, North Carolina]
Jean E. Powell: First female to serve as the District Attorney for Hoke and Scotland Counties, North Carolina (1989)
Anna Hyder Baucom: First female magistrate in Anson County, North Carolina
Tami Mancos: First female magistrate in Bladen County, North Carolina (2000)
Tamika Jenkins (2006): First African American female lawyer in Leland, North Carolina [Brunswick County, North Carolina]
Lillian Exum Clement: First female lawyer in Buncombe County, North Carolina
Pauline Harrison: First female magistrate in Buncombe County, North Carolina
Jacqueline Grant: First African American female to serve as a resident Superior Court judge in Buncombe County, North Carolina (2021). She was the first African American female to serve as the President of the Buncombe Judicial Bar (2014-2015).
Juanita Boger-Allen: First African American female district judge in Cabarrus County, North Carolina (2019)
Mary Ann Harper: First female magistrate in Craven County, North Carolina
Beth Keever: First female judge in Cumberland County, North Carolina
Mary Ann Tally: First female to serve as the Public Defender for Cumberland County, North Carolina (1974)
Rosalind Baker: First African American (female) judge in Davidson County, North Carolina (2021)
Karen Bethea-Shields: First female (African American) judge in Durham County, North Carolina
Avery Crump: First female (and African American female) to serve as the District Attorney for Guilford County, North Carolina (2019)
Teresa Vincent: First African American (female) to serve as the Chief Judge of the Guilford County District Court, North Carolina (2019)
Addie Rawls: First African American (female) to serve as the Assistant District Attorney for the Eleventh Prosecutorial District (1991) and judge for the Eleventh Judicial District (2002) [Harnett, Johnston and Lee Counties, North Carolina]
Carolyn Burnette Ingram: First woman to practice law in Henderson County, North Carolina
Chelsea Forbes: First African American female to serve as the Assistant District Attorney for District 29-B (2014; Henderson County, North Carolina)
Regina Ann Moore (1973): First female lawyer in Martin County, North Carolina
Julia Alexander: First female lawyer in Charlotte, North Carolina [Mecklenburg County, North Carolina]
Kathy Thompson: First female to serve as the President of the Mecklenburg County Bar Association, North Carolina
Nell Lott: First African American female (and African American in general) to serve as the President of the Mecklenburg County Bar Association, North Carolina
Wendy Hazelton: First African American (female) judge in Pitts County, North Carolina
Erica Standfield Brandon: First African American female (and African American in general) judge in Rockingham County, North Carolina (2019)
Frances Holder: First female magistrate in Rowan County, North Carolina (1970)
Brandy Cook: First female District Attorney for Rowan County, North Carolina (2010)
Lorrin Freeman: First female District Attorney for Wake County, North Carolina (2014)
Linda M. McGee: First female president of the Watauga County Bar Association. She later became Chief Judge of the North Carolina Court of Appeals.
Mary Louise Canter: First female (non-attorney) magistrate in Wilkes County, North Carolina (1988)
Erica James: First African-American female judge in the 8th Judicial District, Lenoir County, Greene County, and Wayne County (2012).[1]
Carol A. Jones: First African-American female judge in the 4th Judicial District of Duplin, Jones, Onslow, and Jones Counties. (2000-2020).
See also
List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States
Timeline of women lawyers in the United States
Women in law
Other topics of interest
List of first minority male lawyers and judges in the United States
List of first minority male lawyers and judges in North Carolina