In 1931, Jane Bolin became the first Black woman to graduate from Yale Law School. But that is just one of her long list of firsts — Bolin also went on to become the first Black woman to join the New York City Bar Association and the New York City Law Department.
After her graduation, Bolin apprenticed in her father’s law office. Dismissed by local law firms due to her gender (and likely also her race) she later went on to practice law with her first husband, Ralph E. Mizelle, who later died in 1943.
She became the first Black woman to become a judge in 1939 (as a judge of the Domestic Relations Court in New York, now called Family Court), and for the next 20 years she was the only Black female judge in the country. As a judge, she challenged discriminatory and segregationist practices, such as assigning probation officers based on race.
“Everyone else makes a fuss about it, but I didn’t think about it, and I still don’t,” she told the New York Times in a 1993 interview. “I wasn’t concerned about first, second or last. My work was my primary concern.”
She , at age 98.
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In celebration of Black History Month, the Training Division is honoring black legal minds in the United States who have advanced civil rights and continue to inspire advocates to dismantle systems of oppression and work for a better tomorrow.