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1968 Women's Bar Association Newsletter 1 (1968)

handle is hein.peggy/wbanewsl0011 and id is 1 raw text is: WOMEN'S BAR ASSOCIATION WTil DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA NEWISd JVIE1JWS GLADYS FISHEL, Editor. Telephone: 522-5634 May, 1968 JUDGE BURNITA SHELTON MATTHEWS Woman Lawyer of the Year When President Truman appointed Burnita Shelton Matthews to the United States District Court in 1949, she became the first woman in this country to serve as a Federal District Judge. Now, after 18 years of distinguished service as a member of the Federal Judiciary, Judge Matthews has retired from active duty, although she will remain available for continued assignment as a Senior Judge. On February 29, 1968, the day before her retirement, Senator Stennis of Mississippi spoke in tribute to Judge Matthews on the floor of the United States Senate. He described her appointment to the Bench as an important milestone, not only in the legal profession and the Judiciary but also in the growth and change in attitudes of a great Nation, but he also pointed out that Judge Matthews had been elevated to a Federal Judgeship not because she was a woman, but because of her outstanding ability, judicial temperament, and record as a practicing attorney in the District of Columbia. Since a woman had never been appointed District Judge he stated, it is obvious she was appointed in spite of that fact and Judge Matthews has been blazing new trails ever since. Only three other women have since been appointed to the Bench of the United States District Court: Sarah T. Hughes, appointed in 1961 for the Northern District of Texas by President Kennedy; Constance Baker Motley, appointed by President Johnson in 1966 for the Southern District of New York; and our own member, June Green, just named to fill the vacancy created by Judge Matthews' retirement. Burnita Shelton Matthews was born in Copiah County, Mississippi. She attended law school in the District of Columbia at National University (now merged with George Washington University Law School), received a Bachelor of Laws in 1919 and a Master of Laws and Master of Patent Law in 1920. Before her elevation to the Bench, Judge Matthews engaged in the private practice of law here for over twenty-five years. She also taught evidence for six years at the Washington College of Law (now of the American University). Digitized from Best Copy Available

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