Celebration of 95 Years of Women in the Delaware Bar with special quest The Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg

August 23, 2018
Hyatt Regency Washington
Women & the law Section of the Delaware State Bar Association

Program

Welcome

Opening Remarks
Justice Karen A Valihura of the Delaware Supreme Court

Video
Reflections an 95 Years of Women in the Delaware Bar

Introduction of Keynote Speaker
Justice Randy I. Holland (Ret.) of the Delaware Supreme Court

Keynote
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the United States Supreme Court

A Conversation with Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
President Judge Jan R Jurden of the Delaware Superior Court
and Vice Chancellor Tamika R Montgomery-Reeves of the Delaware Court of Chancery

Closing Presentation
Judge Susan C. Del Pesco (Ret.) of the Delaware Superior Court and Judge Aida Waserstein (Ret.) of the Delaware Family Court

Delaware Women Firsts
“The most heartening thing about seeing women rise in the power structure is not seeing them perform like powerful men, But like powerful women.” –Debarah Blum, noted author

1883: Mary Ann Shadd Cary, a Delaware native, becomes
the second African American woman in the United States
to attend law school (Howard University). Howard University

1923: Evangelyn Barsky and Sybil Ursula Ward become the
first women to be admitted into the Delaware Bar.

1925: Sybil Ursula Ward is the first female elected to
Wilmington City Council. In 1923, she was also the first
female lawyer at Ward & Gray, now Potter Anderson &
Corroon.

1933: Marguerite Hopkins Bodziak becomes the first
female prosecutor in Delaware when she was appointed
Assistant City Solicitor in charge of prosecution.

1962: Ruth Farrell becomes the first woman appointed as
Deputy Attorney General of Delaware.

1971: Judge Battle R. Robinson becomes the first female
attorney in Sussex County. After she had her first child the Delaware Bar Association sent roses and a card stating: “To the first lawyer in Sussex to ever have a baby.”

1971: Judge Roxana Arsht becomes Delaware’s first female
judge when she was appointed by Governor Peterson to
the Delaware Family Court.

1973: Judge Jane Richards Roth becomes the first woman
to be named partner at a major Delaware law firm
(Richards, Layton & Finger).

1974: Judge Helen Balick becomes the first woman to sit
on the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

1976: Judge Aida Waserstein becomes the first Hispanic
woman to be admitted to the Delaware Bar.

1977: Paulette Sullivan Moore becomes the first African
American woman admitted to the Delaware Bar.

1979: Judge Peggy L. Ableman becomes the first female
Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware.

1984: Justice Carolyn Berger becomes the first woman to
serve as Vice Chancellor on the Delaware Court of Chancery.

1985: Judge Jane Richards Roth becomes the first woman
to sit on the District Court for the District of Delaware.

1987: Judge Susan C. Del Pesco becomes the first female
President of the Delaware State Bar Association.

1988: Judge Susan C. Del Pesco becomes the first woman
to sit on the Delaware Superior Court.

1991: Judge Jane Richards Roth becomes the first woman
to be named a judge on the United States Court of Appeals
for the Third Circuit.

1992: Judge Haile Alford becomes the first African
American female judge appointed to Delaware Superior
Court.

1993: Master Patricia W. Griffin becomes the first woman
attorney to lead a statewide court in Delaware (Justice of
the Peace Court).

1994: Justice Carolyn Berger becomes the first woman to
serve on the Delaware Supreme Court.

1994: Margaret Rose Henry becomes the first African
American woman to serve in the Delaware State Senate.

1995: Judge M. Jane Brady becomes the first woman to
serve as Delaware’s Attorney General.

1999: Doneene Keemer Damon becomes the first African
American woman to make partner at a major Delaware
law firm (Richards, Lavton & Finger).

1999: Judge Rosemary Betts Beauregard becomes the first
woman appointed to the Delaware Court of Common
Pleas.

2000: Judge Sue L. Robinson becomes the first female
Chief Judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of
Delaware.

2001: Ruth Ann Minner becomes the first female governor
of Delaware.

2003: Judge Chandlee Kuhn becomes the first female
Chief Judge of the Delaware Family Court.

2003: Judge Arlene M. Coppadge becomes the first African
American woman to serve on the Delaware Family Court.

2004: Judge Marv M. McDonough becomes the first female
Commissioner of Delaware’s Court of Common Pleas.

2006: Linda Ammons becomes the first female and first
African American dean of Widener Law School.

2013: Judge Vivian L. Medinilla becomes the first Hispanic
woman to sit on the Superior Court.

2015: President Judge Jan R. Jurden becomes the first
female President Judge of the Superior Court.

2015: Vice Chancellor Tamika R. Montgomery-Reeves
becomes the first African American Woman appointed to
the Delaware Court of Chancery.

2017: Lisa Blunt Rochester becomes the first African
American and first woman to represent Delaware in
Congress.

2018: Kathleen Fury McDonough becomes the first
woman in Delaware to lead a major law firm (Potter
Anderson & Corroon).

The Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg
United States Supreme Court
The Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg is an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Justice Ginsburg is a graduate of Cornell University and Columbia Law School. Following law school, she became a professor at Rutgers Law School and
Columbia Law School.

Justice Ginsburg spent a considerable part of her legal career as an advocate for the advancement of gender equality and women’s rights, arguing multiple cases before the United States Supreme Court as head of the American Civil Liberties Union Women’s Rights Project. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed Justice Ginsburg to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, where she served
until her appointment to the United States Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton on August 10, 1995 Justice Ginsburg is the second female justice (after Sandra Dav O’Connor) to serve on the United States Supreme Court.

Thank you
Tonight’s program would not have been possible without the enthusiasm, support, and generosity of the members of the Women and the Law Section

The Planning Committee would like to express particular gratitude to:
The Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg
The Honorable Randy J. Holland
Rebecca Baird, Antonio Byrd, Sorelis Duran, Emily Fulginiti, Aner Marks, Susan Simmons, Mark Vavala

Planning Cammittee
Rebecca Byrd
Kyle Evans Gav
Kate Harmon
Kelley Huff
Kathleen Murphy
Lori Will

WOMEN & THE LAW SECTION
OF THE DELAWARE STATE BAR ASSOCIATION
Delaware State Bar Association