Campus News

UB Law hosts tribute to pioneering women lawyers

Legal pioneers, from left, Belva B. Lockwood, Kate Stoneman, Helen Z.M. Rodgers, Charlotte Smallwood-Cook and Shirley St. Hill Chisholm.

Legal pioneers, from left, Belva B. Lockwood, Kate Stoneman, Helen Z.M. Rodgers, Charlotte Smallwood-Cook and Shirley St. Hill Chisholm. Image: UB Law School

By ILENE FLEISCHMANN

Published October 29, 2015 This content is archived.

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The path-breaking work of five female lawyers will be the focus as the UB Law School hosts Western New York Women Pioneers in the Law: A Celebration.

The event, being held from 5:30-7 p.m. Nov. 5 in 106 O’Brian Hall, North Campus, will examine the contributions of women from Western New York to the legal heritage of the region and the nation.

The program, which is free and open to the public — online registration is available — also is sponsored by the Historical Society of the New York Courts and the Phillips Lytle law firm.  

Attendees will learn about the life and work of these pioneering women:

  • Belva B. Lockwood, the first woman admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, presented by Erin M. Peradotto, associate justice, Appellate Division, Fourth Judicial District.
  • Kate Stoneman, the first woman admitted to practice in New York, presented by Michelle Henry, Chautauqua County historian.
  • Helen Z.M. Rodgers, the first female graduate of the Buffalo Law School, presented by Bernadette Gargano, a research and writing lecturer at the Law School.
  • Charlotte Smallwood-Cook, who as Wyoming County district attorney from 1950-53 was the first female district attorney in New York, presented by Michael B. Powers, a Phillips Lytle partner and Clarence town justice.
  • Rep. Shirley Chisholm, the first African-American woman elected to the U.S. Congress, presented by Rep. Brian Higgins. Chisholm represented New York’s 12th District from 1969-83.

Giving remarks will be Eugene F. Pigott Jr., ’73, associate judge, state Court of Appeals; Paula L. Feroleto, ’82, administrative judge, Eighth Judicial District; and James A. Gardner, interim dean, UB Law School. The program will be moderated by Albert M. Rosenblatt, a former state Court of Appeals judge who serves as president of the Historical Society of the New York Courts.

A display created by the state bar association’s Committee on Women in the Law will highlight 10 women lawyers who made significant contributions in the legal profession after overcoming gender barriers and, in some cases, racial discrimination, paving the way for generations of women attorneys. It is co-sponsored by UB’s Charles B. Sears Law Library.