Caroline Burnham Kilgore (January 20, 1838 – June 29, 1909) was the first woman admitted to the
bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
in the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryl ...
.
Kilgore was the first woman lawyer in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. She was a school teacher and began to study law in 1875, when such narrow prejudice existed against woman receiving the benefit of a university course, that accompanying the refusal of her application for admission to the Law School of the University of Pennsylvania, was the courteous observation of the dean, that the time for him to resign would be when negroes and women were admitted. Kilgore persevered sixteen years before she became a recognized member of the bar.
Early years
Caroline Burnham was born in
Craftsbury, Vermont
Craftsbury is a Vermont municipality, town in Orleans County, Vermont, Orleans County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,343 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town includes the unincorporated villages of Craftsbury, C ...
, in 1838.
Her father, James Burnham, was a woolen manufacturer while her mother Eliza Arnold Burnham was a former teacher.
Kilgore was orphaned at age eleven.
Career
She supported herself as a domestic worker and later as a teacher.
While working as a teacher, Kilgore continued her education at
Craftsbury Academy and
Newbury Seminary
Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) is a private graduate-level art school in Montpelier, Vermont. It offers Master's degrees in low-residency and residential programs. Its faculty includes Pulitzer Prize finalists, National Book Award winners, ...
.
Kilgore taught in
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
before switching her focus to medicine. She enrolled in medical school at the Hygeia-Therapeutic College and completed her M.D. in 1865.
The
University of Pennsylvania Law School
The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and olde ...
rejected her application in 1871.
She attempted to buy individual tickets to attend lectures. Sometime later, she sent her husband to purchase the lecture passes, but the Board of Trustees informed her that even if she attended every required lecture and passed all of the examinations, they would not guarantee that she would earn a diploma. After studying privately, Kilgore asked to take the bar exam in 1873 and 1874, but was refused.
After ten years of lobbying, Kilgore finally became the first female student admitted to the
University of Pennsylvania Law School
The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and olde ...
in 1881. She graduated in 1883.
She was admitted to practice before the
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It also claims to be the oldest appellate court in the United States, a claim that is disputed by the Massachusetts Supreme ...
in 1885, and before the
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
in 1890.
Kilgore was a member of the Citizens' Suffrage Association and tried to vote at city and county elections in 1871.
She was ruled against and appealed to the full state supreme court, which affirmed the ruling against her.
She published a pamphlet with her argument before the
state supreme court
In the United States, a state supreme court (known by #Terminology, other names in some states) is the supreme court, highest court in the State court (United States), state judiciary of a U.S. state. On matters of State law (United States), st ...
, titled ''Woman Suffrage. The Argument of Carrie S. Burnham'', which also included the opinion of the man who originally ruled against her,
George Sharswood
George Sharswood (July 7, 1810 – May 28, 1883) was a Pennsylvania jurist and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. He was also the Dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Biography
Sharswood was born in Philadelphia, P ...
.
She died in
Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
Swarthmore ( , ) is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. Swarthmore was originally named "Westdale" in honor of noted painter Benjamin West, who was one of the early residents of the town. The name was changed to "Swarthmore" after the es ...
, June 29, 1909, and was buried at Craftsbury Common Cemetery in
Craftsbury, Vermont
Craftsbury is a Vermont municipality, town in Orleans County, Vermont, Orleans County, Vermont, United States. The population was 1,343 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. The town includes the unincorporated villages of Craftsbury, C ...
.
Legacy
During the University of Pennsylvania's Homecoming Weekend of October 1965, the Trustees dedicated Kilgore House, one of the four houses in the Robert C. Hill Residence Hall, in her honor.
She is listed as one of the Philadelphia Bar Association's Legends of the Bar.
See also
*
List of first women lawyers and judges in Pennsylvania
This is a list of the first women lawyer(s) and judge(s) in Pennsylvania. It includes the year in which the women were admitted to practice law (in parentheses). Also included are women who achieved other distinctions such becoming the first in the ...
References
Attribution
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kilgore, Caroline Burnham
1838 births
1909 deaths
American lawyers
American suffragists
American women physicians
University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni
People from Craftsbury, Vermont
19th-century American women lawyers
19th-century American lawyers