Caroline Duby Glassman (September 13, 1922 – July 10, 2013) was an American attorney and former jurist in the state of

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and north ...

. A native of

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

, she completed college and law school in that state before moving to Portland, Maine, where she practiced law with her husband Harry P. Glassman. In 1983, she became the first woman to serve on the

Maine Supreme Judicial Court The Maine Supreme Judicial Court is the highest court in the state of Maine's judicial system. It is composed of seven justices, who are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Maine Senate. From 1820 until 1839, justices served lifetime a ...

Early life

Caroline Duby was born on September 13, 1926, to Caroline Marie (née Colton) and Charles Ferdinand Duby in the Eastern Oregon city of

Baker A baker is a tradesperson who bakes and sometimes sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient history Since grains ha ...

(now Baker City). Her great-grandmother on her father's side had been part of the Nez Perce tribe of Native Americans, with her father also of French heritage.Howard H. Dana, Jr
The Supreme Judicial Court of the State of Maine, 1820 to 2007.
Cleaves Law Library. Retrieved on May 30, 2009. Duby grew up in Eastern Oregon where she attended the public schools in Baker and neighboring Keating. After high school she enrolled at Eastern Oregon College of Education (now

Eastern Oregon University Eastern Oregon University (EOU) (officially designated as Oregon’s Rural University) is a public university in La Grande, Oregon. It was formerly part of the Oregon University System, since dissolved. EOU was founded in 1929 as a teacher’ ...

) in La Grande. In 1941, she graduated from the school with honors and an associate degree. Caroline then entered law school at

Willamette University College of Law Willamette University College of Law is the law school of Willamette University. Located in Salem, Oregon, and founded in 1883, Willamette is the oldest law school in the Pacific Northwest. It has approximately 24 full-time law professors and e ...

Salem, Oregon Salem ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river ...

, where she was one of only two women at the school. Both her father and the dean discouraged her from attending the school. She roomed off-campus with her other female classmate after the school consented, but only upon gaining permission from each student's parents. The two boarded together until the other dropped out after two years. Caroline graduated from Willamette

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

in 1944 with a

bachelor of laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

degree.

Legal career

After passing the Oregon bar in 1944, she began practicing law in Salem for the Salem Title Insurance Company. She worked there from 1944 until 1946, and then moved to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

where she became an associate of

Melvin Belli Melvin Mouron Belli (July 29, 1907 – July 9, 1996) was a prominent United States lawyer, writer, and actor known as "The King of Torts" and by insurance companies as "Melvin Bellicose". He had many celebrity clients, including Zsa Zsa Gab ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in 1952. In 1953, she married Harry Paul Glassman in San Francisco, and they had a son, Max. She continued working for Belli until 1960 when the family moved to Maine. From 1967 to 1968 she lectured at the University of Maine School of Law. Caroline Glassman returned to practicing law in 1969 as a

sole practitioner A sole practitioner or solo practitioner is a professional, such as a lawyer or an architect, who practices independently. For instance a sole practitioner's law firm may include non-lawyer support personnel but does not include any other lawyers. ...

, and continued until 1974 when she joined the law firm of Glassman & Potter in Portland, Maine. She continued with the firm until 1979 when she joined Glassman, Beagle & Ridge. Her husband Harry served on the

from 1979 until his death in 1981. Glassman served as the president of the Cumberland Bar Association in 1982 and was on the state bar association's board of governors from 1982 to 1983.

Judicial career

On July 7, 1983, Maine Governor

Joseph E. Brennan Joseph Edward Brennan (born November 2, 1934) is an American Democratic Party lawyer and politician from Maine. He served as the 70th Governor of Maine from 1979 to 1987. He is a former commissioner on the Federal Maritime Commission. Early lif ...

nominated Glassman to replace Gene Carter on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. She was confirmed by the

Maine State Senate The Maine Senate is the upper house of the Maine Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maine. The Senate currently consists of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, though the Maine Constitution ...

on August 4, in a unanimous vote. Glassman was sworn into office on August 30 as the 93rd justice in the court's history and became the first woman to ever serve on what is that state's highest court. While on the bench, she received several

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

s, including from the University of New England in 1985,

Bowdoin College Bowdoin College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. When Bowdoin was chartered in 1794, Maine was still a part of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The college offers 34 majors and 36 minors, as well as several joint eng ...

in 1986,

Husson College Husson University is a private university in Bangor, Maine. It offers undergraduate and graduate degrees and as of Fall 2020 had a total enrollment of 3,476 students, including 799 graduate students in master's and doctoral programs. Husson Un ...

in 1989, and finally in 1994 from her alma mater,

. In 1990, Gov.

John McKernan John Rettie "Jock" McKernan Jr. (born May 20, 1948) is an American politician who served two terms as the 71st Governor of Maine, from 1987 to 1995. Born in Bangor, Maine, McKernan attended Dartmouth College and then the University of Maine Sch ...

nominated Glassman for a second seven-year term on the court, and she was once again confirmed by the state senate. In early 1997 she announced she would not seek a third term, but hoped her replacement would be another woman. Glassman sought retirement before she felt burnt out and in order to become more involved in community activities that the rules of judicial conduct would otherwise prohibit. She left the bench on September 1, 1997.

Later life

After leaving the bench she was involved with the Russian American Rule of Law Commission between Maine and the Russian city of

Archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...

. The women's section of Maine's

bar association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to separ ...

created the Caroline Duby Glassman Award in 1993. She lived in Portland, Maine. Glassman died on July 10, 2013, at the age of 90 at the Maine Medical Center in Portland.'Caroline Glassman, first women on Maine supreme court, dies at 89,' MaineTodayMedia, Inc., David Dench, July 11, 2013

References

External links

Interview with Caroline Glassman by Greg Beam
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glassman, Caroline Duby 1922 births 2013 deaths Justices of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court Willamette University College of Law alumni Eastern Oregon University alumni Politicians from Baker City, Oregon Lawyers from Portland, Maine Oregon lawyers California lawyers University of Maine School of Law faculty American women legal scholars American legal scholars 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women judges American women academics 21st-century American women