Juanita Stout
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Juanita Kidd Stout (March 7, 1919 – August 21, 1998) was an American attorney and jurist who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1988 to 1989. She had previously operated a private legal practice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After working in the District Attorney's office, where Stout was known for her successful prosecutions, she was appointed on an interim basis to the municipal court bench in 1959, becoming the first African-American woman to serve as a judge in the state. Elected that year to the municipal court, she was the first African-American woman elected to any judgeship in the United States. When she was appointed to the state's supreme court, Stout was the first African-American woman to serve on the supreme court of any state.


Early life and education

She was born as Juanita Kidd in
Wewoka, Oklahoma Wewoka is a city in Seminole County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 3,271 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Seminole County. Founded by a freedman, John Coheia, and Black Seminoles in January, 1849, Wewoka is the capital ...
on March 7, 1919. Her parents were both teachers, but were not paid well in the segregated state. She always "credited her mother with instilling a lifelong habit of hard work." As a child, Stout learned to read at age three, entered the third grade at age six, and started college at age 16. She first attended Lincoln University, a historically black college in
Jefferson City, Missouri Jefferson City, informally Jeff City, is the capital of Missouri, United States. It had a population of 43,228 at the 2020 census, ranking as the 15th most populous city in the state. It is also the county seat of Cole County and the princip ...
, and later completed her bachelor's degree in music at the University of Iowa. She returned to Oklahoma to work as a music teacher.Obituary: J.K. Stout, Pioneering Judge in Pennsylvania, Is Dead at 79"
''New York Times'', 24 August 1998; accessed 12 May 2017
Stout was also a member of
Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emphasis on programs that assist the African American community. Delta ...
sorority. During World War II, she joined other young women and went to Washington, D.C., to work. At a law firm, she discovered skills in taking legal dictation and started to study law. She earned two law degrees at Indiana University.


Career

In 1950, she moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she had been invited to work for
William H. Hastie William Henry Hastie Jr. (November 17, 1904 – April 14, 1976) was an American lawyer, judge, educator, public official, and civil rights advocate. He was the first African American to serve as Governor of the United States Virgin Islands, as a ...
, who had been appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. She had worked for him in
Washington, D.C ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
. A few years later Stout established her own law practice in 1954. She was appointed to the District Attorney's office, where she became renowned for her record of successful prosecutions and her meticulous preparation. In 1959 Stout was appointed as a municipal court judge, the first African-American woman in the state to serve as a judge. That year she won election to the post and was the first African-American woman in the United States to be elected to a judgeship. On November 15, 1959, Stout appeared on the game show ''What's My Line?.'' She later was appointed to the Court of Common Pleas, where she specialized in homicide cases. In 1988 she was appointed to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the first African-American woman in the United States to serve on the supreme court of any state. She served for one year before obligatory retirement at age 70.


Personal life

Stout met her husband, Charles Otis Stout, while attending law school in Indiana. Stout’s husband died in 1988. Stout died in Philadelphia in 1998.


Legacy and honors

*Stout was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame in 1983. *In 2012, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania city courthouse was renamed as the Justice Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice in her honor.


See also

* List of African-American jurists * List of first women lawyers and judges in Pennsylvania


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Stout, Juanita Kidd 1919 births 1998 deaths People from Wewoka, Oklahoma University of Iowa alumni African-American judges Justices of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania 20th-century American judges 20th-century American women judges 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people