List of first women lawyers and judges in Mississippi

File:Marian Wright Edelman 01.jpg

File:Felicia C. Adams.jpg

• First female: Susie Blue Buchanan (1918){{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jjBE-XbPSeIC&q=susie%2520blue%2520buchanan%2520first%2520woman%2520lawyer&pg=PT63|title=Slow Travels-Mississippi|last=Wilkerson|first=Lyn|date=2010-11-08|publisher=Lyn Wilkerson|isbn=9781452332291|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/clip/18463030/sara_buchanan/|title=Sara Buchanan|website=Newspapers.com|language=en|access-date=2019-03-27}}Buchanan was also the first female admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Mississippi (1916), as well as argue a murder case before that court (1917).
• First African American female: Marian Wright Edelman (1963){{Cite web|url=http://www.blackpast.org/aah/edelman-marian-wright-1939|title=Edelman, Marian Wright (1939- ) {{!}} The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed|website=www.blackpast.org|language=en|access-date=2018-01-20}}
• First known Hispanic American female: Doris Bobadilla (1991){{Cite web|url=http://law.loyno.edu/achievements/1991-alumna-doris-bobadilla-profiled-atlantic|title=1991 Alumna Doris Bobadilla Profiled by The Atlantic {{!}} College of Law|website=law.loyno.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-02-17}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/11/lawyer/506618/|title=A Lawyer Who Loves Her Job|last=Lam|first=Bourree|work=The Atlantic|access-date=2018-02-17|language=en-US}}

• First female: Zelma Wells Price (1929) in 1955{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HWolDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1305|title=The Mississippi Encyclopedia|last1=Ownby|first1=Ted|last2=Wilson|first2=Charles Reagan|last3=Abadie|first3=Ann J.|last4=Lindsey|first4=Odie|last5=Thomas|first5=James G.|date=2017-05-25|publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi|isbn=9781496811592|language=en}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/34063017/|title=The Mid-Delta Judge Zelma Price is dead|date=February 25, 1974|work=Newspapers.com|access-date=2018-02-01|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygMQDdnlH6cC|title=Mississippi Government and Politics: Modernizers Versus Traditionalists|last1=Krane|first1=Dale|last2=Shaffer|first2=Stephen D.|date=1992|publisher=U of Nebraska Press|isbn=080327758X|language=en}}{{Cite web|url=http://caba.ms/articles/features/bicentennial-review-judiciary-ms-bar.html|title=Capital Area Bar Association|website=caba.ms|access-date=2018-12-31}}
• First African American female: Constance Slaughter-Harvey (1970) in 1976{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z74vTOrw5mYC&pg=PA76|title=Mississippi Black History Makers|last1=Sewell|first1=George A.|last2=Dwight|first2=Margaret L.|date=2012-01-20|publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi|isbn=9781617034282|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hCYK7X_SqHIC&pg=PA8111|title=Congressional Record, V. 147, Pt. 6, May 9, 2001 to May 21 2001|date=October 2005|publisher=Government Printing Office|isbn=9780160729669|language=en}}
• First female (Mississippi Supreme Court): Lenore L. Prather (1955) in 1982{{Cite web |title=Collins Speaker Series: Lenore Prather » Mississippi State University Libraries |url=http://lib.msstate.edu/collins/speakers/prather/ |access-date=2018-02-02 |website=lib.msstate.edu |language=en}}
• First female (Mississippi Court of Appeals): Mary Libby Payne in 1995{{Cite web |last=Wells |first=Valerie |title=Mary Libby Payne |url=http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2011/oct/06/mary-libby-payne/ |access-date=2018-12-31 |website=www.jacksonfreepress.com |language=en}}
• First female (Chief Justice; Mississippi Supreme Court): Lenore L. Prather (1955) in 1998
• First African American female (Mississippi Court of Appeals): Ermea Russell in 2011{{Cite web |title=MC{{!}}Law Judicial Data Project |url=http://judicial.mc.edu/judge_profiles.php |access-date=2018-12-31 |website=judicial.mc.edu}}{{Cite web |title=EJ Russell seated on appellate court {{!}} The Jackson Advocate |url=http://www.jacksonadvocateonline.com/ej-russell-seated-on-appellate-court/ |access-date=2018-12-31 |language=en-US}}
• First female (Chief Judge; Mississippi Court of Appeals): Donna Barnes in 2019{{Cite web |last=Progress |first=David Helms Pontotoc |title=Chief Judge Donna Barnes sworn in as first woman to lead Court of Appeals |url=https://www.djournal.com/pontotoc/chief-judge-donna-barnes-sworn-in-as-first-woman-to/article_f43c99e8-a7ef-535f-aa5e-ac0d8b171bcb.html |access-date=2019-02-22 |website=Daily Journal |language=en}}
• First African American (female) (Twenty-Second Circuit Court District): Tomika Harris-Irving in 2019{{Cite web|url=https://courts.ms.gov/news/2019/09.18.19Judge%20Matthews.php|title=Copiah County native honored as nation's first female federal trial judge - State of Mississippi Judiciary News|website=courts.ms.gov|access-date=2020-03-06}}

• First African American (female) (Magistrate Judge; U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi): Linda Anderson in 2006
• First female (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi): Sharion Aycock (1980) in 2007{{Cite web|url=https://www.mc.edu/beacon/archive/spring-2013/profiles/benchmark-appointment|title=Mississippi College {{!}} Beacon Magazine {{!}} A Benchmark Appointment|website=www.mc.edu|access-date=2018-02-01}}
• First female (bankruptcy court): Katharine Malley Samson in 2010{{Cite web |date=Summer 2011 |title=News About You |url=http://latechalumni.com/techmag/no26/26.pdf#page=17 |website=Louisiana Tech Magazine}}
• First African American female (U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi): Debra M. Brown (1997) in 2013{{Cite web|url=http://caad.msstate.edu/wpmu/sarcnews/tag/debra-m-brown-as-mississippis-first-african-american-female-u-s-district-judge/|title=School Of Architecture News - Debra M. Brown as Mississippi's first African-American female U.S. District Judge|website=caad.msstate.edu|language=en|access-date=2018-01-09}}

• First female: Lynn Fitch in 2020{{Cite web |last=Gates |first=Jimmie E. |title=Lynn Fitch elected Mississippi's first female attorney general |url=https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/politics/2019/11/05/mississippi-election-lynn-fitch-elected-first-female-attorney-general/4124116002/ |access-date=2022-03-02 |website=The Clarion-Ledger |language=en-US}}

• First female: Evelyn Gandy (1947) in 1959{{Cite web|url=https://www.american-journalism.org/teaching-our-journal-2/|title='A Lady of Many Firsts': Press Coverage of the Political Career of Mississippi's Evelyn Gandy, 1948-83|date=2017-12-13|website=American Journalism|language=en-US|access-date=2018-12-13}}

• First female: Felicia C. Adams in 2011{{Cite web|url=https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/2017/03/13/both-mississippi-us-attorneys-out/99126644/|title=Mississippi's 2 U.S. attorneys resign|website=The Clarion Ledger|language=en|access-date=2019-01-01}}

• First female: Euple Dozier in 1955{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rqCPDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA121|title=Fulton|last=Franks|first=Mona Robinson Mills and Bob|date=2017|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=9781467123792|language=en}}

• First African American female: E. Faye Peterson in 2001{{Cite web |last=Henry |first=Daja E. |date=2024-01-19 |title=Meet the 5 Most Powerful People in Mississippi’s Hinds County Justice System |url=https://www.themarshallproject.org/2024/01/19/mississippi-hinds-county-felony-court-district-attorney-judge |access-date=2024-01-19 |website=The Marshall Project |language=en}}

• First female: Kathy King Jackson in 1977:{{Cite web|url=http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-news/2013/04/circuit_judge_kathy_king_jacks.html|title=Circuit Judge Kathy King Jackson of Pascagoula honored by Mississippi Bar Foundation|last=Staff|first=Mississippi Press|website=gulflive.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-01-01}}

• First female (Lieutenant Governor of Mississippi): Evelyn Gandy (1947) from 1976-1980

• First female: Joy Lambert Phillips (1980) in 2005{{Cite web|url=https://www.msbar.org/inside-the-bar/leadership/past-presidents/|title=The Mississippi Bar :: Past Presidents|website=www.msbar.org|access-date=2018-12-31}}
• First African American female: Patricia W. Bennett in 2018{{Cite web|url=https://courts.ms.gov/news/2017/10.25.17Trailblazers.php|title=Judges Westbrooks, Owens and Wise honored as Trailblazers - State of Mississippi Judiciary News|website=courts.ms.gov|access-date=2018-12-31}}{{Cite web|url=https://law.mc.edu/faculty/directory|title=Faculty Directory|website=Mississippi College School of Law|access-date=2018-12-31}}

• Patricia Burchell:{{Cite web |title=Governor appoints first female DA in Forrest County |url=http://www.wdam.com/story/13212279/mississippi-governor-fills-district-attorney-positions |access-date=2019-01-01 |website=WDAM |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Herrington |first=Charles |title=New D.A. sworn-in for Forrest-Perry counties |url=http://www.wdam.com/story/13255937/new-da-sworn-in-for-forrest-perry-counties |access-date=2019-03-27 |website=WDAM 7 |language=en-US}} First female to serve as the District Attorney for Forrest and Perry Counties, Mississippi (2010)
• Latrice Westbrooks: First African American female to serve as the Assistant District Attorney for the Second Circuit Court District (1997) [Hancock, Harrison and Stone Counties, Mississippi]
• Michele Purvis Harris (1987): First female (and African American female) to serve as the Chief City Prosecutor for the City of Jackson, Mississippi (1994) [Hinds, Madison and Rankin Counties, Mississippi]
• Mary Lee Toles:{{Cite web|url=https://www.natchezdemocrat.com/2020/02/27/celebrating-black-history-local-museum-adds-unique-dimension-to-natchez-story/|title=Celebrating Black History: Local museum adds unique dimension to Natchez story|last=Murphy|first=Patrick|date=2020-02-28|website=Mississippi's Best Community Newspaper|access-date=2020-03-14}} First African American (female) judge in Natchez, Mississippi [Adams County, Mississippi]
• Marie Kepper (1954):{{Cite news|url=https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/mississippi/articles/2017-06-18/marie-kepper-forged-path-for-women-in-pine-belt|title=Marie Kepper Forged Path for Women in Pine Belt|last=Beveridge|first=Lici|date=June 18, 2017|work=U.S. News & World Report}} First female judge in Forrest County, Mississippi
• Clare Sekul Hornsby:{{Cite web|url=https://www.msbar.org/media/2119/lawyerwinter_13-1.pdf|title=Women in the Profession|date=Winter 2011–2012|website=The Mississippi Lawyer}} First female to serve as the president of the Harrison County Bar Association
• Faye Peterson:{{Cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/mississippi-black-women-judges-hinds-county_us_5c003982e4b0864f4f6b7c0b|title=Black Women Break Barriers In Mississippi With Historic Court Wins|last=Richards|first=Kimberley|date=2018-11-30|work=Huffington Post|access-date=2018-12-31|language=en-US}} First African American female to serve as the District Attorney for Hinds County, Mississippi
• Michele Purvis Harris (1987):{{Cite web|url=http://www.jsums.edu/alumni/2018/09/27/michele-purvis-harris/|title=Michele Purvis Harris {{!}} Alumni and Constituency Relations|website=www.jsums.edu|access-date=2019-01-01}} First female (and African American female) to serve as the Chief City Prosecutor for the City of Jackson, Mississippi (1994) and the Public Defender for Hinds County, Mississippi (2012)
• Ermea Russell: First African American female to serve as a circuit judge in Hinds County, Mississippi (1998)
• LaRita Cooper-Stokes:{{Cite web |title=LaRita Cooper-Stokes, first Black woman judge in Hinds County, dies at 64 |url=https://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2023/05/08/former-jackson-ms-councilmember-hinds-county-judge-larita-cooper-stokes-wife-of-kenneth-stokes-dies/70194758007/ |access-date=2023-05-09 |website=The Clarion-Ledger |language=en-US}} First African American female elected to serve as a judge in Hinds County, Mississippi (2014)
• Tomie Green:{{Cite web|date=2022-02-02|title=Judge Tomie Green to retire|url=https://www.wjtv.com/news/local-news/judge-tomie-green-to-retire/|access-date=2022-02-02|website=WJTV|language=en-US}} First female (and African American) to serve as the Senior Circuit Judge in the Seventh Circuit Court District [Hinds County, Mississippi]
• Constance Slaughter-Harvey: First African American female graduate of the University of Mississippi School of Law [Lafayette County, Mississippi]. She was the first African American female judge in Scott County, Mississippi (1976).
• Edna Loeb (1936):{{Cite web|url=http://www.isjl.org/mississippi-columbus-encyclopedia.html|title=ISJL - Mississippi Columbus Encyclopedia|website=Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life|access-date=2018-02-13}} First female lawyer in Lowndes County, Mississippi
• Adrian McIntosh Haynes:{{Cite web |last=WARD |first=JOHN H. |date=2021-02-22 |title=County's first Black judge, female judge believes in firmness and fairness |url=https://www.djournal.com/monroe/news/countys-first-black-judge-female-judge-believes-in-firmness-and-fairness/article_3c4fcfec-b776-5488-9d6f-60ad793c050e.html |access-date=2025-04-23 |website=Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal |language=en}} First [African American] female judge in Monroe County, Mississippi (2020)
• Patricia Wise: First female (and African American female) to serve as President of the Magnolia Bar Association [Pike County, Mississippi]
• Shequeena McKenzie:{{Cite web |date=2021-03-04 |title=Hometown Heroes: The first female African American Judge in the City of McComb |url=https://www.wjtv.com/living-local/hometown-heroes/hometown-heroes-the-first-female-african-american-judge-in-the-city-of-mccomb/ |access-date=2022-08-28 |website=WJTV |language=en-US}} First African American (female) judge in McComb, Mississippi (2022) [Pike County, Mississippi]
• Carol L. White-Richard:{{Cite web|url=https://courts.ms.gov/news/2017/04.14.17Bar%20Fellows.php|title=Three state judges honored by Mississippi Bar Foundation - State of Mississippi Judiciary News|website=courts.ms.gov|access-date=2019-01-01}} First African-American female to serve as the Public Defender for Washington County, Mississippi
• Caroline Crawley Moore:{{Cite web|url=http://starkvilledailynews.com/node/125190|title=Aldermen appoint Kelley to Municipal Judge seat {{!}} Starkville Daily News|website=starkvilledailynews.com|language=en|access-date=2018-12-31}} First female prosecutor in Winton County, Mississippi (2008)
• Ruth Campbell (1918):{{Cite web|url=http://www.newspapers.com/clip/18869478/virginia_ruth_campbell/|title=Virginia Ruth Campbell|website=Newspapers.com|language=en|access-date=2019-03-27}} First female called to the Yazoo County Bar Association, Mississippi

• List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States
• Timeline of women lawyers in the United States
• Women in law

• List of first minority male lawyers and judges in the United States
• List of first minority male lawyers and judges in Mississippi

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