Zephyr Moore Ramsey
{{short description|American lawyer}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Zephyr Moore Ramsey
| image = ZephyrMooreRamsey1922.png
| alt = A young Black woman with her gaze cast downward, in 3/4 profile
| caption = Zephyr Moore (later Ramsey), from the 1922 yearbook of Howard University professional schools
| other_names =
| birth_name = Zephyr Abigail Moore
| birth_date = January 17, 1893
| birth_place = Tennessee
| death_date = October 6, 1984
| death_place = Los Angeles, California
| occupation = Lawyer
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| relatives =
}}
Zephyr Abigail Moore Ramsey (January 17, 1893 – October 6, 1984) was an American lawyer. Her 1922 essay "Law and its Call to Women" has been reprinted and studied in recent years. She was one of the first Black women to be admitted to the bar in California.
Early life and education
Zephyr Abigail Moore was born in Tennessee and raised in Southern California. She is the daughter of James C. Moore and Molly Catherine H. Stoner Moore. She graduated from Pasadena High School, attended Knoxville College (class of 1911){{Cite book |last=College |first=Knoxville |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sMNJAQAAMAAJ&q=Zephyr+&pg=RA4-PA77 |title=Knoxville College ... Catalog |date=1916 |publisher= |pages=77 |language=en}} and Howard University Teachers' College. She earned a law degree from Howard University School of Law in 1922.{{Cite journal|last=Howard University|date=1922
|issue=Book V: School of Law|title=Initium: 1922|url=https://dh.howard.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?filename=8&article=1101&context=bison_yearbooks&type=additional|journal=Howard University Yearbooks}} She was a founding member of Epsilon Sigma Iota.{{Cite web |title=Epsilon Sigma Iota |url=http://law.howard.edu/content/epsilon-sigma-iota |access-date=2023-02-06 |website=Howard University School of Law}}
Moore wrote "Law and its Call to Women", an essay for the 1922 yearbook of Howard's professional schools. The essay continues to be printed and studied after nearly a century.{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=John Clay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qk05m1uiTDIC&dq=Zephyr+Abigail+Moore&pg=PR7 |title=Rebels in Law: Voices in History of Black Women Lawyers |date=2000 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-08646-7 |pages=13–15 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Poulson |first=Stephen C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NEY6EAAAQBAJ&dq=Zephyr+Abigail+Moore&pg=PA102 |title=Racism on Campus: A Visual History of Prominent Virginia Colleges and Howard University |date=2021-09-23 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-000-42867-4 |pages=102–103 |language=en}}
Career
Moore taught at Livingston College in North Carolina as a young woman. During World War I, Moore worked in Washington, for the War Trade Board and for the Bureau of War Risk Insurance. She had a law practice in St. Louis, Missouri from 1925 to 1930.{{Cite news |last=Henderson |first=Frances |date=1933-06-10 |title=Los Angeles, Cal. |pages=16 |work=The Pittsburgh Courier |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118081591/los-angeles-calfrances-henderson/ |access-date=2023-02-06 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=1925-07-31 |title=Woman Attorney Returns to St. Louis Home |pages=5 |work=California Eagle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118083558/woman-attorney-returns-to-st-louis-home/ |access-date=2023-02-06 |via=Newspapers.com}} In widowhood she was one of the first Black women admitted to the bar in California, in September 1930.{{Cite web |date=2014-03-24 |title=Our Awards |url=https://www.hbcfl.org/about/our-awards/ |access-date=2023-02-06 |website=Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |date=1930-10-10 |title=Opens Law Offices |pages=1 |work=California Eagle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118081862/opens-law-offices/ |access-date=2023-02-06 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=1930-09-19 |title=Woman Lawyer for L.A. |pages=1 |work=California Eagle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118083750/woman-lawyer-for-la/ |access-date=2023-02-06 |via=Newspapers.com}} In 1934 she was one of the guests of honor at a "Negro Historical Program" in Pasadena.{{Cite news |date=1934-06-01 |title=Negro Achievement Program |pages=6 |work=California Eagle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118083157/negro-achievement-program/ |access-date=2023-02-06 |via=Newspapers.com}} She worked for the Federal Emergency Relief Administration during the Depression. After World War II, she returned to Los Angeles to practice family law,{{Cite news |date=1955-05-05 |title=Spicy Divorce |pages=10 |work=California Eagle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118083407/spicy-divorce/ |access-date=2023-02-06 |via=Newspapers.com}} and lived with her sister Elizabeth in Pasadena.{{Cite book |last=Smith |first=J. Clay Jr. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1lOIjQUG4aoC&dq=Zephyr+Abigail+Moore&pg=PA490 |title=Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844-1944 |date=1999 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |isbn=978-0-8122-1685-1 |pages=490 |language=en}}
Ramsey was a member of the Blackstone Lawyers Club in Los Angeles.{{Cite news |date=1931-05-15 |title=Blackstone Club Holds Dinner Meeting in Hotel |pages=14 |work=California Eagle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118082172/blackstone-club-holds-dinner-meeting-in/ |access-date=2023-02-06 |via=Newspapers.com}} In 1949, she was legal advisor to the newly formed Crown City Real Estate Brokers' Exchange, an organization for Black real estate brokers in Pasadena.{{Cite news |date=1949-04-17 |title=Realty Brokers Form Exchange |pages=16 |work=Metropolitan Pasadena Star-News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118082805/realty-brokers-form-exchange/ |access-date=2023-02-06 |via=Newspapers.com}} She supported Mary Durham in a run for a County Democratic Central Committee seat in 1952.{{Cite news |date=1952-05-22 |title=Mary Durham Seeks Office in Pasadena |pages=2 |work=California Eagle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118082509/mary-durham-seeks-office-in-pasadena/ |access-date=2023-02-06 |via=Newspapers.com}} She served on the executive board of the Pasadena branch of the NAACP.{{Cite news |date=1945-12-20 |title=NAACP Unit in Pasadena Has Elections |pages=12 |work=California Eagle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118082978/naacp-unit-in-pasadena-has-elections/ |access-date=2023-02-06 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Personal life and legacy
Moore married Chicago lawyer Fred Douglas Ramsey. Her husband died in 1930. Zephyr Ramsey died in 1984, at the age of 91, in Los Angeles. Her grave is with those of her parents and siblings, in Angelus- Rosedale Cemetery. The Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law in Los Angeles gave an annual Zephyr M. Ramsey Award from 1995 to 2012.{{Cite web |date=2014-03-24 |title=The Zephyr M. Ramsey Award Recipients |url=https://www.hbcfl.org/the-zephyr-m-ramsey-award/ |access-date=2023-02-06 |website=Harriett Buhai Center for Family Law |language=en-US}}
References
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Category:People from Tennessee