This is a short timeline of women lawyers in the United States. Much more information on the subject can be found at: List of first women lawyers and judges in the United States * 1869 – Arabella Mansfield became the first female lawyer in the United States when she was admitted to the Iowa bar. * 1870 – Ada Kepley became the first woman to graduate from law school in the United States; she graduated from Chicago University Law School, predecessor to Union College of Law, later known as Northwestern University School of Law. * 1872 – Charlotte E. Ray became the first African-American female lawyer in the United States. * 1873 - Bradwell v. State of Illinois, 83 U.S. 130 (1873), was a United States Supreme Court case that solidified the narrow reading of the Privileges or Immunities Cla