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Charlotte E. Ray became the first African-American woman admitted to practice law in Washington, D.C., on Apri (501 hits)

Charlotte E. Ray became the first African-American woman admitted to practice law in Washington, D.C., on April 23, 1872.

Early Life and Education

Charlotte E. Ray was born on January 13, 1850, in New York City, New York. Charlotte and her family moved to D.C. the same year she was born. She was the youngest of seven children and her father worked as a reverend. Ray went to school at the Institution for the Education of Colored Youth. At the time, this was the only school in D.C. that African American girls were allowed to attend. She graduated high school from this school in 1869. After graduating from high school, she didn't go straight to working on becoming a lawyer. Ray actually taught at Howard University for her first job. Later that year, she studied law at Howard and graduated on February 27, 1872, with a degree in law. Upon graduating, she became the first woman to ever graduate from Howard Law School, and only the third woman to graduate from any law school.

Career

The same year she graduated, the District of Columbia Bar Association removed their previous requirement to be a male, which made Ray the first female admitted to practice law in D.C., and the first Black female to become a certified lawyer in the United States. Three years later, in 1875, Ray became an advocate for Women's Suffrage in the U.S. She later opened up her very own law firm. Unfortunately, she had to shut down her firm not too long after it opened.

READ MORE: Charlotte E. Ray became the first African-American woman admitted to practice law in Washington, D.C., on April https://www.theblacklibrary.org/stories/bl...