Growth and Transition

As Chesterfield Smith’s firm mushroomed, it advocated hiring women and minorities. This effort did not always go smoothly; many partners were old-guard southerners who dismissed the need to diversify. Smith often had to champion his hires, and began a pattern of having a junior associate, usually a woman, work closely with him for a year or two to assist, learn, and gain contacts and experience. Two of these “Chesterfield girls” were Martha Barnett, the firm’s first woman lawyer, who would go on to become president of the American Bar Association, and Marilyn Holifield, who would become the firm’s first black woman partner. Smith decided to relinquish management of the firm in his sixties, and a period of several years of bumpy leadership models and conflict among partners ensued. Smith did not keep his hands off but often dipped back in to settle disputes or to stir the pot. Smith, still active in the ABA, began a close friendship with then-professor Ruth Bader Ginsburg through ABA activities.

The House That Jane Built

The first of three chapters on the power of chocolate cities, this chapter centers the life, activism, and pioneering efforts of abolitionist and black woman lawyer Mary Ann Shadd Cary. Exploring her migrations above and below the Canadian border, the authors highlight her sophisticated and politically informed racial geography of the United States. Detailing the movement of black people throughout the domestic diaspora, this chapter illustrates the how gender, place, race, and power collided in the lives of black people before and after the Emancipation Proclamation.

Dalit Women Writings: Breaking the stereotypical annotations of “being an untouchable”

Indian women writers have established a permanent place in the arena of literature, because they have written with a woman’s point of view and have not imitated the established and stereotypical manners of writing. Most of the earlier Indian women autobiographies are written by educated, high-caste and rich women, especially queens and princess. However in their writings they have not glorified their riches instead have written about the social practices committed on women of their times and thus have expressed a genuine female experience.The Autobiography of an Indian Princess (1921) is one of the earliest writings by an Indian woman. Sunetee Devi (1864-1932), a daughter of Brahma follower Keshav Chandra Sen, who became the Maharani of Cooch Behar, lost her husband early in life. The book is a stepping stone in the realm of Indian women autobiographies as it depicts the inner feelings of most of the Indian women of 19th and 20th century. Another remarkable woman autobiography is India Calling (1934) by Cornelia Sorabji (1866-1954). It is the autobiography of India’s first woman lawyer, who raged a struggle against the suppression of women. Sorabji belonged to Parsi-Christian family. She was inspired to choose her job by observing the plight of women who visited her mother. Her book depicts the gender discrimination encountered by her not only in India but also in England where she went to study