Jane Bolin, born in 1908 in Poughkeepsie, New York, overcame significant barriers as a Black woman in her pursuit of a legal career.
The daughter of Gaius Bolin, the first Black graduate of Williams College, she faced a lonely college experience at Wellesley, where she was one of only two Black students.
Despite discouragement from a college adviser regarding her ambitions, she graduated from Yale Law School in 1931 as the only Black student in her class.
Bolin made history as the first Black woman to graduate from Yale Law School, the first to join the New York City Bar Association in 1932, and the United States’ first Black female judge.
Jane Matilda Bolin (April 11, 1908 – January 8, 2007)
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