Page 28 - October2019_BarJournal

FEATURE EXTRA

A WOMAN OF FIRSTS

JUSTICE FLORENCE ELLINWOOD ALLEN

BY JUDGE MARY JANE TRAPP & ISABELLA BENZ

Where is our Pilgrim sense of solid right? cation and drive this individual possessed placed
Where is our old-time keeping of the her ahead of her time. She remains a timeless in-
law? Where is our sanity and strength? spiration for all who know her name.
Rapine pardoned, violence unpunished, Justice Florence Ellinwood Allen is an endur-
‘‘the excellent citizens unheeding! Law ing symbol of strength and power not only for
thou changest not. Our heritage it was to know women, but also for all those who look to the law
thee. Do we sell thee for a mess of potage?” for protection and for those who are empowered
– Florence E. Allen, suffragist, jurist, to administer and protect our legal system.
poet, and musician How lucky are we to be living in an area she
Rare is it to see someone with such an undying chose to call home? Unfortunately, not enough
passion for the law. Someone who was so con- of us know just how fortunate we are, which is
sumed by the very principles by which we stand why we must honor this trailblazer while we
that she spent the majority of her life breaking have the perfect opportunity — the rebuilding
down barriers to ensure justice for all. The dedi- of the Cuyahoga County Justice Center.
Allen far surpassed everything that was ex-
pected of her from the very beginning of her
legal career. She impressed and amazed those
with whom she associated and continued to
rise on the ladder of success despite all the
barriers facing women of her time. She dem- her first case was a divorce, representing a woman
onstrated her strong intellect and character at whose husband deserted her and her children. She
every level of her professional and political ca- wanted what all young lawyers want — experience,
reer, and she made history with each step. so she went to work at the Legal Aid Society of
Although Justice Florence Allen was born Cleveland doing pro bono work. She was chosen
in Salt Lake City, Utah, her “firsts” began in to serve on an arbitration panel by the employees
Cuyahoga County. After graduating from in Yellon v. Cleveland Railway Company, and she
Women of Western Reserve University in 1904, went on to argue a municipal suffrage case, State
she entered graduate school at Western Reserve ex rel. Sophia Taylor v. H.L. French,, in the Supreme
University and earned a Master of Arts degree Court of Ohio that gave women the right to vote in
in June 1908. Shortly after, Allen began teaching East Cleveland, Lakewood, and Columbus.
at Laurel School and writing as a music critic Justice Florence Allen was making great waves
for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. She then entered in the Cleveland area and was beginning to catch
the University of Chicago Legal Department to the attention of some very important people, one
pursue her law degree. Allen finished her legal of which was Burr Gongwer, a political force in
studies at New York University Law School in Cuyahoga County. Mr. Gongwer asked Allen to be
1913, earning herself a law degree. Once she the first woman assistant prosecutor for Cuyahoga
passed the bar exam, the Ohio State Bar Asso- County in the public sector. He recognized her tal-
ciation happily welcomed her in 1914. ent, and she recognized an opportunity, embark-
Because no Cleveland firm would hire a ing on the next step in her journey of “firsts.” As
woman lawyer, she opened her own practice in a an assistant prosecutor in Cuyahoga County, she
single room, furnished with only a desk and two tried hundreds of cases during her two years.
chairs. Justice Allen was one of only four Cleveland While excelling in her new job as an assistant
women lawyers at the time, earning $25 in her first prosecutor, Allen continued her work for the suf-
month and a total of $875 in her first year. Her first frage movement. It was not long before women be-
client was a man who wanted a will drafted, and gan to push her toward the next level as they wait-
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