Mitchell Hamline School of Law

Mitchell Hamline History Center

biography

Mary Eleanor “Ellie” Nolan (SPCL 1936)

Posted: September 18, 2024
A Lawyer, a Judge and a Soldier Although she does not fully receive credit as a “first” due to the length of time she served, Mary Eleanor Nolan became the first woman judge in Minnesota when she was elected municipal judge in a special election in 1941. During law school, Nolan worked for the Minnesota …

Mary Eleanor “Ellie” Nolan (SPCL 1936)

Phyllis Gene Jones (WMCL 1960)

Posted: January 20, 2023
Breaking the County Attorney’s Office Barrier Phyllis Gene (Bambusch) Jones was the first woman to serve as an attorney in any County Attorney’s office in the State of Minnesota. She was appointed Assistant County Attorney of Ramsey County in 1960, the year she graduated from William Mitchell College of Law, one of three women in …

Phyllis Gene Jones (WMCL 1960)

Sarah Roslyn Gensler Schwartz (MNCL 1922)

Posted: January 20, 2023
Sarah Roslyn Gensler (later Gensler Schwartz) was born on April 15, 1901 and came to the United States from Austria with her parents, Louis and Rose (Rosenranch) Gensler, in 1903, when she was two years old. Her family was part of the second wave of Jewish immigrants coming from German-speaking countries in Europe to Minnesota. The first wave, which ended in around 1880, brought fewer than a thousand Jewish immigrants to Minnesota. However, the second wave from 1882-1924, which included the Gensler family, brought about 20,000 Jewish immigrants to Minnesota.

Sarah Roslyn Gensler Schwartz (MNCL 1922)

Rufus Augustine (R. A.) Skinner (NWCL 1915)

Posted: November 17, 2022
A Public Accommodations Crusade In December 1916, Dr. W. Ellis Burton and attorney Lena O. Smith (NwCL 1921) went to the Pantages Theatre on Hennepin Avenue in the heart of Minneapolis’ entertainment district, joined by their friends L. C. Valle, Oscar C. Press and the young attorney Rufus Augustine Skinner.  The theater, built in 1916 …

Rufus Augustine (R. A.) Skinner (NWCL 1915)

Susanne Sedgwick (WMCL 1956)

Posted: November 17, 2022
Judge Susanne Sedgwick held court in the Bloomington City Council chambers, which doubled as a suburban outpost of the Hennepin County municipal courts.  A student who observed her in action one day wrote about the experience, starting with: “She smiled at me as I walked into the courtroom.” In the case being observed, the defendant …

Susanne Sedgwick (WMCL 1956)

Gail Chang Bohr (WMCL 1991)

Posted: November 17, 2022
Judge Gail Chang Bohr’s childhood in Jamaica, West Indies, a British colony, prepared her well to be an advocate for children and a Minnesota District Court judge.  Bohr was born to Percy and Alice Chang on March 25, 1944, in Kingston, Jamaica.  Her Chinese name, Gui-Ying, is also the name of a historic woman warrior.  Her English name Gail Margaret Rose honored her grandmother, Margaret Chin Loy, and Britain’s Princess Margaret.  

Gail Chang Bohr (WMCL 1991)

Albert Henry Angstman (SPCL 1912)

Posted: May 16, 2022
Albert Angstman
Justice Albert Angstman graduated from St. Paul College of Law in 1912. He was the first person attending any of Minnesota’s night schools to serve on a state supreme court. After graduating from law school and passing the Minnesota and Montana bar examinations Angstman moved to Helena, Montana.  He served in the U.S. Naval Reserves …

Albert Henry Angstman (SPCL 1912)

Roger L. Dell (SPCL 1920)

Posted: March 29, 2022
A Separation of Powers Dispute In 1957, Minnesota was facing a political controversy over daylight savings time and Chief Justice Dell was facing a legal ethics conundrum. Although daylight savings time had been utilized during both World Wars, the debate about whether to make it permanent came to a head in that year’s legislative session. …

Roger L. Dell (SPCL 1920)

Martin A. Nelson (SPCL 1916)

Posted: March 29, 2022
Early Legal Career Martin Nelson graduated from St. Paul College of Law with an LL.B. in 1916 and began practicing law in St. Paul. He served in the legal department of Capital Trust Savings, doing title work and property litigation. During World War I, he enlisted in in the Army aviation corps in 1917, serving …

Martin A. Nelson (SPCL 1916)

Maceo Littlejohn (SPCL 1926)

Posted: March 16, 2022
Racial Justice in the National Guard In February 1941, the controversy between prominent Black Minnesotans and Minnesota governors over remedying discrimination in Minnesota’s home security force came to a head and alumnus Maceo Littlejohn was at the center of it. After the Minnesota National Guard was federalized and deployed to fight in World War I, …

Maceo Littlejohn (SPCL 1926)