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First Woman Appointed To Federal Appeals Court

1934

Florence Ellinwood Allen is appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, becoming the first woman judge in a federal court. She eventually will become chief judge of the court. Previously, Allen was the first woman justice to serve on Ohio’s Supreme Court, as well as the first woman to serve on any state Supreme Court. She also served as an assistant county prosecutor and a state court judge after earning a law degree from the New York University School of Law in 1913.