In 1896 Lena Boggess Wilcox Mason became Ohio Northern University’s first female law graduate.
Lena studied law at a time when society dictated that the only acceptable roles for women were wife, mother, and teacher. In fact, being a lawyer was considered a “male-only” profession until well into the 20thԳٳܰ.
The only woman in her law class, Lena persevered in her studies despite health problems, including burning her hands so badly she couldn’t write for some time and had to have another student write for her at the bar examination.
Ohio’s bar examiners commended Lena for her excellent work. She was the only woman awarded a license to practice law in Ohio in 1896.
Lena’s Ƶ classmates selected her to write a class poem and to speak at the law college commencement. This was during a time when few women spoke publicly.
In her address, she expressed: “… when woman and man are placed on an equality, socially, civilly, and politically, so that children may inherit the best possible faculties from both parents; when the very air is filled with a spirit of liberty—then, and not till then, will our nation be truly free.”
Historical records indicate that Lena went back to teaching after graduation and was very involved in the affairs of the communities in which she lived.
Frank NewBauer wrote in “Lena B. Wilcox: Ohio Northern University’s First Lady of the Law:” “Whether Lena practiced (law) or not, she served a vital purpose in exposing people to the concrete reality that a woman could successfully study law and be admitted to the bar.”
She died in 1958 at the age of 89 in Sequim, Washington.