"Jane Matilda Bolin" (April 11, 1908-January 8,2007)

Was the first African-American to graduate from Yale Law School,the first to join the New

York City Bar Association,and the first to join the city's law department.She became the first black woman to serve as a judge in the United States when she was sworn into the bench of the New City Domestic Relations Court in 1939.She was born in Poughkeepsie,New York.She was the youngest of four siblings.Her Father Gaius Charles Bolin,was the first African-American to graduate from Williams College and became a lawyer.Her mother,Matilda Ingram Bolin (nee Emery),a white Englishwoman,who died when Jane was 8.She was educated at high school in Poughkeepsie,and was one of  two black students in her class at Wellesley College In Massachusetts.Most of the white students ignored her,and lived off campus with the other black student. A careers adviser at Wellesley College tried to discourage her her from applying to attend Yale Law School due to her race and gender.She graduated in 1928 in the top 20 in her class,and joined Yale Law School,where she was the only black student,and one of only 3 women.She was the first African-American to receive a law degree from Yale in 1931 and passed the New York state bar examination in 1932.She practiced with her father in Poughkeepsie for a short period,and then with her husband,Ralph E. Mizelle.She ran unsuccessfully for the New York State Assembly as the Republican candidate in the seventeenth district in 1936.She then joined New York City's legal department,serving as Assistant Corporation Counsel.The Mayor of New York City,Fiorello La Guardia,appointed 31-year-old Jane as a judge of the Domestic Relations Court on July 22.1939 at the New York World's Fair.She remained a judge of the court,renamed family court in 1962,for 40 years,with her appointment being renewed three times,until until she was required to retire at 70.She worked to encourage racially integrated child services,ensuring that probation officers were assigned without regard to race or religion,and publicly-funded childcare agencies accepted children without regard to ethnic background.Her son Yorke Bolin Mizelle,was born in 1941.Her first husband died in 1943.She married her second husband,the Rev. Walter P. Offutt Jr., in 1950.He died in 1974.She was an activist for children's rights and education.She served on the boards of the NAACP,the Child Welfare League,and National Urban League.She received honorary degrees from Tuskegee University,Williams College,Hampton University,Western College for Women and Morgan State University.Jane retired in 1979 and served on the New york Board of Regents.She died in Queens,and was survived by her son,Yorke Mizelle.