"Juanita Kidd Stout"(1919-1998)

"If i had nine lives I'd want to be a lawyer every day of every one,I enjoy it so."With this

sensibility and love for the legal system,she made the correct decision in choosing her life's work.She established a reputation long before she left Oklahoma to resettle in Philadelphia and became a prominent judge.Born as an only child to educators Henry and Mary Kidd in Wewoka,Oklahoma,she learned to read age 2 and remained a stellar student when she attended the segregated public schools in her hometown.Juanita gained from the experience of having excellent black teachers,and won numerous prizes at school agricultural exhibitions for her scholarships and creativity.At age 16 she left for Lincoln University in Jefferson University,Missouri.While at Lincoln,she joined Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and personally observed black attorney Charles Hamilton Houston argue Gaines V.Missouri in the state supreme court.Later she transferred to the University of Iowa and earned a bachelor's degree in music in 1939.At the time she was one of a mere 2% of black adults holding a four year college degree.Three years later Juanita married Charles Otis Stout.By the end of the decade she held two law degrees from Indiana University and moved to Washington, D.C.where she became the administrative secretary to Charles Hamilton Houston.During the early 1950s she moved to Philadelphia where she practiced criminal and civil law.In 1955 she received an appointment as assistant district attorney in the "City Brotherly Love."An indefatigable worker,for three straight years she worked from 4 a.m. to 8 p.m.preparing for legal cases.By November 1959 Juanita became the first black woman elected to a judgeship in Pennsylvania.In February 1988 she established another milestone,becoming the first female appointed to sit on Pennsylvania's State Supreme Court.Among her many honors,Judge Stout was an inductee into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame,a Distinguished Daughter of Pennsylvania,and was recognized by the National Association of Women Judges as Judges of the year in 1988.Juanita died of lekemia.