"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,Juanita 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 an only child to educators Henry & Mary Kidd in Weoka, Oklahoma,Juanita leaned to read at age two and remained a stellar student gained from the experience of having excellent African American teachers,and won numerous prizes at school and agricultural exhibitions for scholarship and creativity.t age 16 she left for Lincoln University in Jefferson,Missouri.While at Lincoln,she joined Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and personally observed African American attorney Charles Hamilton Houston argue Gaines v.Missouri in the state supreme court.Later,she transferred to the University and earned bachelor's degree in music.At the time she was one of a
mere 2% of African Americans held a four year college degree.Three years later she married Charles Otis Stout.By the end of the decade Juanita 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 Juanita moved to Philadelphia where she practiced criminal and civil law.In 1955 she received an appointment as assistant district attorney in the "City of Brotherly Love." An indefatigable worker,for three straight years she worked 4 a.m.-8 p.m. preparing for legal cases.By November 1959 she became the first African American woman elected to judgeship in Pennsylvania.In February 1988 she established another milestone,becoming the first African American woman appointed to sit on Pennsylvania's State Supreme Court.
After 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 Judge of the year in 1988.
She died of leukemia.
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