She Took the Bar Exam Beside Her Husband — and Became Whitman County's First Woman Lawyer
W. H. Harvey and his wife, E. M. Harvey, of Pullman, pass their oral examinations in Colfax, making Mrs. Harvey the first woman admitted to practice law in Whitman County.
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A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
W. H. Harvey and his wife, Mrs. E. M. Harvey, of Pullman, were on Tuesday admitted to the bar of Whitman county. Mr. and Mrs. Harvey drove over on that day and appeared before Judge Sullivan for oral examination. The committee which had been previously appointed, consisting of Judge Laman and Attorneys Patterson and Bessoms, made a favorable report on their application, and Judge Sullivan, after a personal examination, made out the usual order.
Mr. Harvey is one of the promising young men of Pullman, having been for several years superintendent of the public schools of that city, and his wife is the daughter of one of the pioneers of the Palouse country, Hon. L. M. Kinder. Mrs. Harvey is the first lady to be admitted to the bar, as she is the first to make application in Whitman county.
“Mrs. Harvey is the first lady to be admitted to the bar, as she is the first to make application in Whitman county.”
In 1895 women were a tiny fraction of American lawyers, and many law schools would not admit them. Mrs. Harvey's admission in Whitman County was a quiet crack in that wall; today women earn roughly half of law degrees but still lag in partnership and judicial roles.
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