Equal Rights Advocates invites you to join them for a reception and conversation with Barbara Babcock

Reception with appetizers and wine

ERA is pleased to have Barbara Babcock, former ERA Board Chair, speak about her new book Woman Lawyer: The Trials of Clara Foltz. Professor Babcock is the Judge John Crown Professor of Law, Emerita, at Stanford Law School and was the first woman appointed to the regular faculty. Also, she was the first Director of the Public Defender Service in DC and served as an Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division in the Carter Administration.

Guests will be able to pre-order Babcock’s new book Woman Lawyer, which tells the story of Clara Foltz, the first woman admitted to the California Bar. Famous in her time as a public intellectual, leader of the women’s movement, and legal reformer, Foltz faced terrific prejudice and well-organized opposition to women lawyers as she tried cases in front of all-male juries, raised five children as a single mother, and stumped for political candidates. She was the first to propose the creation of a public defender to balance the public prosecutor (right here in our own backyard of San Francisco). Woman Lawyer uncovers the legal reforms and societal contributions of a woman celebrated in her day, but lost to history until now. It casts new light on the turbulent history and politics of California in a period of phenomenal growth and highlights the interconnection of the suffragists and other movements for civil rights and legal reforms.

Please RSVP to smoyer@equalrights.org or 415-621-0672

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