Carrie Buck

Carrie Buck was the first person involuntarily sterilized under Virginia’s eugenics laws. In Buck v. Bell (1927), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Virginia’s law was constitutional and that Buck should be sterilized, the first of approximately 8,300 performed under state law between 1927 and 1972.

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Sarah Roberts

Benjamin Roberts, an African American, sued the city of Boston in 1848 stating that his daughter Sarah Roberts was unlawfully refused entrance to five schools between her home and the Smith School.

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Anna E Hirsch

The first woman president of the Board of Trustees of New England School of Law was Anna E. Hirsch (1902-97), a 1928 graduate of Portia Law. Hirsch was elected register of probate for Norfolk County in 1954 and 1960.

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Blanche Woodson Braxton

In 1923, Blanche Woodson Braxton became the first African American woman to be admitted to the Massachusetts Bar. She later became the first African American woman admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court in the state.

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