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Arts & Entertainment

Barbara Babcock reads from Woman Lawyer: The Trials of Clara Foltz

Barbara Babcock reads from Woman Lawyer: The Trials of Clara Foltz (Stanford University Press, $45), the story of 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. 

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.

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"Barbara Babcock's wonderful book only reinforces my view that being a public defender has been the most rewarding part of my professional career. Clara Foltz is my hero, and this book chronicles the challenges and achievements of perhaps the greatest public defender ever." —Charles Ogletree, Harvard Law School

Barbara Babcock, Judge John Crown Professor of Law, Emerita, at Stanford University, is the first woman appointed to the regular faculty at Stanford Law School. She served as an Assistant Attorney General and was the first Director of the Public Defender Service in Washington, D.C.

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