Alice Blake

Alice Rufie Jordan Blake
in 1875
Born Alice Rufie Jordan
10 October 1864
Norwalk, Ohio
Died 19 November 1893(1893-11-19) (aged 29)
Chicago
Nationality American
Occupation Lawyer
Known for First female graduate of Yale University

Alice Rufie Jordan Blake (10 October 1864 - 29 November 1893) was the first female graduate of Yale University. After application and rejection from several other schools, she was able to enter Yale's law program after discovering that school regulations did not explicitly forbid female applicants.

Early life

Alice Rufie Jordan was born in Norwalk, Ohio. After graduation from high school at the age of sixteen, she became the University of Michigan's youngest entrant to the literature program. At the age of 20, she entered the University of Michigan Law School, and before graduation passed the court test (an early type of bar exam) that enabled her to practice law in the state of Michigan.[1]

Time at Yale

Wanting to continue her studies, Jordan applied to Columbia Law School and Harvard Law School in 1885. After unequivocal rejection from both, she applied to Yale using her initials. When she arrived to register, she was faced with opposition but was able to point out that nowhere in the regulations was there a provision against female applicants. After a year of study, she graduated with a bachelor's of law in 1886. At the meeting among administrators to determine eligibility to graduate, it was permitted; however, a note was included in the minutes stating that future applicants to all Yale schools were to be male unless explicitly stated otherwise.[2]

Marriage and Death

Jordan married fellow lawyer George D. Blake in 1888, and moved to Seattle, Washington. She had been interviewed stating her desire to practice law even after her marriage. Jordan Blake died at the age of 29 in Chicago, Illinois in 1893.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Willard, Frances Elizabeth (1897). American Women: Fifteen Hundred Biographies with Over 1,400 Portraits : a Comprehensive Encyclopedia of the Lives and Achievements of American Women During the Nineteenth Century, Volume 1. Mast, Crowell & Kirkpatrick. pp. 94–96.
  2. ↑ Schiff, Judith (1 October 2013). "Yale's first female graduate". Yale Alumni Magazine. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
  3. ↑ General Catalogue of Officers and Students and Supplements Containing Death Notices. The University of Michigan. 1902. p. 72.
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