Lavinia Marian Fleming Poe

Lavinia Marian Fleming Poe (1890–1974) was the first African American woman lawyer in Virginia, passing the bar exam in 1925.

Lavinia Marian Fleming Poe
Born
Lavinia Marian Fleming

(1890-08-13)August 13, 1890
DiedMarch 20, 1974(1974-03-20) (aged 83)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materHoward University
OccupationAttorney

Biography

Poe née Fleming was born on August 13, 1890 in Warwick County, Virginia and grew up in Newport News, Virginia.[1] She was married and had two children when she decided to become a lawyer. She enrolled in Howard University Law School.[2] She passed the Virginia bar in 1925, becoming the first African American woman to do so.[3][4]

She returned to Newport News where she began a practice. In 1927 she gained the necessary credentials to argue in front of the Supreme Court of Appeals in Virginia. Her practice continued through the 1960s.[2]

Poe was a member of the National Association of Women Lawyers and she served as secretary to the Old Dominion Bar Association for 13 years.[2] She died on March 20, 1974.[1]

See also

References
  1. "Poe, L. Marian (1890-1974), lawyer". American National Biography. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697-e-1101076. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  2. Wallenstein, Peter (1993). ""These New and Strange Beings": Women in the Legal Profession in Virginia, 1890-1990". The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. 101 (2): 209–212.
  3. "Lavina Marian Fleming Poe, 1st Black woman lawyer in Virginia, 1925". J. Clay Smith Selected Photographs. 15 December 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  4. Smith Jr., J. Clay (1999). Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, 1844-1944. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 236. ISBN 9780812216851.
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