Martha Angle Dorsett (2 April 1851—8 March 1918) was the first woman admitted to the bar in the state of Minnesota.

Personal

Martha A. Angle was born 2 April 1851 in Randolph, Cattaraugus County, New York, the daughter of Nicholas Angle and Mary Ewing. She married Charles William Dorsett (1850-1936) on 29 June 1876. She died 8 March 1918 at Minneapolis, Minnesota and is buried at Lakewood Cemetery. She and her husband had at least 6 children, some of them through adoption.

Professional

Mrs. Dorsett graduated from the University of Iowa College of Law, the first public university in the United States to admit men and women on an equal basis. Dorsett applied for admission to the State Bar of Minnesota in 1876, the first woman ever to do so. Her application was denied on the grounds that state law only permitted males to practice law. In the words of Judge Young, the one who denied her application, "The lady passed the best examination of any applicant for admission that has been presented for a long time."

She and her husband Charles William Dorsett campaigned in the State legislature to have the statute amended. On 27 February 1877, by a vote of 63 to 30, the House approved, and Mrs. Dorsett was admitted to the bar in 1878.

She served as Treasurer and member of the Board of Directors of Maternity Hospital, located at 2529 4th Avenue South, Minneapolis, which opened on 30 November 1886.

References

• "And So Began the Practice of Law by Women in Minnesota: A Look at Our History" by Magistrate Judge Susan Richard Nelson, U.S. District Court
• PDF article about the first women lawyers in each state
• Woxland, Thomas A., "In Re Dorsett: Opening the Minnesota Bar to Women", The Bench and Bar of Minnesota, November, 1990 at 245.
• In re Application of Martha Angle Dorsett to Be Admitted to Practice as Attorney and Counselor at Law (Minn. C. P. Hennepin Cty., 1876), in The Syllabi, Oct. 21, 1876, pp. 5, 6 (emphasis added).