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Sarah Stephenson ’04 (1879–1945)
Described by the New York Times as “the first of her sex to open her own office in Brooklyn,” Stephenson earned her law degree in 1904, “the only woman graduating with forty-four men.” She later served as secretary of the Borough of Brooklyn (1918) and fought for women’s full inclusion in the bar. In 1940 she successfully petitioned to remove the word “male” from the Brooklyn Bar Association’s bylaws, becoming its first woman member. She advocated equal jury service, remarking that “Men, and men alone are fooled by glycerin tears and a beautiful and 'emotional' witness. Women can't fool other women. We can tell when emotion is real.”