Page 10 THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, April 5, 2024 Anna Christy Fall – Pioneer Woman Lawyer, Writer, and Suffragist (Part 2 of Women in History) By Inna Babitskaya G eorge H. Fall could successfully combine teaching with a judicial career. In 1886, he became a Lecturer on Roman law at Boston University. In 1887, he was admitted to the Boston Bar and became an attorney-at-law. His wife Anna’s interest in legal matters increased even more because she was taking notes for him at the court. Later, when he began to experience hearing problems, Anna’s role as his professional partner became even more important. In March 1889, she was admitted to the Boston University School of Law. She was one of the 12 candidates appointed by the faculty for the position of class orator. In December 1890, while being a student, she took the exam for admission to the Boston Bar, becoming the only woman among the 40 applicants. Only 28 of them, including Anna C. Fall, successFall & Fall law fi rm advertisement Anna C. Fall’s book “The Tragedy of a Widow’s Third” Anna C. Fall, 1910s Alice Stone Blackwell Henry Browne Blackwell George H. Fall, Massachusetts representative, 1902 Mary A. Livermore, 1901 fully passed it and were sworn in before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court the following January. In June 1891, she graduated from the Boston University Law School magna cum laude, and she was admitted to the Suffolk Bar on January 30, 1891, becoming the third woman lawyer in Massachusetts, together with Lucy Stone Lelia Robinson-Sawtelle and Alice Parker. One of the Boston newspapers informed that “Anna Christy Fall, wife of a young lawyer practicing in this city..., will practice with her husband, though under the existing law in Massachusetts, they cannot form a legal partnership.” So, they formed WOMAN | SEE PAGE 16
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