SEPTEMBER 2024 | 27 THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL Statements or opinions expressed in the Oklahoma Bar Journal are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Oklahoma Bar Association, its officers, Board of Governors, Board of Editors or staff. Unemployment, the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation, the Brookings Institution, the American Association of Social Security and others.18 The work of Ms. Van Leuven and her fellow committee members was “of decided importance in shaping the legislation of the land.”19 When the Federal Social Security Board was formed, President and Ms. Roosevelt asked Ms. Van Leuven to become a member of the legal staff. She was appointed to the Social Security Commission in 1937 by President Roosevelt.20 After a brief tenure on the Federal Social Security Board, Ms. Van Leuven took a leave of absence to accept an appointment by Oklahoma Commissioner of Labor W.A. Pat Murphy to serve as an attorney in the Unemployment Compensation and Placement Division of the Oklahoma Department of Labor.21 Mr. Murphy was not only impressed with her extensive study of social security but also with her enviable record of legal experience, her position as a national figure and her popularity in Oklahoma. At this juncture in her legal career, an article in the Oklahoma State Bar Journal referred to her as the “first lady of Oklahoma law.”22 Ms. Van Leuven became legal advisor, legislative counselor and secretary for the Oklahoma Associated Industries in the early 1940s but resigned in 1945 to become attorney and service director for the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 1857. In 1947, Ms. Van Leuven reentered private practice in Oklahoma City, associating with Judge H. B. King.23 In private practice, Ms. Van Leuven was a trial lawyer practicing primarily in criminal law. Known for her courtroom advocacy skills, Justice Marian P. Opala remembered her as very tenacious, “as tough a defense lawyer as you could find.”24 Ms. Van Leuven was an attorney of record in 66 reported decisions from 1919 to 1956. In addition to being a lawyer, Ms. Van Leuven was actively involved in community and political activities. She was secretary of the State League of Young Democrats, founder and past president of the Young Women’s Democrats, member of the Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce and founder of the Oklahoma Hospitality Club.25 Ms. Van Leuven’s tremendous involvement in her community, as well as her legal contributions, led to her induction into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1939.26 Throughout her life, Ms. Van Leuven was a social activist and championed the rights of her clients and women until her death in December 1967 at the age of 79.27 ENDNOTES Individual Sources: Margaret Dawkins Jo Crabtree Justice Marian P. Opala 1. Jean Thomas, “Biographical Sketches,” American Women, March 4, 1939, p. 700. 2. Orben J. Casey, And Justice For All: The Legal Profession in Oklahoma, 1821-1989, Oklahoma Heritage Assoc., 1989, p. 154. 3. “Prominent Woman Lawyer Appointed,” Oklahoma State Bar Journal, March 1937. 4. Casey. 5. 36 Oklahoma Reports viii, Warden Co., Okla. City, Okla.,1913. Listed on the “Roll of Attorneys” admitted from June 3, 1912, to Oct. 10, 1913. 6. Thomas. 7. Casey. 8. Patty Grotta “Paving the of Way ... A Look Back at Some Women Who Were Ahead of Their Time – Kathryn Van Leuven,” Briefcase, May 1999, p. 2a. 9. Casey, p.154-155. 10. Id. p. 155. 11. Id. 12. Id. 13. “Prominent Woman.” 14. Id. 15. Id. 16. Thomas. 17. “Prominent Woman.” 18. Id. 19. Id. 20. Grotta. 21. Casey. 22. Id. 23. Grotta. 24. Justice Marian P. Opala, telephone conversation with author, May 30, 2002. 25. Thomas. 26. “Hall of Fame Members Listed,” Oklahoman, Nov. 8, 1987. 27. Grotta.
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