THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL 40 | SEPTEMBER 2024 Women in Law Jewell Russell Mann JEWELL RUSSELL MANN WAS BORN JUNE 13, 1903, in Madison, Arkansas,1 and was a champion fighter for women’s rights from her high school years in Okmulgee until her death in 1987. In high school, she was a member of a women’s club, the forerunner of the Business and Professional Women’s Club.2 Graduating from high school at age 15, the remainder of her education was accomplished through evening courses. In 1928, after three years of attending classes six nights a week, she obtained her law degree from the Tulsa College of Law, the predecessor of the TU College of Law.3 Ms. Mann was admitted to the bar in 1928. After graduating from law school, she went to work as a secretary for Midstates Oil Corp., and when asked why she accepted a position as a secretary instead of as an attorney, she replied, “You had to accept it. Now I tell young women applying for jobs not to mention they can type.”4 In her first days at Midstates, she was given such legal tasks as examining oil lease titles but soon found herself on the path to a probate, real estate and corporate law practice.5 In 1942, Ms. Mann – along with Minnie L. Dettweiler, Nell W. Bracken, Maude Rounsaville and Lou Etta Bellamy Dick – were attorneys of record on a reported decision reversing an earlier district court decision denying a widow’s allowance during the administration of her deceased husband’s estate.6 In 1951, In re House Bill No. 145, 23rd Legislature, Ms. Mann and another group of pioneer women attorneys – Mildred Brooks Fitch, Norma Wheaton and Dorothy Young – took on the state of Oklahoma to eliminate the disqualifications of women to serve on juries. The constitutionality of the House bill was upheld, saying the “constitutional provision that says that grand juries should be composed of 12 men used ‘men’ in its generic sense, and included women or females as well.”7 After working several years as a staff attorney as well as an officer for a corporation engaged in the oil business, Ms. Mann became associated with Corinne Childs, an attorney and CPA.8 Following her association with Ms. Childs, she became a partner in the firm of Harrington & Mann in Tulsa, where she practiced from 1965 until 1985 when she retired.9 When Ms. Mann was admitted to the bar in 1928, only three female attorneys were practicing in Tulsa. When asked how she was treated as a female attorney practicing law, she said, “[Only] once did my gender pose difficulties, when a judge ordered I obtain male counsel to appear with me in a case I was arguing. The Judge later apologized.”10 Although she contended that her gender did not pose difficulties, another Tulsa attorney told the story that Ms. Mann would “disguise herself as a man, wearing a suit and hat, so she could get in to the Tulsa County Bar meetings.”11 During the Chicago Seven trial, when the law was being questioned, Ms. Mann commented: “There is nothing in particular which is wrong with the law. People – be they lawyers and judges or laymen – misconstrue and misinterpret the law. We do have laws, such as one in Oklahoma which allows a woman no cause of action for loss of consortium, which needs changing [but] on the whole, the laws as presented in the Constitution and in state statutes are good.”12 In an effort to enter a new arena for women, in 1966, Ms. Mann lost an election for Tulsa judge by less than 2,000 votes out of 100,000 votes cast.13 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.
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