SEPTEMBER 2024 | 41 THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL Ms. Mann was a member of the Tulsa County Bar Association, the Oklahoma Bar Association and the American Bar Association.14 In addition, she was secretary of the TCBA in 1940.15 Ms. Mann founded the Oklahoma Association of Women Lawyers and was an officer of the National Association of Women Lawyers and the International Legal Associations for Women. She urged women to join the national association as a way to keep “in touch with the activities of our sisters in the profession and learn from them how to better our own position in the profession of law.”16 She was treasurer of the Tulsa Title and Probate Lawyers Association from its beginning until her retirement.17 Ms. Mann’s endeavors were never limited to the practice of law. Many of her efforts were on behalf of women as citizens and employees. Through the years, Ms. Mann was a frequent lecturer on the employment conditions of women, stating, “Women always have been second class citizens.”18 Ms. Mann was “particularly scathing in denouncement of state protective laws which in Oklahoma decreed most women employees work no more than 54 hours a week.”19 As William A. Harrington, her former partner, would state, she was a “vigorous advocate of women’s rights, including the proposed Equal Rights Amendment.”20 Her interest in and work on behalf of women’s rights was acknowledged by President Richard M. Nixon when he appointed her to an advisory commission on women’s rights.21 She was on the first Governor’s Commission on the Status of Women, a commission that was instrumental in securing passage of the Equal Pay and Minimum Wage bills in 1965,22 which was designed to be a deterrent to sex discrimination in employment. She also “spearheaded campaigns, and then helped to write the bills, enabling women to serve on juries in Oklahoma and to run for major elective offices in this state.”23 In 1968, Ms. Mann was appointed to Tulsa’s Selective Service board and “promptly announced her belief that women should be subject to the draft.”24 During this time, she was also a director of Admiral State Bank in Tulsa.25 Her community involvement also included membership in the League of Women Voters, the Tulsa Legal Aid Society, the Tulsa Council of Churches and the YWCA.26 She was a member of the Tulsa Business and Professional Women’s Club, serving as president, director, treasurer and chairman of most of the organization’s standing committees. She was president of the Oklahoma Federation of Business and Professional Women and a member of the legislative steering committee of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women.27 She was also a superintendent, teacher and worker in the juvenile department of the First Christian Church for more than 30 years.28 Ms. Mann’s contemporaries recognized her as having a good reputation as a lawyer and as being a “strong advocate for women, and a big supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment.”29 She was also seen as a “good attorney, one who gave good advice.”30 People had great respect for Ms. Mann, the lady who always wore a hat. They would often find themselves saying, “Slow down Jewell, we need to catch up with you.”31 Jewell Russell Mann died in March 1987. 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.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTk3MQ==