Ethel Beacham Burnside, J.D. 1924
Ethel Beacham Burnside (July 3, 1892-October 26, 1988) was a Pitt Law Alumna of 1924 and the first female attorney admitted to practice law in Washington County, Pennsylvania, on March 17, 1924. By entering a profession historically dominated by men since the 1780s, she shattered the local glass ceiling by entering a field that had long excluded women, both academically and professionally. The legal and social barriers women faced at the time were high. Earlier attempts by women to become attorneys were denied in a U.S. Supreme Court opinion in 1872, holding that women could be constitutionally denied a license to practice law. However, the tide was turning; the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920 granted women the right to vote, and by the time Ethel applied to law school, her alma mater had welcomed its first female graduates by 1916.
Her entry into law school started during a day trip to Pittsburgh in the fall of 1920. Accompanying her husband, Robert E. Burnside, who was working at the Courthouse, she went to the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, then nearby in the Commerce Building. She originally asked to audit one course in order to familiarize herself with the legal jargon needed to become a competent legal assistant to assist her husband in document preparations as his practice grew. He was a well known trial attorney and was gaining a reputation as a divorce lawyer in the mining communities of the eastern part of the county.
When she tried to register, she was told by the head of the law faculty that the University didn't want female students and that she had to take all of them, or none at all. Undeterred, Burnside registered for full time law school admission right there and then by writing a check for her tuition. As Burnside and her husband were going back home to Washington, she mentioned she had written a sizable check on their joint account while they were both in Pittsburgh. Her husband assumed she was shopping. He said, playfully, "oh, did you buy a fur coat?" She said, " No, I just registered to go to law school."
Burnside wasn’t new to the world of academia; she was already an educated woman with a Master's degree in Education from the University of Pittsburgh in 1916 and had taught English and mathematics at Washington High School since 1914. After leaving her teaching position, she took a trolley and a train from Washington to attend her classes over the next three years. In 1924, she graduated summa cum laude, second in her class only to William Eckert, of Eckert Seamans.
When Burnside was ready to join her husband Robert in his legal practice, she faced a significant hurdle: she needed to be separately admitted in Washington County, which required that she had been "registered" as a law student for three years prior. Although she had studied law for three years and had taken the Bar exam early in 1924—passing it before her graduation—this technicality threatened to delay her admission until after the fall session of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in Pittsburgh, where Robert was set to argue an important appeal.
Initially, her petition for admission was denied. Undeterred, she petitioned the local court to recognize her as a registered law student as of January 1, 1921, and resubmitted her admission request. She was ultimately admitted on March 17, 1924. Notably, a familiar name appeared on her certificate from the County Board of Law Examiners, which recommended her as a "person of good moral character and worthy" of admission: J. R. McCreight.
Burnside was able to file her appearance in a case scheduled for the Supreme Court on October 7, 1924, where she represented the appellee in Nutt v. Pennsylvania Railroad, reported at 281 Pa. 372, 126 A. 803. The case highlighted the nature of her clients and the issues she addressed. It involved a train colliding with a car at a crossing in Charleroi, resulting in injuries to the plaintiff. The central question was whether the plaintiff had been contributorily negligent. The jury awarded him $5,000, and the Supreme Court ultimately affirmed the judgment, winning Burnside the case.
Her second case before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, Burnside represented 12-year-old Thomas Dziak, Jr., and his parents in a personal injury lawsuit. Thomas had suffered severe burns from a high-tension electric wire after a power company pole fell. The key issue on appeal was whether the jury's verdict of $20,000 for the boy and $3,000 for his parents was excessive. Once again, the court affirmed the judgment in favor of Burnside's clients in Dziak v. Swaney, 289 Pa. 246, 137 A. 228, decided on April 11, 1927.
Burnside also practiced family law. The Sunday Pittsburgh Press on February 5, 1928, reported that for the first time, two women attorneys appeared in Washington County Court for a divorce case: Ethel B. Burnside and Elvira B. Bleadinghiser, a native of Washington County who graduated from Pitt Law School the following year.
On April 14, 1930, both Ethel and Robert Burnside were both admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court. Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. remarked that the Burnsides were the first husband and wife to be admitted to the highest court in the United States on the same day (1929 J. Sup. Ct. U.S. 220, 1929-1930). Their achievement garnered national attention in the press.
Burnside benefitted from a marriage with a supportive spouse who respected her groundbreaking efforts, and in turn, Robert gained from her expertise and achievements. Her husband was elected judge in 1940, Ethel continued their practice solo until she wound it down in 1960. Tragically, Robert passed away in 1943.
Ethel actively encouraged other women throughout her career, founding the Women's Law Club at the University of Pittsburgh, joining as a Charter Member of the local Washington County Chapter of the AAUW when it was formed in 1925, and serving as its first president. She also held the position of secretary in the Women's International Legal Fraternity from 1940 to 1960. Ethel believed that the success of one woman contributed to the advancement of all. She dedicated herself to numerous organizations aimed at empowering women across society and throughout the nation. At a time when men in the legal profession often dismissed women lawyers, Ethel was among a handful of pioneers who proved them wrong. She ventured into spaces where she was told she wasn't welcome, even as women had just gained the right to vote, while equal rights remained a distant dream, not codified until 1964.
Ethel B. Burnside passed away at the age of 96 on October 26, 1988, remaining a role model for women in the legal profession. The most significant legacy of her journey as a practicing attorney is not that she was an exception, but that women attorneys and judges are now viewed as a routine part of the legal landscape. Her story serves as a reminder of the strides made toward gender equality in the legal profession.