Saturday, November 23, 2019

Marilla Ricker: NH's First Woman Attorney and Change Agent



Episode 11B 
When Hope & History Rhyme: 
Marilla Ricker: NH's First Woman Attorney and Change Agent
Marilla Marks Ricker (1840-1920) was a suffragist, philanthropist, lawyer, and freethinker. She was the first female lawyer from New Hampshire, and she broke open a path for women to be accepted into the bar in New Hampshire. She was also the first woman to run for governor in New Hampshire, and the first woman to apply for a federal foreign ambassadorship post. She made significant and lasting contributions to the issues of women's rights and irreligion through her actions and her writings.


Marilla Ricker: Attorney and Change Agent

Featuring UU Farmington Sermon about Marilla by Paul Bailey, Darryl Thompson, Historian, Maureen Raiche Manning, Attorney and Recipient of the Ricker Award 2019, Rep Robert "Renny" Cushing.

Podcast Episode 11A: Marilla Marks Ricker Suffragist
Podcast Episode 11B: Marilla Marks Ricker Lawyer and Reformer
Podcast Episode 11C (Coming): Marilla Marks Ricker Free Thinker



Today the NH bar association has nearly 2000 active female members, about 35 percent of all active attorneys in the state. According to the historical record of the NH Bar Association, the first woman admitted to the New Hampshire Bar Association was Agnes Winifred McLaughlin admitted in 1917.  But McLaughlin was NOT the first woman lawyer practicing in New Hampshire. That honor, and the shoulders upon whom all women attorneys stand belong to Marilla Marks Young Ricker.  Learn about this extraordinary woman's career as a lawyer and advocate for the poor and downtrodden, and hear NH's recipient of the Marilla Ricker Award Attorney Maureen Raiche Manning interviewed about the honor.



Today almost anyone from NH can name dozens of exceedingly fine women lawyers. Jean K. Burling, was the first female judge in NH in 1973.



Attorney Linda S. Delianis was first appointed to the NH Superior Court and then served with distinction as NH's first female Chief Justice of the NH Supreme Court.

Today Associate Justice Carol Ann Conboy from the NH Supreme Court carries on the tradition of service.

Landya Boyer McCafferty (born September 19, 1962) is the Chief United States District Judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire. She is the first female judge to serve in the District of New Hampshire.

Even today one cannot miss the impact that Kelly Ayotte (1993): First female Attorney General of New Hampshire (2004-2009) continues to have, now in the political arena.

Bar Associations[edit]
  •  
  • Patti Blanchette and Susan B. Carbon:[13][14] First females to serve respectively as the President of the New Hampshire Bar Association (1992-1993; 1993-1994)
  • Maureen Raiche Manning:[15] First female to serve as President of the New Hampshire Women's Bar Association (1998)
  • And there are scores of others: Tina Nadeau, Ellen Arnold, whom I first met when she was counsel to the New Hampshire Senate and has represented Dartmouth College among others, Leslie Nixon, Cathy Green, Donna Brown, Congresswoman Ann McLane Kuster,
  •  
  • All of these remarkable women stand on the shoulders of one extraordinary woman named Marilla Ricker of New Durham, NH.  Who was never formally recognized by the NH Bar Association, though she practiced Law in New Hampshire for the latter part of her life by special dispensation from the NH Supreme Court often in partnership with other NH Attorneys.




True Light: The Life of Marilla Ricker

Elbert Hubbard

believe in my own divinity — and yours.


UU Farmington Sermon about Marilla by Paul Bailey


Congratulations to the 2019 Marilla M. Ricker Achievement Award Recipient:
Attorney Maureen Raiche Manning


The NHWBA is pleased to announce the selection of Attorney Maureen Raiche Manning as the recipient of the 2019 Marilla M. Ricker Achievement Award.
The Ricker Award honors an outstanding woman lawyer in New Hampshire who has achieved professional excellence and paved the way to success for other women lawyers, advanced opportunities for women in the profession, and/or performed exemplary public service on behalf of women. Attorney Manning clearly exceeds all of these criteria.
Attorney Manning was nominated for this award by four different attorneys over multiple years. They wrote of her with clear admiration and appreciation. She was described as "always available to help other women lawyers and to mentor newer women lawyers" and as someone "I can always reach out to."
Attorney Maureen Raiche Manning has experience in all areas of civil litigation, including representing victims of personal injury, workers’ compensation, wrongful death, and medical malpractice cases with a proven record of success in New Hampshire federal and state courts. She is a lifelong resident of Manchester and the mother of three adult sons.
Maureen has served on the New Hampshire Commission for Human Rights, the New Hampshire Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Rules, and was Chair of the New Hampshire Women’s Lobby. Maureen was a nominee for a seat in the New Hampshire Senate in 2014 and served three terms in the New Hampshire House of Representatives. First elected at age 19, Maureen remains the youngest woman ever elected to a seat in the state legislature.
Maureen is a founding member of the New Hampshire Women’s Bar Association and served as its first president. She has served on the Board of Governors of the New Hampshire Bar Association and the New Hampshire Bar Foundation. She was honored by the Bar Association’s Gender Equality Committee as the recipient of its Annual Award. Maureen is a past-President of the New Hampshire Association for Justice and received the Board of Governors’ Award for her advocacy before the New Hampshire legislature.
Attorney Manning is well-deserving of this award, as, in the words of one of her many nominators, she "was instrumental in starting" NHWBA. Another noted her "path of exemplary public service on behalf of women" and "commitments to preserve the Winnie McLaughlin Scholarship."