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.
-
- 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
UU Farmington Sermon about
Marilla by Paul Bailey
Congratulations
to the 2019 Marilla M. Ricker Achievement Award Recipient:
Attorney Maureen
Raiche Manning
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."
