American judge
Florence Kerins Murray
(October 21, 1916 ? March 28, 2004) was a high-ranking officer in the
Women's Army Corps
, the first female state senator in
Rhode Island
, the first female judge in Rhode Island and the first female member of the
Rhode Island Supreme Court
.
Early life
[
edit
]
Florence Kerins was born in
Newport, Rhode Island
, on October 21, 1916, the daughter of John X. and Florence MacDonald Kerins.
[1]
She was of Irish American ancestry and was a member of the
Roman Catholic Church
. She was a graduate of Rogers High School in Newport, and
Syracuse University
in
New York
. She graduated from
Boston University
law school in 1942.
[2]
She was married on October 21, 1943, to Paul F. Murray, who died in 1995, and they had one son.
[3]
[1]
World War II service
[
edit
]
Murray was commissioned as an officer in the
Women's Army Corps
during the
Second World War
and rose to the rank of
lieutenant colonel
, the youngest woman to achieve that rank at that time.
[4]
She served on the staff of the Director of the Women's Army Corps, Colonel
Oveta Hobby
, in
Washington, D.C.
[5]
She was discharged from the Army in 1947. For her military service she was awarded the
Legion of Merit
, the
Army Commendation Medal
, the
Women's Army Corps Service Medal
, the
American Campaign Medal
and the
World War Two Victory Medal
.
[6]
Political career
[
edit
]
After the war, she was elected as a
Democrat
to the Rhode Island state senate and served from 1949 to 1956. She was the first woman to serve as a state senator in Rhode Island. She was a delegate to the
Democratic National Convention
in 1952.
[6]
Judicial career
[
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]
In 1956, she was the first woman appointed as a Superior Court judge in Rhode Island.
[7]
In 1978, she was appointed Chief Justice of the
Rhode Island Superior Court
.
[8]
[3]
In November 1979, she was elected by the
Rhode Island General Assembly
as an associate justice of the
Rhode Island Supreme Court
. She was the first female supreme court justice in Rhode Island.
[9]
She retired from the court in 1996 after having served as a judge for 40 years.
[3]
Honors
[
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]
Murray received the Silver Shingle Award from Boston University School of Law.
[10]
She was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame in 1980.
[11]
Death and burial
[
edit
]
She died at her home in Newport on March 28, 2004,
[3]
[12]
and is buried with her husband in Trinity Cemetery in
Portsmouth, Rhode Island
.
Legacy
[
edit
]
The Florence K. Murray award of the
National Association of Women Judges
is named after her. The award is presented to a non-judge who has influenced women to pursue legal careers, opened doors for women attorneys, or advanced opportunities for women within the legal profession.
[13]
The Rhode Island Bar Association established a Florence K. Murray Award in her honor.
[9]
The Newport County Courthouse was renamed the Florence K. Murray Judicial Complex in 1990, the first time a courthouse in the United States was named in honor of a female jurist.
[14]
[15]
There is a full length, life-sized portrait of Justice Murray in the courthouse.
See also
[
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]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Who's Who in American Law 1992-1993
. Marquis Who's Who. 1991. p. 654.
- ^
"Justice Florence Murray chose the low-key road to success"
.
Christian Science Monitor
. 1984-01-05.
ISSN
0882-7729
. Retrieved
2019-12-11
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
"Florence Murray, 87; had life of judicial firsts in R.I. - The Boston Globe"
.
archive.boston.com
. Retrieved
2019-12-11
.
- ^
Delaney, Michael.
"Irish who left their mark on Rhode Island sod"
.
providencejournal.com
. Retrieved
2019-12-11
.
- ^
Gryzb, Frank L.; DeSimone, Russel J. (2014).
Remarkable Women of Rhode Island
. Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press.
- ^
a
b
Rhode Island State Manual, 1991 - 1992
- ^
Mulvaney, Katie.
"Pushing the bar in R.I.: 5 women who blazed trails through the legal system"
.
providencejournal.com
. Retrieved
2019-12-11
.
- ^
"Florence (Kerins) Murray Obituary (Providence Journal)"
.
Legacy.com
. March 30, 2004
. Retrieved
Dec 10,
2019
.
- ^
a
b
"2018 FLORENCE K. MURRAY AWARD"
.
www.ribar.com
. Retrieved
2019-12-11
.
[
permanent dead link
]
- ^
"Past Silver Shingle Award Recipients | School of Law"
.
www.bu.edu
. Retrieved
2019-12-11
.
- ^
"Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame: Florence Kerins Murray, Inducted 1980"
.
www.riheritagehalloffame.org
. Retrieved
2019-12-11
.
- ^
"In Memoriam"
(PDF)
.
Benchmark (American Judges Association newsletter)
. April 28, 2004
. Retrieved
December 10,
2019
.
- ^
"Awards Descriptions | National Association of Women Judges"
.
www.nawj.org
. Retrieved
2019-12-11
.
- ^
"Judge Florence Murray"
.
www.newportalri.org
. Retrieved
2019-12-11
.
- ^
"Photos: Who are things named after in Rhode Island ?"
.
providencejournal.com
. Retrieved
2019-12-11
.
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