All-Woman Supreme Court

The court consisted of Hortense Sparks Ward, who was appointed special chief justice, Hattie Leah Henenberg, and Ruth Virginia Brazzil.

It sat for five months, ruling on the case Johnson v. Darr, and was the first all-female supreme court in the history of the United States.

516), involved a so-called "secret trust" under which the Woodmen of the World were claiming ownership of two tracts of land in the city.

That same day, Jones signed an agreement to hold the property in trust for the trustees and deed it back upon request.

Not until the first day of 1925 – one week before the case was to be heard – did he hit upon a solution; as the Woodmen were a fraternal organization, and accepted no female members, he would appoint a court made up of only women.

[1] Discreet inquiries revealed that as long as the women were eligible under Texas law to serve in the position, there should be no barrier to their appointment.

[3] Neff's choice was particularly appropriate given the fact that he was the first Texas governor with a female private secretary[2] and his record of appointing women to all state boards and commissions throughout his term of office.

First, on January 5, Wilmans announced her resignation; she lacked by two months the required seven years' experience practicing law in the state.

[2] Ultimately, the question which had to be decided concerned recording of the trust agreement, and whether or not it should be noted down prior to the lodging of the creditors' claim.

Sondock served the remainder of Denton's term, which ended on December 31, 1982, but did not seek election to the Supreme Court in her own right.