Bolin became the first black woman to serve as a judge in the United States when she was sworn into the bench of the New York City Domestic Relations Court in 1939.

[2] Bolin was influenced as a child by articles and pictures of the murders, by extrajudicial hanging, of black southerners in The Crisis, the official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

[4][5][citation needed] After attending high school in Poughkeepsie, Bolin was prevented from enrolling at Vassar College as it did not accept black students at that time.

[7] A career adviser at Wellesley College tried to discourage her from applying to Yale Law School due to her race and gender.

She practiced with her father in Poughkeepsie for a short period before accepting a job with the New York City Corporation Counsel's office.

[1] Bolin also sought to combat racial discrimination from religious groups by helping to open a special school for black boys in New York City.

After a life of groundbreaking achievements, Jane Bolin died on Monday, January 8, 2007, at the age of 98 in Long Island City, Queens, New York.

[2] During her lifetime, judges including Judith Kaye and Constance Baker Motley cited Bolin as a source of inspiration for their careers.