Sophonisba “Nisba” Preston Breckinridge, born April 1, 1866, was a woman of firsts. Breckinridge was the first woman admitted to the Kentucky bar to practice law in 1895; the first woman to earn a PhD in Political Science at the University of Chicago in 1901; the first woman to earn a JD at the University of Chicago Law School in 1904; the first woman professor granted a named professorship at the University of Chicago in 1929; and the first woman to serve as U.S. representative to a high-level international conference in 1933.

Along the way, Breckinridge co-founded the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Social Service Administration (now the The Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice), was instrumental in the creation and promotion of The Social Security Act of 1935 and The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, and published extensively in the fields of family, public welfare, and children.

Kelly briefly tells Breckinridge’s story and interviews Anya Jabour, Regents Professor of History at the University of Montana, and author of  Sophonisba Breckinridge: Championing Women's Activism in Modern America.

Our theme song is Frogs Legs Rag, composed by James Scott and performed by Kevin MacLeod, licensed under Creative Commons. Episode image: By Bain News Service - Library of Congress, http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/ggbain.07524. Public Domain.

Sources:

• Sophonisba Breckinridge: Championing Women's Activism in Modern America by Anya Jabour, University of Illinois Press, 2019
• "Sophonisba Breckinridge," The Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice
• "Reclaiming Sophonisba," University of Chicago Law School, by Becky Beaupre Gillespie, January 6, 2020
• "‘Forgotten Feminist’ Sophonisba Breckinridge was a Woman of Many Firsts" by Meredith Francis, WTTW, October 7, 2020
• "When lesbians led the women’s suffrage movement," The Conversation, by Anya Jabour, January 24, 2020

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