For Immediate Release February 23, 2005

For More Information Contact: Diane Brown, 317-274-7711 habrown@iupui.edu

IU Law Professors to Portray Great Women in Legal Profession

INDIANAPOLIS - As part of the observance of March as Women's History Month, the IU School of Law-Indianapolis will pay tribute to six women, past and present, who significantly impacted American society from within or through the legal system.

Six women faculty and staff members will tell the stories of civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Sonia Sotomayor and others during the 2005 Great Women in Law series which begins March 2.

The series will take place in two presentations: 11:45 a.m. - 12:45 p.m., Wednesday, March 2 in the law school building's Wynne Courtroom; and 4:30 - 5:30 p.m., Thursday, March 3, in Room 383 of the law school building, 530 W. New York St.

"The legal profession has traditionally been male dominated. There are still barriers to women's achievements in the law," law Professor Maria Pabon Lopez said. "It is good to highlight the role of women in the development of the legal profession. We do not know enough of the women leaders in the profession, so we take a moment during Women's History Month to learn about the leaders in our field."

The first Great Women in Law presentation features 10-15 minute talks about civil rights advocate Pauli Murray, Sotomayor and Hamer, given respectively by Professor Mary Mitchell, Professor Lopez and Professor Karen Bravo.

In the second presentation, the stories of feminist E mma Goldman, social reformer and labor activist Florence Kelly and U.S. District Court Judge Constance Baker Motley will be told respectively by Debra Denslaw, reference librarian; and professors Fran Hardy and Florence W. Roisman.

Refreshments will be served at the events.

The Great Women in Law Speakers program is co-sponsored by the Feminist Legal Society and the Women's Law Caucus, both IU School of Law-Indianapolis organizations.

March was designated as Women's History Month in 1987 when National Women's History Week, which had been observed since 1981, was expanded to a month-long celebration. National Women's History Project, a nonprofit educational organization, established Women's History Week and timed it to coincide with the observance of March 8 as International Women's Day, an event that dates back to the late 1960s. ###