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A Project of
the San Diego County Commission on the Status of Women and Girls,
the Women's Museum of California,
SDSU Women's Studies Department, and UCSD Women's Center.
Marie M. Herney
2022
Empowerer
Marie M. Herney (1908-1984) was known internationally as a legal authority and advocate for women’s rights. Admitted to the bar in 1931, she became San Diego County’s first woman deputy district attorney in 1932. She was San Diego’s first woman to practice in Federal Court and the first local woman to practice in the Supreme Court.
Her aim was to educate the legal profession and beyond about property laws and lack of professional opportunities affecting women—including equal pay for equal work--long before the women’s movement had taken up these issues. She was a mentor to Madge Bradley, who in 1952 became San Diego’s first woman judge.
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