[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 13 (Tuesday, January 23, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S906]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         TRIBUTE TO JANE BOLIN

 Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, today I honor the life and legacy 
of Ms. Jane Bolin.
  Jane Matilda Bolin of Queens, NY, passed away on Monday, January 8, 
2007 after a lifetime of public service. In 1939, Ms. Bolin was the 
first Black woman to become a judge in the United States, and she 
continued to serve honorably on the bench for the next 40 years. Her 
lifelong dedication to social justice, civil rights, and to the 
betterment of our American society serves as an inspiration to us all.
  A trailblazer in so many arenas, Ms. Bolin pursued her goals in the 
face of widespread discrimination and prejudice. She was the first 
Black woman to graduate from Yale Law School, the first to join the New 
York City Bar Association, and the first to work in the city's legal 
department. In addition to being a fellow Yale Law graduate, she and I 
also share the same undergraduate alma mater. Ms. Bolin attended 
Wellesley College in the 1920s as one of only two Black freshmen. She 
went on to graduate as a Wellesley Scholar, an honor given only to the 
top 20 students in her class.
  Ms. Bolin's tenacity set a powerful example for the women of my 
generation. In 1958, she commented on the struggle for women's rights 
that ``we have to fight every inch of the way and in the face of 
sometimes insufferable humiliations.'' And Ms. Bolin never stopped 
fighting. She spoke out against segregation in her native Pougkheepsie. 
She used her position on the bench to end the assignment of probation 
officers and the placement of children in childcare agencies on the 
basis of race. As a family court judge, she heard cases ranging from 
homicides and battered spouses to child support and paternity suits.
  Jane Bolin was truly a remarkable woman.
  I offer my deepest sympathies to her son, Yorke B. Mizzle, and to all 
those whose lives she enriched. My thoughts and prayers are with her 
family during this difficult time.

                          ____________________