[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 120 (Tuesday, August 10, 2010)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1561]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    HONORING THE LEGACY OF EDITH L. BORNN, A FEMALE LEGAL PIONEER, 
      ENVIRONMENTAL VISONARY, COMMUNITY ACTIVIST AND HUMANITARIAN

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. DONNA M. CHRISTENSEN

                           of virgin islands

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, August 10, 2010

  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Madam Speaker, I rise to acknowledge a visionary 
female pioneer, Edith L. Bornn, Esquire, who has left the Territory of 
the U.S. Virgin Islands an enduring legacy, through her trendsetting in 
the legal field; her unending diligence in fighting for the protection 
of the environment; and, decades of humanitarian contributions.
  Edith L. Bornn was born to an prominent merchant family on the island 
of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. She received a public education, 
graduating from the Charlotte Amalie High School before attending 
Barnard College and the Columbia University School of Law. She was one 
of five women in her law school graduating class.
  For two years after finishing law school, she served as a librarian, 
legal research secretary and a Goodwill Ambassador for the Caribbean 
nations, on behalf of the Caribbean Commission, on the island of 
Trinidad. Returning to her home on St. Thomas, she served as a U.S. 
District Court Law Clerk to District Court Judge Herman E. Moore, 
before opening her own law firm in 1955. Attorney Edith Bornn was the 
first female to open a private law practice in the U.S. Virgin Islands. 
Her law practice specialized in family law, residential and commercial 
real estate, zoning law, probate, wills, and trusts. More than half a 
century later, the Bornn Law Firm continues its excellent 
representation in these fields of law.
  The entire community of St. Thomas was most attentive to this 
audacious move by a young woman, competing in a small but powerful 
bastion of men; however, much to everyone's surprise, the established 
men of the legal profession were often found going to her office on Nye 
Gade for consultations. Her success had an immediate galvanizing effect 
on the women of the Virgin Islands. Edith Bornn led by example, in 
unequivocally demonstrating that gender was not a barrier and that 
women had an equal right to pursue their dreams and aspirations. It is 
not surprising that she was called the Matriarch of the Virgin Islands 
Bar Association, an organization she helped to establish.
  Edith Bornn was also a strong advocate for government accountability. 
She became a founding member of the Virgin Islands' League of Women 
Voters which electrified and energized women in the Virgin Islands, a 
quarter of a century before Women's Liberation became the issue in 
American life. The League began the practice of summoning and 
questioning political aspirants on their platform agenda. It also 
indirectly forced a dialogue for the aspirants to articulate their 
thoughts on various matters affecting the territory, the nation, and 
the world. The League has become an institution today and appearing 
before the League is a rite of passage for every Virgin Islands 
politician.
  As a result, this political passage became a harbinger, in that the 
then prevailing custom of soap box oratory, in the Market Place and 
Emancipation Gardens, ended; and political parties, their 
organizations, and conventions began to achieve more prominence in 
Virgin Islands life. Attorney Bornn served as President for the League 
for several terms; she was a director of the National League of Women 
Voters for many years; and also served as Chair of its International 
Relations Committee. Attorney Bornn represented the United States at 
women's conferences around the world, helping them enter civic and 
political activity to direct public policy, through the International 
Federation of Women Lawyers and the World Peace Through Law Center. In 
the 1960s she was active in politics and participated in the Democratic 
National Convention in Atlantic City.
  Attorney Bornn was a pioneer in the field of environmental law, 
decades before the environment became today's cause celebre. Attorney 
Bornn diligently fought to protect the pristine beauty of the Virgin 
Islands from runaway unplanned development; and, later served in key 
roles in the Save the Long Bay Coalition and the Virgin Islands 
Conservation Society.
  While on the island of Trinidad working for the Caribbean Commission, 
she met Andrew Bornn, whom she later married. They had three sons, who 
followed their mother's stellar example. Edith Bornn was an encouraging 
and supporting mother of her sons' athletic and scholastic activities. 
Her sons carry on aspects of her legacy through their activism, 
dedicated public service, and legal representation. Her husband 
predeceased her by a decade.
  The Territory of the Virgin Islands has lost a giant, whose 
intellect, influence, and presence will be deeply missed. May she rest 
in peace.

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