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The History of Queen's Bench
Originally published by Trudy Allen on January 11, 2004
Updated by the Queen's Bench Board in April 2010
A group of women attorneys in Portland started meeting regularly in the 1920s, using the name "Women Lawyers Association of Oregon." Its members included Manche Langley, Cecilia Gallagher Galey, Mary Jane Spurlin, Gladys Everett, Dorothy McCullough Lee, Dorothy Fones, Doris Rae Keeler and Neva Elliot. By the late 1930s, dissension arose in the group. A national organization had been formed--The National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL). There was serious disagreement among the members over whether to join NAWL. Some said that uniting nationally would strengthen the position of women lawyers; others argued that when, as in Oregon, women lawyers were accepted as members of bar associations, it would be folly to affiliate with a separate women's bar organization. Unfortunately, Women Lawyers Association of Oregon ended up disbanding over the dissension.
In early 1948, Cecilia Gallagher Galey initiated the re-institution of a women lawyers' association. In March 1948, she gathered most of the above women and some newer attorneys for a dinner at the Benson Hotel in Portland to hear Gladys Everett, recently returned from China, speak about her experience there as a regional welfare officer with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. In "Portland Portias Unite," Helen Althaus describes the first meeting: "It was an exciting and stimulation evening. The consensus was to form as association and to continue meeting regularly--at least monthly. But the old controversy arose... The biggest problem appeared to be agreement on the name." Those against affiliation with NAWL opposed any name that would suggest such affiliation, so that eliminated the words "women" and "lawyers." Helen knew of the women lawyers' group in San Francisco called Queen's Bench. When she mentioned that, the name was happily received. Initially, it was called "Queen's Bench of Oregon," and, eventually, "of Oregon" was dropped. (The name "Queens' Bench" comes from the name of the court in England, which is called either Queen's Bench or King's Bench, depending on the gender of the sovereign.)
Initially, Queen's Bench started out with a constitution and bylaws and it had several committees: Membership, Program, Hospitality, Education and Legislation, and Public Relations. The group soon became more informal and evolved into more of a social organization. For most of the time, it steered away from politics. By the 1980s, there were no committees. Queen's Bench started its History Committee in 1991, and it produced a calendar in 1997 for Queen's Bench 50th Anniversary in 1998. In the early 1970s and again in the late 1980s, Queen's Bench published newsletters. Once OWLS started the Advance Sheet, Queen's Bench ceased publishing its own newsletters.
In January 1988, Queen's Bench was formally incorporated as a non-profit corporation. OWLS was incorporated about a year later, in March 1989. In January 1990, Queen's Bench became the first chapter of OWLS. Although Queen's Bench was theoretically statewide before, now Queen's Bench was truly part of a statewide group, coming full circle--from providing the heritage (as a parent would do)--to becoming a child of the larger, statewide group.
Updated by the Queen's Bench Board in April 2010
A group of women attorneys in Portland started meeting regularly in the 1920s, using the name "Women Lawyers Association of Oregon." Its members included Manche Langley, Cecilia Gallagher Galey, Mary Jane Spurlin, Gladys Everett, Dorothy McCullough Lee, Dorothy Fones, Doris Rae Keeler and Neva Elliot. By the late 1930s, dissension arose in the group. A national organization had been formed--The National Association of Women Lawyers (NAWL). There was serious disagreement among the members over whether to join NAWL. Some said that uniting nationally would strengthen the position of women lawyers; others argued that when, as in Oregon, women lawyers were accepted as members of bar associations, it would be folly to affiliate with a separate women's bar organization. Unfortunately, Women Lawyers Association of Oregon ended up disbanding over the dissension.
In early 1948, Cecilia Gallagher Galey initiated the re-institution of a women lawyers' association. In March 1948, she gathered most of the above women and some newer attorneys for a dinner at the Benson Hotel in Portland to hear Gladys Everett, recently returned from China, speak about her experience there as a regional welfare officer with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. In "Portland Portias Unite," Helen Althaus describes the first meeting: "It was an exciting and stimulation evening. The consensus was to form as association and to continue meeting regularly--at least monthly. But the old controversy arose... The biggest problem appeared to be agreement on the name." Those against affiliation with NAWL opposed any name that would suggest such affiliation, so that eliminated the words "women" and "lawyers." Helen knew of the women lawyers' group in San Francisco called Queen's Bench. When she mentioned that, the name was happily received. Initially, it was called "Queen's Bench of Oregon," and, eventually, "of Oregon" was dropped. (The name "Queens' Bench" comes from the name of the court in England, which is called either Queen's Bench or King's Bench, depending on the gender of the sovereign.)
Initially, Queen's Bench started out with a constitution and bylaws and it had several committees: Membership, Program, Hospitality, Education and Legislation, and Public Relations. The group soon became more informal and evolved into more of a social organization. For most of the time, it steered away from politics. By the 1980s, there were no committees. Queen's Bench started its History Committee in 1991, and it produced a calendar in 1997 for Queen's Bench 50th Anniversary in 1998. In the early 1970s and again in the late 1980s, Queen's Bench published newsletters. Once OWLS started the Advance Sheet, Queen's Bench ceased publishing its own newsletters.
In January 1988, Queen's Bench was formally incorporated as a non-profit corporation. OWLS was incorporated about a year later, in March 1989. In January 1990, Queen's Bench became the first chapter of OWLS. Although Queen's Bench was theoretically statewide before, now Queen's Bench was truly part of a statewide group, coming full circle--from providing the heritage (as a parent would do)--to becoming a child of the larger, statewide group.
Past and Present Queen's Bench Activities
- Monthly Meetings. Providing a supportive network among women. Initially, these meetings were on the last Friday of each month. Since about 1972, the meetings have been on the second Tuesday of the month. Since 1988, Queen's Bench has had a speaker at these meetings almost every month. The "theme" for a number of years was about successes of women in leadership roles. Prior to '88, Queen's Bench had speakers only rarely, particularly when someone interesting was visiting from out of town.
- Meeting annually at the Bar convention. Queen's Bench originally included all the women attorneys in the state as its members at this annual breakfast meeting and then continued the traditional get-together with Lane County Women Lawyers and Mary Leonard Law Society from Salem after those groups were formed in the 1970s and 1980s. This was the seed for what is now the annual OWLS Bar Breakfast.
- Other annual events. For a long time, there were two traditional annual occasions, a holiday party (at a member's home), and a summer picnic. Those continued up into the mid to late 1980s. Now, Queen's Bench holds a special holiday luncheon honoring women judges and recently revived the summer picnic tradition.
- Periodic networking events. For over 15 years, Queen's Bench hosted one or two networking events each year with other women's professional groups including accountants, doctors, architects, entrepreneurs, general groups, etc. The OWLS Networking Committee now coordinates these types of events in the Portland area.
- Last Wednesday lunches. In the 1990s, Queen's Bench held brown bag lunches without a speaker that were a great way to get to know people in a more informal setting.
- Community Outreach. Starting in approximately 1995, Queen's Bench collected gifts and encouraged donations to the West Women's Shelter. In 2002, the charity of choice became the Court Care child care center in Multnomah County Courthouse.
- Manche Langley Scholarship Fund. This project started in 1963 and was renewed in 1997 with the plans for the 50th anniversary commemorative calendar which raised money for the fund. Queen's Bench members Jean King and Helen Althaus gave substantial money to the fund. The scholarship is maintained at Lewis & Clark Law School.
- Welcoming women into the legal profession. By the early 1970s, what had been a trickle of 1 to 5 women coming into the profession each year started to become a stream, and, by the late 1970s, it was more like a flood. In the early 1970s, Helen Althaus was the chair of the Queen's Bench committee on new members, and she would send hand-written invitations to each new woman admittee.
- In 1972, there were 11, and, in 1973, there were 25. After that she stopped writing personal letters and had type-written invitations duplicated.
- By 1975, there were nearly 50 and in 1977, over 70 new women.
- In November 2003, Queen's Bench began the tradition of the new admittee luncheon and have since started a Coffee Networking Program, pairing new admittees with practicing attorney members.
