Bres, Rose Falls

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BRES, Rose Falls

Born 1869, New Orleans, Louisiana; died 14 November 1927, Jacksonville, Florida

Also wrote under: Rose C. Falls

Daughter of Isaac W. and Rosetta Falls; married William A.Bres, 1902

Little is known about Rose Falls Bres' childhood, which was apparently spent in New Orleans. In her early teens she lived in Paducah, Kentucky, where she worked for a newspaper and read law. Admitted to the bar in Kentucky (circa 1889), Bres found that such credentials did not transfer to Louisiana when she returned to New Orleans to practice law there. While waiting to be admitted to the Louisiana bar, Bres worked as a secretary and a journalist. Her first copyrighted work was "Cheniere Caminada, or The Wind of Death" (1893), a narrative account of a storm that killed 1607 persons in the Grand Isle area of Louisiana.

During her almost 18 years of law practice in Louisiana, Bres was active in politics and journalism. She was also associate editor of the ERA, a woman's publication. In 1907 Bres copyrighted three plays from New Orleans, one of which, "The Law and the Lady Down in Dixie," reflects many of her experiences as a woman professional in 19th century Southern society and in politics. When Bres moved to New York City in 1910, she became a member of the National Women Lawyers Association and later national president (1925-27) and editor of their publication, The Women Lawyers' Journal (1921-24). She served as counsel to the Lucy Stone League and was editor of a short-lived (due to World War I) magazine, Oyez!, published by women lawyers in 1916.

Throughout her career, Bres worked for passage of uniform divorce and marriage laws and for women to have the right to use their own names. Labor laws, property rights, treatment of immigrants, and capital punishment laws were also major concerns of hers. The Law and the Woman (1917), dedicated to the Women's Press Club of New York, was favorably reviewed by the New York Times:"As the first attempt to present in a single volume the status of women in the United States under the Federal and the State Laws, Mrs. Bres' book has unique value and interest…. Her digest and discussion of the present legal status of women in this country is scholarly and readable and makes a worthwhile addition to feminist literature."

Bres' "lost" Louisiana plays seem never to have been produced or published. The longest of the three, "The Law and the Lady Down in Dixie," is a three-act melodrama of almost classic mode for the type, although the playwright uses a series of ironic touches which modernize the melodrama form. In the play, a politician expresses his fondness for the ladies and says they can always find him when they need him. But when questioned directly on whether he will support legislation to change the Civil Code of Louisiana "which has come down from Napoleon," he declares, rather regretfully: "The time is not yet right for the ladies."

Other Works:

"Turn of the Wheel: A Humorous One Act Sketch" (unpublished; 12 Jul. 1907). "A Fairy Tale: A One Act Sketch" (unpublished, 9 Aug. 1907). Maids, Wives and Widows: The Law of the Land and of the Various States as It Affects Women (1918).