Bullowa, Emilie (1869–1942)

American lawyer, reformer and philanthropist, who was a founding member and first president of the National Association of Women Lawyers. Born in New York City in 1869; died in New York on October 25, 1942; oldest of six children of Morris Bullowa and Mary Bullowa; graduated from Law College of New York University, 1900; never married.

Born into a wealthy Jewish family in New York City in 1869, Emilie Bullowa was the oldest of six children. The early death of both her parents left her the head of a large family. After seeing her siblings well settled in various schools and universities (one brother and one sister became a physician), she started her own professional education, enrolling at the Law College of New York University. After graduating in 1900, Bullowa opened a law office at 34 Nassau Street in Lower Manhattan, from which she and her brother Ferdinand Bullowa would practice admiralty law for more than four decades.

Emilie Bullowa fought for the equal treatment of female lawyers and was a founding member and first president of the National Association of Women Lawyers. During World War I, having recently inherited a château in France, she turned the property over to French War Relief to house wounded soldiers and refugees. At the start of World War II, she showed similar generosity by donating a mobile field kitchen, as well as all her office furniture, to British War Relief.

Believing that democracy needed an economic as well as a philosophical foundation, Emilie Bullowa served in 1924 as a member of the platform committee of the Women's Democratic Union. She was sensitive to criticisms that the legal profession was unaffordable for the average citizen, declaring that "our democracy doesn't work if the people who can't afford to give compensation for legal aid can't get justice. It is just as important to help people in their rights as in their health and their housing." Having spent her life fighting for the rights of the weak and poor, Emilie Bullowa died in New York on October 25, 1942.

sources:

"Emilie Bullowa, Lawyer 42 Years," in The New York Times. October 26, 1942, p. 15.

John Haag , Associate Professor, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia