Kate Stoneman (1841-1925) [Section 56, Lot 28]
The first female to attend and graduate from Albany Law, the first woman admitted to New York State bar, suffragist.
Catherine “Kate” E. Stoneman was born in Lakewood, New York on April 1, 1841, to Catherine Rebecca Cheney and George Stoneman, Sr. She is remembered as a leader in the suffragist movement and for becoming the first woman admitted to practice law in New York State.
Stoneman moved to Albany in 1864 to attend the New York State Normal College (a predecessor of the University at Albany), which at the time it was the only training school for teachers within the public school system. After her graduation she worked as an instructor at the Normal School, where she taught law, geography, drawing, and penmanship, and she also taught at the Glens Falls Seminary.
In the 1870s Stoneman became involved in the suffragist movement and helped to establish the Women’s Suffrage Society of Albany. The organization lobbied elected officials for the “extension of school suffrage to women.” Stoneman’s involvement with the suffragist movement would continue throughout the rest of her life, and when women were finally granted the right to vote in 1918, Stoneman served as a poll watcher for the City of Albany.
Stoneman began pursuing a legal career in the 1880s, perhaps influenced by her eldest brother, George Stoneman, who was elected as the fifteenth Governor of California in 1883. It’s also likely, however, that Stoneman was inspired by suffragist leaders like Susan B. Anthony, Sojourner Truth, and Victoria Claflin Woodhulll, who had started to raise legal arguments under the Fourteenth Amendment in support of their right to vote.
After working as a clerk for the Albany lawyer Worthington W. Frothingham for several years, Stoneman became the first woman to pass the New York State Bar Examination in 1885. Despite this achievement, her application for admission to the bar was denied, based solely on the fact that she was a woman.
Stoneman proceeded to launch a campaign to change the law so that all “qualified applicants” would be eligible to join the New York State bar, regardless of race or gender. With the assistance of supporters in the legislature and local suffragettes, a bill was drafted almost immediately and was passed by the state Senate and Assembly with “hardly a dissenting vote.”
The legislation was signed into law by Governor David B. Hill on May 19, 1886, just nine days after Stoneman’s application had been rejected. On May 22, 1886, after submitting her application again, Stoneman became the first woman admitted to practice law in New York State. Stoneman later went on to become the first woman to graduate from Albany Law School in 1898, at the age of 57. She was also the first woman to receive a Bachelor’s degree from Union College.
Stoneman never married and passed away at the age of 84 on May 19, 1925, at her home on Swan Street in Albany. Although her grave at Albany Rural Cemetery is modest, her accomplishments helped pave the way for women’s rights and left and undeniable legacy.
Stoneman was posthumously honored by Governor Mario Cuomo, who declared May 22, 1986 "Katherine Stoneman Day," in recognition of the 100th anniversary of her acceptance to the bar. She was honored again in 2009, when she was inducted into the Seneca Falls National Women’s Hall of Fame.
Albany Law School established the Kate Stoneman Award in 1994 to recognize “individuals in the legal profession who have demonstrated a commitment to seeking change and expanding opportunities for women.” Past honorees, among many others, have included Hon. Judith Kaye, the first woman to serve as the Chief Judge of the New York State Court of Appeals (the highest court in the state), and Barbara Underwood, who was the first woman to serve as the Attorney General of New York State.
A gravesite memorial was installed for Stoneman at Albany Rural Cemetery in 2008. The inscription reads: “The present day presents greater opportunity than ever before for women… my message is to the younger women. They must take their opportunities as they come. Always there are opportunities to be had.”