Paving the Way

In person, I quickly comprehended, Herma has a quality that cannot be conveyed in words. There is a certain chemistry involved when one meets her, something that magically makes you want to be on her side.”—Ruth Bader Ginsburg, from the Foreword If you admired Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, you should love this book by Herma Hill Kay, the woman law professor whom RBG used as her own model for her life in the law.—Nina Totenberg, Legal Affairs Correspondent, National Public Radio    Legendary professor, dean, law reformer, and mentor, Herma Hill Kay has written a lively and memorable  book about the first women to become American law professors and their legacies. Shining a light on three women who  joined law faculties before World War II and eleven more pioneers during the civil rights and women's movements, Paving the Way illuminates how uniquely extraordinary individuals and social contexts changed law schools, law, and America. Come for the 'firsts,' stay for the individual portraits of remarkable and pathbreaking women, and emerge with a biography of law and society during pivotal times.—Martha Minow, professor and former dean, Harvard Law School A lively and important history of the legal world which Herma Hill Kay entered a half century ago—and had a substantial role in transforming. Readers are likely to be surprised by what they find here. Paving the Way is a major contribution to our understanding of professional life in our own time.—Linda K. Kerber, author of No Constitutional Right to Be Citizens: Women and the Obligations of Citizenship Born under a lucky star, I had the good fortune to experience Herma Hill Kay’s brilliant teaching, to rely on her as mentor and role model, to work with her in countless meetings of the American Law Institute, and to enjoy her loyal friendship. She spoke passionately about the project that became this remarkable book. Herma’s decades-long efforts to document and share these trailblazers’ stories give us one more reason to celebrate her own commitment to changing the world for lawyers of all genders.—Susan Frelich Appleton, Washington University School of Law in St. Louis “No one else has written about the first women law professors in the U.S. The fact that the author was the fifteenth, and the fact that she was able to interview nine of these women, makes this work so valuable. I think it is crucial for women law professors to know about our foremothers and their contributions to the profession and to law in general.”—Laura Gasaway, University of North Carolina School of Law