From a One-room Schoolhouse to the California Supreme Court
| Publication year | 2017 |
| Author | By Jessica Barclay-Strobel |
By Jessica Barclay-Strobel
CLR: Your opinions sometimes delve into California's history to explain how that history has shaped our law. You and your family have been a part of that history: One of your grandmothers was a suffragist in the East Bay, another was a businesswoman in San Francisco who had lived in a tent in Golden Gate park after the 1906 earthquake, and, when you assumed the bench in 1991, you were the only sitting female justice on the First District Court of Appeal. How has California history affected the opportunities you had or did not have growing up and in your career?
KW: California is notable for being progressive and for its history of giving opportunity to individuals. Part of its history is its strong educational system. I am a product of the University of California, both as an undergraduate and for two of my three law school years. The grandmother you mentioned, who was a suffragist, went to Mills College in the 1880s and 90s. My two aunts also went to college in the early part of the 20th century when women did not go as much. So that's my background and I must have absorbed it without consciously being aware of it.
CLR: Do you think having women in your family who had attended college made college seem more attainable to you-something you knew you might want to pursue?
KW: From the guidance I did get, it was clear that I was going to college. That was a given. Education was a strong principle, a value, in my family. And I was always a good student. It was something I enjoyed.
CLR: In discussing your childhood, you've observed that an unconventional or challenging background may compel you to do things out of the ordinary. In what ways was your childhood unconventional? How did it lead you to do unusual things?
KW: My childhood was unconventional because I really was not raised in my family. I lost my mother when I was four-and-a-half. Our grandmother came to live with us for a year, and after that, our father sent my brother and me to live with a family in Healdsburg, where I attended a one-room school with eight grades and one teacher. Later I attended boarding schools, and in high school I lived with an aunt and uncle. I was not raised by my father in the traditional sense.
I must have absorbed the idea that I was on my own and I was going to have to make my own way. In that respect it was unconventional. It was also unconventional because no limits were put on me, nor were any expectations placed on me. It was just up to me. That being the case, I had to figure out what I was going to do, and take responsibility for my future.
CLR: Do you remember at what age you started thinking of yourself as having to take responsibility for your own future?
KW: It evolved. When you finish college, you wonder what is going to be your future. In my mind, all things were open, but I had a limited view of the possibilities. I had no role models.
CLR: You went from a one-room schoolhouse in Healdsburg to graduating first in your class at your law school and being elected the first female editor-in-chief of the law review. You mentioned you didn't have any role models, but did you have any inspirations or people to guide you in that journey?
KW: That's a good question. I had never heard of a woman lawyer, nor had anybody I knew heard of a woman lawyer. When I did finally go into the law, I learned that nationwide at that time-which was the early 60s-one percent of attorneys were women, but California had three percent. So, we were progressive!
What turned the tide for me was when I was working at the University of California hospital in San Francisco. There, I observed two woman physicians.
[Page 1]
They really impacted my life. I had no idea-you have to remember the time period-that a woman could be a doctor. I thought, "Well, there are other things that a woman can do!" Happily for everyone, I knew medicine was not going to be it for me. But I started thinking of what further education I might get, and the law seemed like a congenial path. My father was a lawyer, but I cannot say he had any influence on this. He thought it was rather surprising that I was going to do this.
CLR: Given that you didn't have many role models growing up, is that something you've tried to become or strive to be for others?
KW: It's something I'm told I have been, just by virtue of doing what I've done. And, of course, I've been amenable to it. I've had women externs, and I've taught law as well. If women are interested, I encourage them. I've certainly been delighted to do that. I didn't see myself that way, but I have been a role model just by virtue of being where I was at the time.
CLR: After law school, you worked in Washington, D.C., in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. But when you returned to California in 1963, you were rejected from the law firm and government positions to which you applied. As a result, you did consulting work for several years before being hired as a research attorney for the California Court of Appeal in 1981. How has the unconventional trajectory of your career informed your thinking as a judge?
KW: Actually, there was more to it than that. When I came back to California, I was not offered a position at the places I applied. After that, I did not know what I wanted to do. I did not know where my career was going to take me. But I did know that I wanted to start a family. So, there was this conflict-again, it was a...
To continue reading
Request your trial