Ida Viola Wells (February 12, 1878 – June 14, 1950) was an American lawyer.

Early life

Wells was born to Harry Taylor Wells (1853–1932), a dentist, and Ella Morella Wells (née Bennett; 1856–1939).

Career

Wells, in 1916, earned a Bachelor of Law degree from the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

. She was an associate with Arthur Wilson Eckman (1885–1974) in the Walter P. Story Building in the

Broadway Theater Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), many of the extant or closed Broadway venues use or used the spelling ''Theatr ...

and Commercial Districts of Los Angeles. For a little over two years, beginning December 18, 1921, Wells was Assistant State Inheritance Tax Attorney for California. She resigned January 31, 1924, to take charge of the Women's Bureau of the Johnson-for-President Club of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

. She then went on to serve as Deputy City Prosecutor for

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

from about 1927 to about 1939.

Affiliations

While studying law at USC, Wells was a member of

Phi Delta Delta Phi Delta Delta () was a women's professional law fraternity founded in November 1911 at the University of Southern California. It merged with Phi Alpha Delta in 1972. History Phi Delta Delta Legal Sorority was founded at the USC Gould School of ...

(USC's Alpha chapter), which, at the time, was the only women's professional law fraternity in the country. Wells went on to become the director of the Women Lawyers' Association. She was president of the Professional Women's Club. She was a member of the Women Lawyers' Club, Republican Study Club,

Soroptimist Club Soroptimist International (SI) , founded in 1921, is a global volunteer service for women with almost 66,000 members in 118 countries worldwide. Soroptimist International also offers Associate Membership and E-Clubs. Soroptimist International h ...

, State and County Bar Association, Women's Political League.

Personal life

Wells moved to California in 1908 and lived at 1744 West 24th St., Los Angeles, California. Wells, in 1943 in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

, married Lloyd Stowell Shapley (1875–1959) (his second of three marriages; her first), a naval captain who, among other things, served as the 23rd

Naval Governor of Guam The governor of Guam ( / ) is the head of government of Guam and the commander-in-chief of the Guam National Guard, whose responsibilities also include making the annual State of the Island (formerly the State of the Territory) addresses to t ...

, from April 7, 1926, to June 11, 1929.

References

News media * * * Books * * * * . {{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Ida V. 1878 births 1950 deaths People from Greenfield, Missouri 20th-century American women lawyers 20th-century American lawyers Los Angeles city attorneys Lawyers from Los Angeles USC Gould School of Law alumni