Rita C. Davidson (September 1, 1928 – November 11, 1984) was a lawyer and public servant who was the first woman to serve on the

Maryland Court of Appeals The Supreme Court of Maryland (previously the Maryland Court of Appeals) is the highest court of the U.S. state of Maryland. The court, which is composed of one chief justice and six associate justices, meets in the Robert C. Murphy Courts of ...

. Davidson was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, the daughter of Lithuanian and Latvian Jewish immigrants by way of Russia. She graduated from

Goucher College Goucher College ( ') is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Towson, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1885 as a Nonsectarian, nonsecterian Women's colleges in the United States, ...

in 1948 and

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

in 1951. She worked in private practice in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, and was active in politics in

Montgomery County, Maryland Montgomery County is the most populous County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 United States census, the county's population was 1,062,061, increasing by 9.3% from 2010. The county seat is Rockville, Maryland ...

. In 1970, Governor

Marvin Mandel Marvin Mandel (April 19, 1920 – August 30, 2015) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the 56th Governor of Maryland from January 7, 1969, to January 17, 1979, including a one-and-a-half-year period when Lt. Governor Blair ...

appointed her as the secretary of Employment and Social Services, the first woman named to a Maryland governor's cabinet. In 1972, Davidson was appointed to the

Maryland Court of Special Appeals The Appellate Court of Maryland is the intermediate appellate court for the U.S. state of Maryland. Formerly known as the Maryland Court of Special Appeals, it was created in 1966 in response to the rapidly growing caseload in the Supreme Court ...

. In 1978, acting governor

Blair Lee III Francis Preston Blair Lee III (May 19, 1916 – October 25, 1985) was an American politician who served as the second lieutenant governor of Maryland from 1971 to 1979 and served as acting governor of Maryland from 1977 to 1979, during Marv ...

appointed her to a seat on the

vacated by the death of Justice Irving A. Levine. Davidson was the first woman appointed to the state's highest court.Lee selects woman for top court
, ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...

'' (December 20, 1978), p. 1. Davidson died of cancer on November 11, 1984, at her home in

Chevy Chase, Maryland Chevy Chase () is the colloquial name of an area that includes a town, several incorporated villages, and an unincorporated census-designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland; and one adjoining neighborhood in northwest Washington, D ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Rita 1928 births 1984 deaths Goucher College alumni Yale Law School alumni Judges of the Supreme Court of Maryland 20th-century Maryland state court judges 20th-century American women lawyers Deaths from cancer in Maryland Lawyers from Brooklyn Lawyers from Washington, D.C. 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women judges American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent American people of Latvian-Jewish descent

See also

References