Shirley A. Field (1923–1995) was an Oregon legislator and judge.

Republican party activist

Field was active in the Republican party and, within six years of her arrival in Oregon, was selected as an alternate delegate to the

1952 Republican National Convention The 1952 Republican National Convention was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois from July 7 to 11, 1952, and nominated the popular general and war hero Dwight D. Eisenhower of New York, nicknamed "Ike," for president and ...

. By the time of the

1960 Republican National Convention The 1960 Republican National Convention was held in Chicago, Illinois, from July 25 to July 28, 1960, at the International Amphitheatre. It was the 14th and most recent time overall that Chicago hosted the Republican National Convention, more ti ...

she had become a member of the executive committee of the Committee on Resolutions (platform committee) and served as the chair of its subcommittee on human affairs. That year she was the first woman subcommittee chair to be a delegate-at-large at a Republican national convention. Field gained brief national notoriety when she confronted presidential candidate

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for presiden ...

over right to work laws at the

1964 Republican National Convention The 1964 Republican National Convention took place in the Cow Palace, Daly City, California, from July 13 to July 16, 1964. Before 1964, there had been only one national Republican convention on the West Coast, the 1956 Republican National Conven ...

Politician

Field served as a Republican legislator in the Oregon House of Representatives from 1956–1960 and 1962-1966.House Memorial 2
, 68th Oregon Legislative Assembly (1995 Regular Session)

Betty Roberts Betty Cantrell Roberts (February 5, 1923 – June 25, 2011) was an American politician and judge from the U.S. state of Oregon. She was the 83rd justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. She was the first woman to serve on the Oregon Supreme Co ...

, a Democrat legislator who served with Field, described Field as "a good debater and she’s very blunt, forthright, and takes on any opposition, man or woman, very seriously." However, Field left differences behind when she was not in the political arena. Field unsuccessfully ran for state treasurer in 1966.

Judge

Field sat as a Multnomah County District Court judge from 1972 - 1978. Field, outraged that women were being prosecuted for engaging in prostitution when their male clients weren't, refused to convict women charged with the crime. Her advocacy led to a 1973 Oregon law that provided for equal legal treatment of prostitutes and their clients.Oral History of Betty Roberts
pages 90 & 91 The Oregon Supreme Court removed Field from the bench as the result of behavior that was later found to be caused by a massive brain tumor. She then ran unsuccessfully to reclaim the seat; and, after the diagnosis and treatment for her tumor, ran unsuccessfully for the state supreme court.

Personal

Field, a native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, attended

Stephens College Stephens College is a private women's college in Columbia, Missouri. It is the second-oldest women's educational establishment that is still a women's college in the United States. It was founded on August 24, 1833, as the Columbia Female Acade ...

and was an alumna of the University of Michigan and of Yale Law School. She practiced law in New York for a year before moving in 1946 to Portland, Oregon, where she lived until her death.

Republican party activist

Politician

Judge

Personal

Notes

Further reading