Juanita Kidd Stout

Juanita Kidd Stout (March 7, 1919 – August 21, 1998) was an American attorney and jurist who served as a justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1988 to 1989. She had previously operated a private legal practice in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After working in the District Attorney's office, where Stout was known for her successful prosecutions, she was appointed on an interim basis to the municipal court bench in 1959, becoming the first African-American woman to serve as a judge in the state. Elected that year to the municipal court, she was the first African-American woman elected to any judgeship in the United States. When she was appointed to the state's supreme court, Stout was the first African-American woman to serve on the supreme court of any state. Early life and education She was born as Juanita Kidd in Wewoka, Oklahoma on March 7, 1919. Her parents were both teachers, but were not paid well in the segregated state. She always "credited her mother with instilling a lifelong habit of hard work." As a child, Stout learned to read at age three, entered the third grade at age six, and started college at age 16.