Annette Abbott Adams

Annette Abbott Adams (12 March 1877 – 26 October 1956) was an American lawyer and judge. She was the first woman to be the Assistant Attorney General in the United States. Early life and education Born Annette Grace Abbot in Prattville, California, to storekeeper Hiram Brown Abbott and teacher Annette Frances Stubbs, Adams was educated at Chico State Normal School and the University of California, Berkeley, where she obtained her undergraduate degree in 1904, and her law degree in 1912. She was a member of Delta Delta Delta. Career Before beginning her legal career, she taught grammar school and was one of the first female school principals in California, at Modoc County High School in Alturas. In 1912, she was admitted to the State Bar of California. She campaigned for Woodrow Wilson in California, and was rewarded after his election with an appointment as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Northern District of California, 1914–1919. In 1918–1920, she was the assistant United States Attorney in the same district. In 1920, she was appointed as the first female Assistant Attorney General of the United States, an office which she resigned in 1921.