June Matilda Bolin

Jane Matilda Bolin was the first black woman judge in the United States.

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Bolin was born April 11, 1908, in Poughkeepsie, New York, to Gaius C. Bolin and Matilda Emery Bolin. Her father, born to a Native American mother and a black father, was the first African American graduate of Williams College. He went on to become a lawyer and practiced law in Poughkeepsie for more than 50 years. Bolin’s mother was born in England and immigrated to the United States with her parents.

Bolin was raised in a middle-class family. She attended public elementary and secondary schools. After graduating high school, she entered Wellesley College and soon was named a Wellesley scholar, one of the top 20 women in her class. She received her bachelor of arts degree, with honors, in 1928.