Catherine Murdock Dewey, one of the first female lawyers in Boston, is celebrating her 100th birthday.  She will be honored by the New England School of Law, in Boston, where retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman on the Supreme Court, will be present the keynote address.

Dewey and two of her female law school "chums" opened their own firm, Curry, Mowler and Murdock, in 1933.  They wanted to try cases instead of being relegated to legal secretary or "confidential" law firm positions. 

In fact, when Dewey passed the written bar exam and proceeded before the all-male board for her oral exam, the questioner told her: "Women belong in the kitchen, not in the bar."  They failed her the first year, but when she returned the following year, she passed.

Dewey is a true pioneer for women in the legal provision.