102 Iowa L. Rev. 1983 (2017)

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Abstract

In 1898, recent law graduate Lutie A. Lytle—a black woman born to formerly enslaved parents—accepted a position as instructor of law at a law school in Tennessee. In doing so, she became the first black woman law professor in the world. Over the following four decades, despite suffering persistent racial and gender discrimination, Lytle committed her life and work to, in her words, “mak[ing] a sincere and earnest effort to improve [black Americans'] condition as citizens.” This Article details Lytle's life as an advocate, activist, and attorney, and argues that her work places her squarely within the ranks of the black feminist intelligentsia that emerged in the late nineteenth century. In addition, the Article highlights Lytle's disappearance from public life (and the public record) in the early 1940s, and suggests that her pioneering career warrants additional research into her final years.