Mary Lathrop Historical Marker

Embedded in the sidewalk in front of the Republic Plaza building is this historical marker honoring Mary Lathrop (1865-1951), Denver's first female attorney. Born in Philadelphia, Lathrop worked as a successful reporter before becoming a lawyer. She achieved a number of other firsts as a female lawyer in her long career. She was the first to practice before the Colorado Supreme Court, the Colorado United States District Court, and the United States Court of Appeals; the first to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court; the first to become a member of the Colorado Bar Association; and one of the first two women to join the American Bar Association, of which she became vice president. Lathrop was a member of several leadership and law-related organizations and received many awards for her work and accomplishments.

Mary Lathrop was born on December 10, 1865 in Philadelphia. She became a reporter when she was 19 and would go on to work for the Philadelphia Press and McClure's magazine. She reported on various events and issues around the world including politics, labor disputes and strikes, the temperance movement, and anti-Chinese violence in California. She became involved with the temperance movement and joined the Women's Christian Temperance Union. Lathrop also wrote and lectured about temperance issues.

Her journalism career came to an end when she caught pneumonia and tuberculosis in 1889. She and her mother moved to Denver where she joined a number of organizations including the Women’s Home Missionary Society and the Colorado Business Women’s Club. Lathrop enrolled in the law school at the University of Denver and graduated first in her class in 1896. She passed the bar exam that year and achieved a high score that would not be surpassed until 1941. In 1897, she opened a practice in the Equitable Building in downtown Denver. A specialist in probate law, she was denied twice to practice before the U.S. District Court of Appeals due to the fact she was a woman. Many in the law profession did not respect Lathrop, referring to her as "that damn woman." Her best-known case was Clayton vs. Hallet, which established the law of charitable requests in Colorado.

As noted above, Lathrop received wide recognition for her involvement in various civic and charitable activities and organizations. In 1940 she was named "woman of the year" from the local chapter of the National Federation of Business and Professional Women. Two years later, the University of Denver awarded her an honorary doctorate. During World War II, she took a dozen soldiers at a time out to dinner at the Cosmopolitan Hotel and then expanded the number to 100 soldiers for Thanksgiving and Christmas. By the end of the war she had taken out 14,000 soldiers to dinner. In recognition of her generosity, the Veterans of Foreign Wars awarded her the Distinguished Citizenship Medal in 1947. The University of Denver later presented her with the Founder’s Day Medal and Evans Award in 1951.

Lathrop died suddenly of a heart attack in Denver on October 18, 1951 at the age of 85. Until then she had never stopped working and did so 8 hours a day, six days a week. She was buried in North Cedar Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia. She willed most of her estate to the University of Denver to establish a student loan fund. In 1987, Lanthrop was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame. The Colorado Women's Bar Association created the Mary Lanthrop Award in 1991.

"A Colorado Panorama: Mary Lathrop and James Beckwourth." Your Hub. February 25, 2020. https://yourhub.denverpost.com/blog/2020/02/a-colorado-panorama-mary-lathrop-and-james-beckwourth/258608.

"The Legacy of Mary Lanthrop." Colorado Women's Bar Association. Accessed August 24, 2023. https://www.cwba.org/resources/Documents/CWBA%20Mary%20Lathrop%20Award%20Background%20and%20Past%20Winners.pdf.

"Mary Lanthrop Papers." Colorado Women's Hall of Fame. Accessed August 24, 2023. https://www.cogreatwomen.org/project/mary-florence-lathrop.

"Mary Florence Lanthrop Papers." Denver Public Library. Accessed August 24, 2023. https://archives.denverlibrary.org/repositories/3/resources/477.