Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 5, Number 10, 1 ʻOkakopa 1988 — Lives of Early Women Lawyers of Hawaii Focus of Planned Book [ARTICLE]

Lives of Early Women Lawyers of Hawaii Focus of Planned Book

A group of writers sponsored by the Hawai'i Women Lawyers, the Foundation for Women's History and the University of Hawai'i Biographical Research Center, are writing a book about the lives of early women lawyers of Hawai'i.

In this regard, the William S. Richardson School of Law and the project's editor and coordinator, Mari Matsuda and Esther Arinaga, respectively, are seeking the public's help in providing memorabilia, photographs and anecdotes about these early women lawyers. Letters, court documents and ephemera, as well as ordinary stories, are welcomed by the writers preparing a book of biographies of these preStatehood women lawyers: Marguerite Ashford, Rose August, Harriet Bouslog, Carrick Buck, Sau Ung Loo Chan, Jean Vaughn Gilbert, Betty Barrett Gillette, Alana Wong Lau, Rhoda Lewis, Ruth Loomis, Marybeth

Yuen Maul, Patsy Takemoto Mink, Aimeda Hitchcock Moore, Lily Miyamoto Okamoto, Mary Helen Stevens Pitts, Margaret Scott Tekli and Betty Vitousek. Anyone who knew the less famous women on this list is urged to contact Matsuda at 948-6553 or Arinaga at 531-4171. They may also be reached at the William S. Richardson School of Law, 2515 Dole St., Honolulu, Hawai'i 96822.

"Like many women, the lives of some of our subjects have become obscure. In a big-small town like Honolulu, however, we believe there must be someone, somewhere who knows something about our subjects," Matsuda declared. "There may even be, lying in a box in someone's closet, letters and photos never before shared with a historian. Your help may lead to newsworthy moments of discovery," she concludes.