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Interview with Catherine Roraback

IntervieweeInterview with Catherine Roraback American, 1920 - 2007

InterviewerInterviewed by Bruce M. Stave American, 1937 - 2017

Date1999 July 29

DimensionsDuration (d): 1 Hour, 56 Minutes, 16 Seconds
Duration (e): 1 Hour, 59 Minutes, 3 Seconds

ClassificationsGraphics

Credit LineGift of the Connecticut Bar Foundation

DescriptionOral history interview with Catherine Roraback who was interviewed by Bruce M. Stave on July 29, 1999 for the Connecticut Bar Foundation's History of Connecticut Women in the Legal Profession Project.

Topics Discussed:

- Early Life and Family: Catherine Roraback was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1920. Her father was a Congregational minister, and her mother was a native Brooklynite from an old Dutch family. They lived in Flatbush.

- Great Depression.

- Berkeley Institute: a private girls' high school, graduating in 1937.

- Mt. Holyoke College.

- Religion: Her childhood was influenced by her father's ministry, leading to a cynical view of formal religion due to the contrast between preaching and parishioners' daily actions.

- Law Practice: Her family had a strong legal tradition. Her grandfather opened a law office in 1873. His brother, J. Henry Roraback, known as "Boss" Roraback, also practiced law there. Her uncle, Clint Roraback, a County Public Defender, was a significant influence on her, continuing the family law practice and serving as a second set of parents.

- College Education: Mt. Holyoke College (1937-1941), she majored in economics.

- Student Industrial Club.

- Hudson Shore Labor School (successor to the Bryn Mawr Summer School from the early 1930s), which trained women workers to be union leaders.

- Political Engagement: She was involved in a "peace caravan" in the summer of 1939 and winter of 1939-1940, coinciding with the invasion of Poland (September 1939) and the lowlands (Spring 1940). She supported Roosevelt in 1940 and was involved in a torchlight parade for him.

- Career: She worked for the Department of Agriculture, initially in the Division of Program Surveys, and later for the Treasury Department. She then worked for the War Labor Board in Detroit.

- Legal Cases: Poe v. Ullman (1961), Griswold v. Connecticut (1965), Erika Huggins Black Panther trial (1971), Peter Reilly murder trial (1974).

- WWII: She decided to go to law school after the war ended.

- Law School: Entered law school in October 1947. Her class included approximately 30 women out of 450 students.

- Diversity: She describes a diverse student body, including liberal and conservative students.

Object number2024.38.1a-e

NotesProject Overview: At the turn of the 20th century, other than Mary Hall, women lawyers were virtually unknown in Connecticut. By contrast, at the turn of the 21st century, law schools were enrolling roughly the same number of women as men. Since their earliest time at the bar, women have become leaders in all areas of the profession at a pace out of all proportion to their brief history and number.

In 1999, the Fellows of the Connecticut Bar Foundation initiated the Oral History of Connecticut Women in the Legal Profession Project. Within the framework of this dynamic project, the Fellows have been creating a permanent video, audio, and photographic historical record of milestone achievements of women as they have become more visible and achieved prominence in the field of law. In 2019, a leadership donation of $20,000 from the law firm of Carmody Torrance Sandak & Hennessey enabled the project to significantly broaden its scope and plan for the future.

Through its first two phases, the project worked with award-winning documentarian Karyl Evans and attorney/photographer Isabel Chenoweth to produce fifty-eight oral history interviews with outstanding female attorneys and 118 portraits of women in the Connecticut judiciary.

The oral history interviews have collected the stories of women whose ingenuity, perseverance, and intelligence dismantled barriers that historically prevented women from pursuing careers in the law. Connecticut has benefited from the efforts of these “pioneers” as they enriched the legal profession by joining the ranks of their male peers and paved the way for more women to join the profession. (Source: Connecticut Bar Foundation)