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Interview with Joanne S. Faulkner

IntervieweeInterview with Joanne S. Faulkner American, born 1938

InterviewerInterviewed by Beverly J. Hodgson American

Date2005 August 2

DimensionsDuration: 1 Hour, 22 Minutes

ClassificationsGraphics

Credit LineGift of the Connecticut Bar Foundation

DescriptionOral history interview with Joanne S. Faulkner who was interviewed by Beverly J. Hodgson on August 2, 2005 for the Connecticut Bar Foundation's History of Connecticut Women in the Legal Profession Project.

Topics Discussed:

- Early Life: Joanne Faulkner was born in 1938 and grew up primarily in Ithaca, New York. She graduated from public high school in Ithaca in 1956 at the top of her class.

- College: She attended Nazareth College, a women's college in Rochester, New York, from 1956 to 1960.

- Ambition to Become a Lawyer : Someone suggested law to Faulkner due to her enjoyment of debate and argument.

- Law School: She chose Cornell Law School in 1960. The Dean of Admissions noted that her high law boards (LSATS) were the only reason she was accepted. She was on the Law Journal as the notes editor and participated in student government as secretary.

- Early Job: During college and law school, she worked for Ithaca Savings Bank.

- First Legal Job and Move to New York City : Faulkner secured a summer job at Reavis and McGrath, a New York City law firm, through the dean of Cornell Law School. She worked there the year before her last year of law school. Although there were no women in the firm, she was offered a permanent position upon graduation due to her capability, top academic standing, and good work.

- Bar Exam: She passed the New York Bar Exam in 1963 and the Connecticut Bar Exam in 1967. She stayed in New York until 1966, got married in 1965, and then moved to New Haven, Connecticut.

- New Haven Legal Assistance: She began working for New Haven Legal Assistance Association. She focused on consumer law, handling cases like landlord-tenant defense and repossessions. She was involved in civil rights litigation in the United States Supreme Court between 1968 and 1974.

- Notable Cases: Simmons v. West Haven Housing Authority (1970); Boddie v. Connecticut (1971); and Kokoszka v. Belford (1974).

- Private Practice Cases: Faulkner left Legal Aid in 1985 and went into private practice. Connecticut v. Doehr (1991); Heintz v. Jenkins (1995).

Object number2024.38.26a-h

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)