Interview with Judge Barbara M. Quinn
IntervieweeInterview with
Barbara M. Quinn
American
InterviewerInterviewed by
A. Susan Peck
American, born 1945
Date2016 November 3
DimensionsDuration: 8 Minutes, 54 Seconds
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineGift of the Connecticut Bar Foundation
DescriptionOral history interview with Judge Barbara M. Quinn who was interviewed by Judge A. Susan Peck on November 3, 2016 for the Connecticut Bar Foundation's History of Connecticut Women in the Legal Profession Project.
Topics Discussed:
- Early Life : Barbara M. Quinn was born in Kiel, Germany, 1944, during World War II and spent her early years near Frankfurt. Her father, a physician, became a professor at the University of Heidelberg.
- Move to the U.S. and Childhood : Barbara and her family immigrated to the U.S. in 1950 when she was six years old, following her father who came in 1949 to work at the Biomedical Research Laboratory at the submarine base in New London. Upon arrival, they spoke no English and she started first grade in Charlestown, Rhode Island.
- Family: Barbara Quinn speaks of her three brothers - a businessman, consultant manager, and a physician and researcher. After a year in Charlestown, Rhode Island, her family moved to Old Lyme, Connecticut, where she grew up.
- School: At fourteen, she returned to Germany for two years to attend a private school in Stuttgart. She graduated high school from Norwich Free Academy, where she attended her senior year to take calculus.
- College Education: Barbara attended Bryn Mawr College on a full scholarship that covered tuition, room, and board. She majored in Art History.
- Early Work Experiences: At sixteen, she worked at the First National Food store in Old Saybrook. Then, she worked as a chambermaid on Cape Cod.
- Law School: After years of raising her children, she decided to pursue law. She applied to Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia in 1974, and was accepted. She transferred to the University of Connecticut for her third year but graduated from Emory in 1977. She was involved in moot court and worked part-time for a legal research firm.
- Early Legal Practice: After being admitted to the bar in Connecticut in November 1977, Judge Quinn began working at Greenberg and Hendel in New London. The firm handled business practice for dentists and doctors, real estate, zoning, family law, small criminal cases, and collections.
- Forming Greenberg, Anders and Quinn : After three years at Greenberg and Hendel, she became a partner, and the firm became Greenberg, Anders and Quinn. She stayed with this firm for 11 years before leaving in 1988 to form a firm in New London, Quinn and Andrews. The new firm continued similar work, with Barbara focusing on family practice and general civil litigation.
- Involvement in Legal Profession Activities: She was involved in the local Bar Association, becoming President in 1983. In 1984, she was appointed an Attorney Trial Referee. She was also involved with the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee for 27 years, appointed in 1986, and became Vice Chair in 1990. She served on the policy committee for the National Conference of Bar Examiners for 14 years.
- Judge: After being appointed to the bench, Judge Quinn started in the Geographical Area Court, handling lower-level criminal matters. She then moved to the Special Docket in Middletown for child protection cases, specifically termination of parental rights, where she served for four years and tried approximately 40 cases in her first year.
- Chief Administrative Judge for Juvenile Matters: In July 2005, Judge Quinn became the Chief Administrative Judge for Juvenile Matters in the state
- Chief Court Administrator: After her role as Chief Administrative Judge for Juvenile Matters, she also served as Chief Court Administrator.
- Reflections on Judicial Career: Judge Quinn believes that the most challenging part of being a judge is writing decisions and articulating the reasons for them. Her mediation background significantly informed her role as a judge and administrator, helping her find collaborative solutions. Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Court.
Topics Discussed:
- Early Life : Barbara M. Quinn was born in Kiel, Germany, 1944, during World War II and spent her early years near Frankfurt. Her father, a physician, became a professor at the University of Heidelberg.
- Move to the U.S. and Childhood : Barbara and her family immigrated to the U.S. in 1950 when she was six years old, following her father who came in 1949 to work at the Biomedical Research Laboratory at the submarine base in New London. Upon arrival, they spoke no English and she started first grade in Charlestown, Rhode Island.
- Family: Barbara Quinn speaks of her three brothers - a businessman, consultant manager, and a physician and researcher. After a year in Charlestown, Rhode Island, her family moved to Old Lyme, Connecticut, where she grew up.
- School: At fourteen, she returned to Germany for two years to attend a private school in Stuttgart. She graduated high school from Norwich Free Academy, where she attended her senior year to take calculus.
- College Education: Barbara attended Bryn Mawr College on a full scholarship that covered tuition, room, and board. She majored in Art History.
- Early Work Experiences: At sixteen, she worked at the First National Food store in Old Saybrook. Then, she worked as a chambermaid on Cape Cod.
- Law School: After years of raising her children, she decided to pursue law. She applied to Emory University School of Law in Atlanta, Georgia in 1974, and was accepted. She transferred to the University of Connecticut for her third year but graduated from Emory in 1977. She was involved in moot court and worked part-time for a legal research firm.
- Early Legal Practice: After being admitted to the bar in Connecticut in November 1977, Judge Quinn began working at Greenberg and Hendel in New London. The firm handled business practice for dentists and doctors, real estate, zoning, family law, small criminal cases, and collections.
- Forming Greenberg, Anders and Quinn : After three years at Greenberg and Hendel, she became a partner, and the firm became Greenberg, Anders and Quinn. She stayed with this firm for 11 years before leaving in 1988 to form a firm in New London, Quinn and Andrews. The new firm continued similar work, with Barbara focusing on family practice and general civil litigation.
- Involvement in Legal Profession Activities: She was involved in the local Bar Association, becoming President in 1983. In 1984, she was appointed an Attorney Trial Referee. She was also involved with the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee for 27 years, appointed in 1986, and became Vice Chair in 1990. She served on the policy committee for the National Conference of Bar Examiners for 14 years.
- Judge: After being appointed to the bench, Judge Quinn started in the Geographical Area Court, handling lower-level criminal matters. She then moved to the Special Docket in Middletown for child protection cases, specifically termination of parental rights, where she served for four years and tried approximately 40 cases in her first year.
- Chief Administrative Judge for Juvenile Matters: In July 2005, Judge Quinn became the Chief Administrative Judge for Juvenile Matters in the state
- Chief Court Administrator: After her role as Chief Administrative Judge for Juvenile Matters, she also served as Chief Court Administrator.
- Reflections on Judicial Career: Judge Quinn believes that the most challenging part of being a judge is writing decisions and articulating the reasons for them. Her mediation background significantly informed her role as a judge and administrator, helping her find collaborative solutions. Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Court.
Object number2024.38.42a-b
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)
Subject Terms
- Women
- Lawyers
- Women lawyers
- Oral history
- Interview films
- Interview transcripts
- Interviews
- Oral narratives
- Attorneys
- Germany
- World War, 1939-1945
- Immigrants
- Physicians
- Professors
- Rhode Island
- Cape Cod Bay (Mass.)
- Law schools
- University of Connecticut
- New London (Conn.)
- Mashantucket Pequot Tribe of Connecticut
- Judges
- Family
- Education
- German Americans
- Law firms
- Juvenile courts
- Indigenous peoples
- Mashantucket Pequot Tribe of Connecticut
- Interviews and Oral Histories
- History of Connecticut Women in the Legal Profession Project
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