Celebrating Gertrude Rush: Iowa’s first female African American lawyer

By Kayla James

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    DES MOINES, Iowa (KCCI) — In 1918, Gertrude Rush became the first African American woman licensed to practice law in Iowa.

“She was a giving person, but she was a warrior too,” Attorney Vicky Long Hill said. “There was racial unrest here in the city and in Iowa during that time… She not only was an attorney, she was a civil rights activist and she assisted women with women’s issues.”

For many female attorneys, Rush became a source of hope.

“I was inspired, yes, by Gertrude Rush. When I learned I said, ‘She did it, in 1918… I can too,'” Long Hill said.

But Rush’s story doesn’t end in 1918. In 1925, Rush, along with other African American attorneys, formed the National Bar Association in Des Moines.

“It was founded because the African American attorneys were denied admission to the American Bar Association,” Long Hill said.

Nearly a century later, The National Bar Association, an association of predominately African American judges, lawyers, law professors and students, continues to empower thousands nationwide in the law field.

A monument to the founders of the National Bar Association stands tall in downtown Des Moines. The monument features two African drums that are intentionally off balance.

“That represents the legal system. It is never balanced,” Long Hill said.

Rush’s name is etched in stone at the base of the monument to honor her legacy and the way she paved the way for those to come.

“Gertrude Rush laid the groundwork for me and so many other people,” District Associate Judge Romonda Belcher said. “She knew she was best able to make the changes and impact as an attorney.”

Belcher herself followed in Rush’s footsteps, becoming the first female African American judge in Iowa in 2010.

Belcher said that one of Rush’s best attributes is her faith.

“She always talked about treating people the way you want to be treated. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” Belcher said. “Even when people find themselves before the court, perhaps at the lowest position or place in their life. I want them to feel like they’ve had an opportunity to be heard. That they were treated fairly.”

Belcher is one of over a dozen recipients of the Gertrude Rush Award, an annual award presented by the Iowa National Bar Association and Iowa Organization of Women Attorneys.

Just like the other recipients, Gertrude Rush’s legacy is something Belcher doesn’t take lightly.

“I am just so thankful and humbled to be able to walk in her footprints… And the doors and opportunities that she opened for me and so many others who will come behind me,” Belcher said.

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