Hughes Clothing, Manchester, IA
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J.D. Phyllis Josephine HughesJ.D. Phyllis Josephine Hughes (b. 07 Mar 1912)
Phyllis Josephine Hughes (daughter of Edward Michael Hughes and Elizabeth Agnes Rowe)265 was born 07 Mar 1912 in Dalles Oregon265.
Includes NotesNotes for Phyllis Josephine Hughes:
Phyllis was one of the 1st women to graduate from the Marquette Univ. law school. Phyllis was one of the 1st 150 women lawyers in the State of Wisconsin and was honored by the Wisconsin State Bar Association on the 150th Anniversary of Wiisconsin’s becoming a state in 1998.
Bio from Wisconsin 1st 150 women lawyers:
Phyllis Josephine Hughes
1935
(b. 1917)
Phyllis J. Hughes says she was born knowing she would be an attorney. Her father dreamed of being an attorney himself, but never had enough money for law school. Phyllis describes her mother as “an activist” and businesswoman who may have cast the first vote by a woman – she was at a Casper, Wyo., polling center at 6 a.m. after the law changed, and she never missed an opportunity to vote, even voting from her deathbed. Phyllis, born in 1917, says her parents raised her to be proud of her country, and she chose to follow their advice by joining the Milwaukee Young Democrats at age 13, eventually becoming their secretary. Later she served as secretary of the state democratic party.
Phyllis attended Marquette Law School with several older students as classmates, who treated her as their younger sister; one of her classmates was Joe McCarthy. Hughes graduated in 1935 and began practicing law the day after graduation at a firm on Milwaukee’s northwest side. She worked there for about a year, while at the same time teaching a bar exam review course at Marquette. She then practiced with several other attorneys before eventually moving to the Pommerening firm, where she focused on corporate law.
Phyllis had the opportunity to secure a contract for a client in Washington, D.C., and spent six weeks there. During her stay, she received an invitation from the Curtis Wright Corp. to join their company, although they hadn’t realized she was a woman. Phyllis remembers dressing as femininely as possible, but professionally, and when she arrived at the meeting, the company representatives, all men, asked if Dr. Hughes would soon be joining them. Taken aback to discover she was Dr. Hughes, they were reluctant to consider hiring a woman for an executive position, but she refused to take the job of creating a contract termination department unless she was made an executive. It was an arduous day-long meeting that resulted in her invitation, a week later, to meet with the Board of Directors. She agreed, and remembers being the only woman “in a room full of white-haired men.” They offered her the position, and she accepted.
After three years with Curtis Wright, Phyllis had decided to return to Pommerening in Milwaukee when she was urged by a general to meet with the Star Interests Company, which was looking for someone to set up a legal department to work with banking and insurance in foreign countries. She quickly accepted that position and stayed with them for many years, living in Europe for two of those years.
About 15 years ago, Phyllis decided to represent farmers on a pro bono basis. She leaves the courtroom work to the other attorneys, but she does handle a lot of negotiation work.
Phyllis credits Alben Barkley, who served as a senator and then as U.S. Vice President under President Harry Truman, as her mentor. They met when Barkley gave an address to the Young Democrats in Milwaukee and continued to stay in touch. Phyllis based her practice on a statement Barkley once made: “A reputation of 1000 years can be lost in the actions of a solitary moment.”
Phyllis J. Hughes says, “I have encouraged every woman who has asked me” about a law career, and she believes one can “never go wrong with law school.
A Professor at the Univ of Wisconsin -Madison is working on a biography of Phyllis. ( 1998)
Phyllis also has working notes of her life & her family.
Phyllis has several plates & cups & saucers, including some paintings & hand-painted dishes from Carrie Hughes (Bert’s 1st wife).
During the 1980’s Phyllis put her law background to work helping farmers who were threatened with foreclosure.
Phyllis was ( & still is active) head of the Delaware County Iowa Democratic party. She was known for running things "her" way. In 1976 a group in the state party threatened to deny her a seat at the state convention because of the way the caucus were run in Delaware County. The Des Moines Register’s Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist, Frank Miller, did a cartoon of Phyllis showing a women with an oversized flowered hat – with donkey’s ears. Phyllis has the original -signed by the artist.
Phyllis is also a lay minister in the Catholic Church
