History
Zeta Phi Beta’s 8th Grand Basileus Was The First Black Woman to Practice Law Before The U.S. Supreme Court
Did you know that the first African American woman to practice law before the United States Supreme Court was a member of Zeta Phi Beta? Her name was Violette Neatley Anderson, and she served as the sorority’s 8th Grand Basileus.
Anderson was born on July 16, 1882, in London, England and her family moved to Chicago while she was a small child, and she graduated from North Division High School in 1899 before continuing her studies at the Chicago Athenaeum and the Chicago Seminar of Sciences. She worked as a court reporter from 1905 to 1920, an experience that sparked her interest in the law, and went on to earn her law degree from Chicago Law School in 1920, becoming the first African American woman to graduate from a law school in Illinois.
Anderson’s career was a series of firsts. After opening her own practice, she became the first female City Prosecutor for Chicago, serving from 1922 to 1923, and rose to vice president of the Cook County Bar Association. Then, on January 29, 1926, she made history as the first African American woman admitted to practice law before the United States Supreme Court, admitted to the high court’s bar under Chief Justice William Howard Taft.
Beyond the courtroom, Anderson was a force for justice and community. She was one of the most prominent advocates for the Bankhead-Jones Act, landmark legislation that helped Southern sharecroppers secure rights and economic mobility. She also worked with the League of Women Voters, served as president of the Friendly Big Sisters League of Chicago, and sat on the executive board of the Chicago Council of Social Agencies.
Anderson gave that same dedication to Zeta Phi Beta. As the sorority’s 8th Grand Basileus from 1933 to 1937, she was deeply respected, and she donated her summer home in Idlewild, Michigan, to the organization. Each April, Zeta Phi Beta still honors her legacy on Violette Anderson Day.
Anderson passed on December 24, 1937, in Chicago. Her trailblazing life remains a lasting chapter in the story of Black achievement, the legal profession, and the women of Zeta Phi Beta.
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