Remembering Barbara Allen Babcock ’63 LL.B.

Barbara Allen Babcock ’63 LL.B., the first woman member of the Stanford University Law School faculty, died April 18, 2020 at the age of 81.

Babcock clerked for Judge Henry Edgerton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit after law school and practiced at Williams & Connolly. In 1966, she joined a pilot project in Washington D.C. established to deliver legal services to the poor, and in 1968, she became the first director of D.C.’s new Public Defender Service.

While running the Public Defender Service, Babcock was invited to design and teach a new class at Georgetown Law called Women and the Law — one of the first legal courses focused on women’s issues in the country, according to the Stanford Lawyer.

She joined the Stanford Law School in 1972, and was honored by the Stanford Law graduating class four times with the John Bingham Hurlbut Award for Excellence in Teaching. Her 2011 book Woman Lawyer: The Trials of Clara Foltz examined the life of Clara Foltz, leader of the women’s movement, legal reformer, and inventor of the role of public defender.

WATCH: An interview with Barbara Allen Babcock on her life and career (C-SPAN)

Read more about the life and legacy of Barbara Allen Babcock ’63 LL.B. at the Stanford Lawyer.