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The month of March has signified Women’s History Month since 1987, so we wanted to take a moment and celebrate impactful local females. To kick off Women’s History Month, we’re highlighting a few women within our community who have made history.
Female trail-blazers are no uncommon thing in our county, especially in the field of law. Let’s take a look at four women in Georgia & Cobb County’s history that helped pave the way for females in the legal field:
Betty Reynolds Cobb
Betty Reynolds Cobb was born in Cedartown in 1884. She graduated from Agnes Scott College and was an author, activist, and attorney. After graduation from law school, Cobb applied for but was denied admission to the Georgia Bar. Weeks later after filing an appeal, the Georgia legislature overturned a bill that would have made women eligible for membership in the bar. After many obstacles and years of waiting, in 1916 Georgia joined the ranks of the other forty-five states that had already begun admitting women to the bar. Immediately, Mary Johnson and Betty Reynolds Cobb gained access and admittance to the Georgia Bar. While Betty did not work in Cobb County, she helped pave the way for other women throughout Georgia.
Dorothy Robinson
Dorothy Robinson was born in October of 1937 in Queens, New York. She graduated from St. Johns University where she studied business. Later, she attended law school at St. Louis University, which is where she met her husband. In the 1960’s they moved to Georgia after her husband was transferred south. In 1980 Robinson ran against Superior Court Chief Judge Howell Ravan, and defeated him by more than 60 percent of the vote. Five years later, Robinson became the first woman in Georgia’s 140-year history to be asked to sit on the bench as a judge. She wasn’t afraid to take on authority and was one of the first to require DUI convictions to attend alcohol counseling courses. She retired from the bench in December of 2012. Read more about Dorothy Robinson through the Marietta Daily Journal.
Adele Grubbs
Grubbs was born in the East End of London on December 4, 1944. She attended Manchester University Law School on a full scholarship and graduated with honors. Looking back in an interview in the Marietta Daily Journal Grubbs Recalled, “I was 22 years old when I came here in 1967, and I didn’t have a clue what was going to happen to me. I have a degree, but I never expected my career to turn out the way it did.” Grubbs had many highlights within her legal and judicial career, including becoming Cobb County’s first drug prosecutor and assistant district attorney in 1977. She was later appointed to Juvenile Court in 1995 and then elected to the Cobb Superior Court in 2000.
Joyette Holmes
Holmes received two B.A. degrees from the University of Georgia in Psychology and Criminal Justice. After law school she worked as a public defender in the state of Maryland. She moved back to Cobb County, in 2015 served as a prosecutor and was appointed to the Cobb Magistrate Court. Holmes was the first woman to serve as Magistrate Judge in Cobb County. She resigned on July 1, 2019 when she was sworn in as District Attorney – the first female District Attorney for Cobb County. She served until 2021 and now serves as a prosecutor in Cobb County.
The Jones & Swanson family is made up vastly of women – so we’re happy to recognize and share notable women who’ve made our home what it is today. These women have been working to make Cobb County and the state of Georgia better for decades, and we’re grateful for their contributions.
If you want to learn more about Women’s History Month, visit History.com.
