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Headshot of Shirley Abrahamson
Justice Abrahamson teaching
Justice on Wheels
Wisconsin Historical Society dedicates reading room to Shirley Abrahamson
Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson Reading Room

Gov. Tony Evers and the Wisconsin Historical Society honor Abrahamson by renaming the library reading room as the "Wisconsin Historical Society Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson Reading Room."

Shirley Abrahamson iss the longest-serving supreme court justice
Shirley Abrahamson - longest serving justice

As the longest-serving Wisconsin Supreme Court justice, Shirley Abrahamson breaks Justice Orsamus Cole’s record of 36 years and 7 months.

Shirley Abrahamson wins fourth term in a landslide
2009 Campaign Ad

Abrahamson wins a fourth 10-year term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, defeating her challenger, Circuit Court Judge Randy Koschnick, in a landslide with 59% of the vote.

Women hold a majority of seats on the supreme court
The WI Supreme Court in 2007

With the election of Annette Ziegler, women for the first time hold a majority of the seats on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Peg Lautenschlager becomes first female attorney general
Peg Lautenschlager being sworn in

Lautenschlager becomes the first female attorney general in Wisconsin history. State Bar of Wisconsin President Patricia Ballman says: “I think it shows us times have changed. It’s not just window dressing anymore. There really are more equal opportunities."

Shirley Abrahamson wins third term in a landslide
Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson in her office

Abrahamson wins a third 10-year term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, defeating challenger Sharren Rose by a landslide, carrying all 72 counties with 63.5% of the vote.

Shirley Abrahamson becomes Wisconsin’s first woman chief justice
Shirley Abrahamson being sworn in as Chief Justice in 1996

Abrahamson becomes the first woman chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.  At the time, there are only six other female chief justices of state courts of last resort in the United States

Shirley Abrahamson wins second term on the supreme court
Justice Abrahamson at the time of her 1989 reelection

Abrahamson is reelected to a second 10-year term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She soundly defeats her challenger, court of appeals judge Ralph Adam Fine, by winning 55% of the vote

Shirley Abrahamson is the first woman elected to a full term on the supreme court
Justice Shirley Abrahamson

Abrahamson becomes the first woman in Wisconsin’s 131-year history to be elected to a full 10-year term on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She defeats challenger Howard Boyle by a landslide, carrying 66% of the vote.

Martha Bablitch is elected the first woman judge on the new court of appeals
Martha Bablitch

Bablitch is elected the first woman judge on the newly-created Wisconsin Court of Appeals. She is the top vote-getter in the primary election, and the youngest candidate. She handily defeats her opponent, family court commissioner William Giese.

Shirley Abrahamson becomes the first woman justice on the supreme court
The WI Supreme Court in 1976

Gov. Patrick Lucey appoints Abrahamson the first woman justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. She is the only woman judge in Wisconsin at that time.  At her investiture, her law partner wonders if by 2076 a majority or even all the justices could be women.