The charity, which published its impact report this week, was inspired by the photo of one female lawyer amongst a sea of men―Herbert Smith’s first female partner, Dorothy Livingston.
Project founder Dana Denis-Smith says she became obsessed by the photo and used it as her inspiration to rally the profession to document the history of women in law for the first time and leave a lasting legacy to inspire future generations. The charity made 76 films featuring pioneering women in the legal profession, published a book charting the journey of women in law, ran a roadshow exhibition on the history of women in law, receiving over 2.5 million visits, and had a whole programme on BBC Radio Four’s Woman’s Hour dedicated to its work. The culmination of the project saw the commission of an artwork, which is the first hanging in the Supreme Court to depict a woman.
Its archive is now being donated to the London School of Economics’ (LSE) Women’s Library for all to access for free.
Denis-Smith has since created a successor project, The Next 100 Years, to record the achievements of today’s pioneers and continue gathering data on the experiences of women working in law.
‘The First 100 Years celebrated the hard-won progress of the last 100 years and the stories of those legal pioneers that are so vital in providing a solid, positive platform for the future,’ she said.
‘That wouldn’t have been possible without the time and money given by countless organisations and individuals across the profession. This work cannot stop. 2020 has seen the pandemic threaten to reverse some of the progress made in recent years. We would like to hear from all those interested in working with us to continue to remove the barriers to women’s progress still built into the legal profession.’
To find out more or register interest, contact info@spark21.org.
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