While there is no single hero of the Minnesota women’s movement, Rosalie Wahl, the first woman on the Minnesota Supreme Court, changed the way her fellow judges saw the cases they decided. A champion of both women’s rights and civil rights, she brought new attention to the problems that faced women impoverished by divorce, women abused by their partners, and others who coped with poverty and discrimination. With sharp intelligence and hard work, Wahl herself had overcome childhood tragedy and a difficult marriage to become a defense attorney, a respected judge, and a mentor to many.
