Shirley Abrahamson

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Shirley Abrahamson

The Chief Justice Shirley S. The committee promotes the causes that she championed through a variety of projects.

Abrahamson Legacy Committee encourages the public and scholars to explore Chief Justice Abrahamson’s life and her contributions to history. Abrahamson Legacy Committee's projects include:

-Dedicating the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Library Reading Room to Chief Justice Abrahamson.

-Funding an annual Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson award for Wisconsin law students committed to social justi

ce, an independent judiciary, and equal rights for all.

-Presenting a traveling exhibit for students and the general public to learn about the most influential justice in Wisconsin history and to be inspired to work in public service.

-Maintaining a website to facilitate sustained study of Chief Justice Abrahamson’s life and work and to communicate with the public about the committee’s events and projects.

-Developing Chief Justice Abrahamson’s “Tootsie the Goldfish” lesson plan into an interactive learning tool to help students understand how courts decide cases.

03/12/2026

The case State v. Strickland in 1965 marked the first time that two women had opposed each other in oral argument before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Shirley Abrahamson and Assistant Attorney General Betty Brown faced off in the case.

03/09/2026

Justice Abrahamson traveled the world and frequently spent her summer vacation teaching about judicial independence and courtroom procedure, or meeting with judges and lawyers in countries such as China, Mongolia, Bulgaria, Egypt, India, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Russia.

(Picture shows Justice Abrahamson on a trip to Japan)

03/06/2026

Shirley Abrahamson graduated as the valedictorian of her law school class in 1956.

As she described it, "Normally, the big law firms would all just offer the top person in the class a job. No one offered me a job."

The dean suggested that if she wanted to stay in Indiana she could be a law librarian instead of a lawyer, but she said "that was not my idea of what I wanted to do."

03/05/2026

Shirley Abrahamson attended Indiana University Law School in the 1950s, where she was chosen to serve as articles and book review editor of the Indiana Law Journal. All of the other editors were men.

Speaking of that time period in her life she said that despite being the only woman, "I became very friendly with everybody who was on the Law Review as I was. Many of the men had just come back from the Korean War. Many of them were married – not all. Several of them lived in the same apartment unit that I lived in. [T]he study group were all men and I was very welcome and we shared the work load and it was very successful."

03/04/2026

Shirley Abrahamson may have been the first woman justice on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, but 40 years earlier, Verle E. Sells became the first woman judge in the state of Wisconsin when Governor Phil La Follette appointed her to the Florence County municipal court.

At the time of her death in 1940, Judge Sells was still the only woman serving as a judge in Wisconsin.

Learn more about the women who shaped Wisconsin's legal system by exploring the timeline on our website: https://www.shirleyabrahamson.org/timeline-place-in-history/

03/03/2026

Shirley Abrahamson said that Lavinia Goodell "resides in the pantheon of Wisconsin heroes." This Women's History Month, learn more about Wisconsin's first woman lawyer in this great exhibit and by reading about her life at https://www.laviniagoodell.com/

02/20/2026

in 1999, the Wisconsin State Journal ran an article called "Abrahamson Says stick to important issues".

In it, Chief Justice Abrahamson said:
“I hope this election is not going to be about aerobics. I have been introduced across the state as Shirley ‘The Body’ Abrahamson.”

02/11/2026

Shirley Abrahamson's first case after becoming a lawyer was the 1963 case Ziegler v. Wonn, which she argued before the Wisconsin Supreme Court after replacing Bronson LaFollette on the legal team.

Gordon Sinykin sat second chair and as Abrahamson told the story, when they walked up to the door of the courtroom he told her: "Well, you wanted to be a lawyer. Go to it." which had the effect of making her furious instead of nervous.

Afterwards, Abrahamson said she couldn't remember a word she had said, but she won the case.

01/13/2026

In January of 2000, Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson was declared the 1999 Newsmaker of the Year by the Wisconsin Newspaper Association. The announcement says:

"Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson has served on the Wisconsin Supreme Court since Governor Patrick Lucey appointed her in 1976. She was then the only woman to serve on the court.

Abrahamson won her first election to the Court in 1979 and won re-election in 1989 and held on to both her seat and her integrity through a difficult campaign in 1999.

Since Aug. 1, 1996, she has been Chief Justice and, in that capacity, serves as the administrative leader of the Wisconsin Court System.

In choosing to honor the Chief Justice, electors cited her intellectual prowess, willingness to do her homework, and status as a scholar of international acclaim.

Electors called her a 'classy lady and outstanding jurist' who has made -- and continues to make -- a significant contribution to the state."

12/17/2025

92 years ago today, Shirley Schlanger Abrahamson was born in the Bronx to Leo Schlanger and Ceil Sauerteig, both Jewish immigrants from Poland. Shirley was born shortly after her mother arrived in the U.S., and her family often joked that the timing meant that Shirley could one day be president.

Follow us here and on Instagram to learn more about Abrahamson's extraordinary life, leading up to the 50th anniversary of her appointment as the first woman on the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

12/16/2025

Next year marks the 50th anniversary of Shirley Abrahamson's historic appointment to the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Between now and September, we will be sharing images and stories from Abrahamson's remarkable life to honor her legacy.

Follow along on here and on our Instagram to learn more.

05/24/2025

in 1988, the Kenosha News reported on a speech Justice Abrahamson gave in which she said:
“The people must govern this country; wisdom from the bench, wisdom from public officials is not a substitute for the common sense and moral commitment of a concerned citizenry.”

Address

Madison, WI

Website

https://www.shirleyabrahamson.org/

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