Shirley Adele Field
Shirley A. Field | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Oregon House of Representatives | |
| In office 1956-1960 1962-1966 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 27, 1923 Fort Wayne, Indiana |
| Died | May 11, 1995 (aged 72) Portland, Oregon |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan Yale Law School |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
Shirley A. Field (1923 – 1995) was an Oregon legislator and judge.
Republican party activist[edit]
Field was active in the Republican party and, within six years of her arrival in Oregon, was selected as an alternate delegate to the 1952 Republican National Convention.[1] By the time of the 1960 Republican National Convention she had become a member of the executive committee of the Committee on Resolutions (platform committee) and served as the chair of its subcommittee on human affairs.[2] That year she was the first woman subcommittee chair to be a delegate-at-large at a Republican national convention.[3] Field gained brief national notoriety when she confronted presidential candidate Barry Goldwater over right to work laws at the 1964 Republican National Convention.[4]
Politician[edit]
Field served as a Republican legislator in the Oregon House of Representatives from 1956–1960 and 1962-1966.[5] Betty Roberts, a Democrat legislator who served with Field, described Field as "a good debater and she’s very blunt, forthright, and takes on any opposition, man or woman, very seriously."[6] However, Field left differences behind when she was not in the political arena.[7]
Field unsuccessfully ran for state treasurer in 1966.[8]
Judge[edit]
Field sat as a Multnomah County District Court judge from 1972 - 1978.[5] Field, outraged that women were being prosecuted for engaging in prostitution when their male clients weren't, refused to convict women charged with the crime. Her advocacy led to a 1973 Oregon law that provided for equal legal treatment of prostitutes and their clients.[9] The Oregon Supreme Court removed Field from the bench as the result of behavior that was later found to be caused by a massive brain tumor.[5] She then ran unsuccessfully to reclaim the seat; and, after the diagnosis and treatment for her tumor, ran unsuccessfully for the state supreme court.[3]
Personal[edit]
Field, a native of Fort Wayne, Indiana, attended Stephens College and was an alumna of the University of Michigan and of Yale Law School.[3] She practiced law in New York for a year before moving in 1946 to Portland, Oregon, where she lived until her death.[3][5]
Notes[edit]
- ^ The Political Graveyard
- ^ Women in Public Service, page 9 (published by the Republican National Committee)
- ^ a b c d "Shirley Field, ex-Oregon House member, dies", The Oregonian, May 16, 1995
- ^ GOLDWATER SEES A TREND TO RIGHT, New York Times, July 15, 1964
- ^ a b c d House Memorial 2 Archived 2011-06-11 at the Wayback Machine, 68th Oregon Legislative Assembly (1995 Regular Session)
- ^ Oral History of Betty Roberts, page 53
- ^ "We would have our little fights on the floor and then we would go out to dinner together..." Oral History of Betty Roberts, page 53
- ^ Oral History of Betty Roberts, page 56 & page 93
- ^ Oral History of Betty Roberts, pages 90 & 91
Further reading[edit]
- Correspondence between Field and newspaperman Robert B. Frazier, University of Oregon Libraries Special Collections & University Archives
- 1923 births
- Politicians from Fort Wayne, Indiana
- Stephens College alumni
- University of Michigan alumni
- Yale Law School alumni
- Republican Party members of the Oregon House of Representatives
- Oregon state court judges
- 1995 deaths
- Women state legislators in Oregon
- Politicians from Portland, Oregon
- 20th-century American judges
- 20th-century American women politicians
- 20th-century American legislators
- 20th-century American women judges