Dorothy Kenyon

Who was Dorothy Kenyon?

Dorothy Kenyon was a New York lawyer, judge, feminist and political activist in support of civil liberties. During the era of McCarthyite persecution, she was accused of being affiliated with 28 communist front organizations. Kenyon was a charismatic speaker, and she regularly travelled around the U.S. lecturing about civil liberties, the law, and women's equality.

Kenyon was born in New York City to Maria Wellington and William Houston Kenyon, a patent lawyer. She grew up on the Upper West Side, with a family summer home in Lakeville, Connecticut. She graduated from Horace Mann School in 1904 and attended Smith College, studying economics and history. At Smith, she also participated in hockey, tennis, and was a Phi Beta Kappa, graduating in 1908. After graduation, she spent a year in Mexico and observed poverty and injustice at a close range. After this experience, she decided to focus on social activism. She graduated from New York University School of Law in 1917 and in her first job served as a research specialist in the group of lawyers advising delegates to the Versailles Peace Conference.