Since the first class of women graduated from Harvard Law School in 1953, women have made their mark, transforming campus and student life in ways that go far beyond the expectations of those who first allowed females to matriculate at the school. As enrollment of women has grown from 2.5% in the first class to 54% in the current class, female students have had a significant impact on the classroom, in student organizations, in the legal profession, public life, and the world beyond Harvard Law School.

Individual women have paved the way for change. Becoming the first female president of the Harvard Law Review, founding student organizations, winning “Best Oralist ” in the Ames Moot Court competition, and returning to campus as professors, politicians, law partners, jurists and corporate leaders.

This gallery provides a brief look at moments and milestones for HLS women over the past 70 years.

  • A painting of 14 women in front of a building
  • Nine women standing in two lines in a library greeting meeting with a gentleman
  • a headshot of a woman
  • One women in a long line of men during registration in the a library.
  • a black and white headshot of a woman
  • Male students in suit and tie and one woman in the hallway outside a classroom

Want to stay up to date with Harvard Law Today? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Sign up for the Harvard Law Today newsletter