First 100 Years is a project launched by Obelisk Legal Support Solutions, in partnership with The Law Society and the Bar Council. It is a five-year project which seeks to discover and commemorate the stories of pioneering and inspiring women in the legal profession. The project was launched in 2014 and will run to 2019, culminating with the 100-year anniversary of the Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919. The official launch took place at the House of Lords in March 2015.
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Background
Dana Denis-Smith, CEO and co-founder of Obelisk Legal Support Solutions, cites a particular photograph as the inspiration behind the project, depicting a lone woman partner in a top law firm. The project was launched in 2014, on International Women’s Day and was launched on 12 March 2015 at House of Lords.
About
Running until 2019, the project will commission 100 interviews with past and present leading women in the legal profession. It will also gather statements and create biographies which depict the journey of women in the law since 1919, with the aim of creating the first digital museum dedicated to the history of women in law. The project aims to create a positive account of the history of women in law, in contrast to the ‘negative narrative of the diversity debate’, and to ‘celebrate the past and change the future of the profession’.