"Bobbed-Haired Portia Takes the Bench":
Judge Georgia Bullock
and her Campaign for the Los Angeles Superior Court

By Cara Robertson, 3L Women's Legal History Prof. Barbara Babcock May 13, 1997

Table of Contents

Georgia Bullock's Professional Highlights

Introduction

Georgia Bullock, The Candidate

Georgia Bullock's Network

Georgia Bullock, The Judge

Judging Georgia Bullock

Sketch For Future Research on Judge Georgia Bullock

Example of Campain Pledge Card For 1928 Election

Georgia Bullock's Professional Highlights    

While from one angle this is a personal fight, I consider the more important part is that my failure or success will have its direct effect upon women generally, and I feel that any woman making a fight of the kind I am making, must necessarily make great sacrifice, and I am, I hope, making those sacrifices not only for my own selfish benefit, but for the cause of women generally.
Georgia Bullock, Letter to Caroline Kellogg, June 14, 1928

When Georgia Bullock walked into the courtroom of Department 5 in 1922, "for the first time in Los Angeles in Superior Court, and the first time in California," the bailiff announced, "Her Honor the Judge -- Hats off."¹ Like those of other women lawyers of her generation, her life had been one of "firsts." So it was hardly surprising to her circle of friends and colleagues that, as the first woman member of the Los Angeles Bar Association, she would also break this particular barrier. That she did not achieve her position alone was one of the more striking aspects of her noteworthy career. Unlike the earliest women lawyers who often relied upon a single male mentor, relative, or their keen wits alone, Bullock benefited from the legacy of a previous generation of women lawyers like Clara Shortridge Foltz and the enthusiastic support of male and female colleagues of her own generation.

Bullock belonged to a transitional generation. Women were still few and far between in the legal profession generally, but Bullock's classmates included women who would form the bulwark of a professional network of women lawyers. In 1912, Bullock and several of her fellow women students founded Phi Delta Delta, the USC Women's Association, which spawned chapters throughout the country.² At USC alone, the membership roster read like a Who's Who of prominent local women lawyers and even a prediction of future prominence as in the case of Mable Walker Willibrant, later assistant Attorney General, and Bullock herself. In 1915, the year after Bullock graduated, USC boasted forty one female students, second only to New York University. By the late twenties, nearly one hundred women had received their law degrees from USC.

Moreover, that Bullock--unlike Clara Shortridge Foltz or Laura DeForce Gordon--was able to attend a regular law school meant that she worked alongside men from the beginning of her studies. This, too, dramatically marked her experience and contributed to her later professional opportunities. She shared memories of her halcyon school days with men who became leaders of the Los Angeles Bar and, in at least one instance, a California Supreme Court Justice--associations that served her well as she too sought advancement in the profession.³ Other men offered tangible support along the way. John Preston, U.S. Attorney and later California Supreme Court Justice, who also promoted the career of Annette Abbott Adams, the first woman Assistant Attorney General, helped plot her appointment to the Superior Court Bench in 1931.⁴ As a reporter noted during Bullock's 1928 campaign for Superior Court, "Men and women have, apparently, identical ideas on her ability and suitability for the position she seeks. They favor her."⁵

But despite the important support of individual men like Preston, Bullock relied largely on formal and informal associations of women lawyers to boost her career. She learned the importance of such groups early and did not forget that lesson. With a group of USC women, Mable Walker Willibrant, May Lahey, Lita Hibben Campbell, and Orfa Jean Shontz, Bullock formed the Women Lawyer's Club of Los Angeles in 1918. The stated purpose of the organization was to help other women entering the profession; Bullock and her colleagues firmly believed in sending the elevator back down. And, as we shall see, her associations with such groups provided crucial financial and organizational support during her campaigns for the bench. In particular, Bullock's unsuccessful 1928 campaign for a seat on the Los Angeles Superior Court provides a glimpse of Bullock's own drive and the corresponding commitment of other women to see one of their own achieve this position.

Early Career

Bullock began her career on the "woman's track" through the criminal justice system, eventually achieving enough prominence to be thought of for higher positions. During and just after law school, she worked as a volunteer Juvenile Probation Officer in Los Angeles County. After graduating from USC Law School in 1914, Bullock became a referee for women's cases before the Police Court in 1915, a position she held for approximately two years. A short stint as Deputy District Attorney followed. Then Bullock was catapulted to prominence by her temporary elevation to the Superior Court, prompting the headline "Bobbed Haired Portia Takes the Bench." Bullock's appointment as a fully-fledged police judge for the special woman's court similarly made headlines.⁶ By the time she was named Municipal Judge in 1926, she was a familiar figure in the papers.⁷

Despite the number of women in legal circles and their increasing acceptance within the profession, a woman judge still made waves. Shortly after her elevation to the bench, Bullock began to receive death threats. Over the course of six weeks in 1927, mysterious night prowlers disturbed her at home and strangers in a large automobile followed her during the day. The newspapers reported that she had received a threatening, albeit semi-illiterate letter from "Black Hand Boston" which read: "Georgie: Leave state at once your life will go and will get this: [sketch of black hand] you cannot escape." That was Black Hand Boston's final appearance in Bullock's story, for he soon lost interest in his campaign of menace, but not before transforming his target into even more of a public heroine.

Georgia Bullock, The Candidate

Bullock's prominence made her a good choice to run for a Superior Court judgeship, a position to which a woman had never been elected. In her capacity as Judge Pro Tem in 1922, she had, after all, already proven she could do the job and she had a stellar record on the Municipal and Police Courts to further recommend her to the voters. But by far the most auspicious sign was Bullock's appointment to sit as Judge Protem of Superior Court from April 1 to July 1 of 1928. Not only did this generate publicity for her bid to gain a permanent seat on that Court, but it transformed her into a constructive incumbent with all the legitimacy inherent in such a position.⁸

One local columnist, Greely Kolts, noted the pathbreaking nature of the opportunity before the voters, declaring "Judge Georgia Bullock should be elected to the Superior Court."⁹ It seemed peculiarly appropriate that the new city of Los Angeles should, as part of its bid for prominence, set a new standard for female achievement. Already "indelibly written in the history of California," Georgia Bullock's career could feature as an important "part of the judiciary history of the US." Crucial to the campaign rhetoric, however, was the potent combination of Bullock's track record as a judge and her feminine attributes. As an open letter from the Women Lawyer's Association argued, "we have a chance to elect a judge who has already proved herself on the municipal bench, a lawyer who fought her way through private practice...and a mother who by her own efforts has reared a boy to manhood and a girl to womanhood."¹⁰

That a proven judge with "a woman's outlook and a woman's understanding" would be better suited to hearing cases involving women's "intimate domestic difficulties ...and, cases involving the welfare of their children" pointed to Bullock as an ideal candidate. But such claims had costs as well. In particular, women genuinely committed to promoting members of their own sex were concerned that their candidate might seem a mere token. The Women Lawyer's Association concluded its paean to Bullock with a disclaimer: "We do not seek to have you vote for a woman because she is a woman, but because we are offering you a candidate fitted in every way to represent women in this important office."¹¹ Bullock, like her predecessors, walked that fine line -- trumpeting their feminine difference while reassuring the public of their genuine competence.

Reckoned a "strikingly feminine woman," Bullock strove to maintain her image during a physically demanding campaign. In her campaign literature, Georgia Bullock is typically shown wearing a stylish suit with a collared white blouse complemented by a large white hat with a wide, slightly upturned brim. That she gave some care to her wardrobe is evident from her correspondence with several dress shops. A saleswoman at Milton Oberdorfer, Correct Feminine Apparel wrote to tell her about "one or two lovely velvets that would look adorable on you."¹² Not to be outdone, a representative of Antoinette Hangen Correct Clothes for Gentlewomen declared Bullock "a perfect picture" on the campaign trail. In particular, she commended her choice of outfits on her last visit to the shop, singling out her attractive shoes for special praise.¹³ Whether or not the clothes make the woman, Bullock believed that they could help the judge.

In addition to her care in selecting her clothing, Bullock's actions suggest no ambivalence about her pursuit of the office. She stumped during the campaign, speaking at every club imaginable. For example, turning down other proffered speaking engagements for the same evening, she addressed the Highland Park Kiwanis Club on May 28, 1928. Her topic: "Does crime ever pay?" ("No" was the unsurprising answer.) Bullock also gave radio talks about the law on Thursday evenings at 7:45 p.m. -- not the ideal time slot but one that made her the after dinner speaker of choice in many households. She took every opportunity to put her case before the voters even when it meant sitting through long programs simply for the chance of an introduction and a minute or two of speaking time. That she turned out for these occasions after her normal workday at the court suggests the seriousness of her candidacy.

The vigor with which Bullock pursued her campaign led to some less than admirable associations. Despite her many speaking engagements at black churches in the city and her membership in the NAACP, she gratefully acknowledged the Klu Klux Klan's endorsement and thanked their representative "for t he help extended...during the primaries."¹⁴ On the one hand, the letter was virtually identical to that sent to hundreds of other organizations that offered their endorsements. Bullock may have sent a routine response out of general (or political) courtesy. And that she saved all her correspondence is evident from the scrapbook commemorating her appointment to the Superior Court bench in 1931. Bullock apparently preserved her letters from well-wishers indiscriminately, arranged by order of receipt. California Supreme Court Justice John Preston and the head janitor of the Municipal Courthouse appear in equal dignity in the pages of Bullock's scrapbook. Moreover, her relationship with the writer proved irrelevant to any given letter's placement. Indeed, the formal congratulatory letter from the Klu Klux Klan is pasted into Bullock's scrapbook overleaf from the warm handwritten felicitations of Clara Shortridge Foltz.¹⁵

Nonetheless, Bullock's willingness to connect her own name with that of the Klu Klux Klan--even for the limited purposes of her campaign--raises questions about the strength of her principles if not the exact nature of those principles. An early supporter of the NAACP, Bullock might be expected to be a proponent of racial equality. Her early judicial career reveals no explicit racism. She sentenced an Anglo movie director and a Latino laborer to the same rock pile for non-support.¹⁶ When appointed to the police court, she spoke of the "need for a refuge for colored wards of the court such as the Barton Home offers white women." On the one hand, this statement was proof that she cared about women unlike herself; yet, the prevailing assumption--enshrined in law--that races should remain separated went unquestioned.

Georgia Bullock's Network

Whatever Bullock's ambivalence on such questions, she had an unalloyed commitment to women's success in the public sphere. Bullock's investment in the campaign stemmed from more than her own ambition: she knew that other women would be judged by her success or failure as well. As she explained to the lawyer Caroline Kellogg,

While from one angle this is a personal fight, I consider the more important part is that my failure or success will have its direct effect upon women generally, and I feel that any woman making a fight of the kind I am making, must necessarily make great sacrifice, and I am, I hope, making those sacrifices not only for my own selfish benefit, but f or the cause of women generally.¹⁷

And, as a reporter favorably noted, "Judge Bullock is a fine example of what the world may expect from an intelligent, level-headed member of her sex, in public positions."¹⁸ Recognizing the significance of Bullock's campaign, an important network of prominent women supported her. That her most vocal and active supporters were her fellow women lawyers merely highlights the shared sense of purpose created by her candidacy.

Bullock's female colleagues organized her campaign and provided some its most powerful publicity. Mab Copeland Lineman was the head of her election committee. Other prominent women like Orfa Jean Shontz, Clara Shortridge Foltz, and Caroline Kellogg drummed up support on the luncheon and dinner circuit and publicly "predicted that Judge Bullock would receive an almost solid vote from among the women lawyers."¹⁹ And, apparently so did other prominent women. When Lena R. Smith, first woman candidate for the Assembly from the 59th district, came to Los Angeles to campaign for Bullock, the headline declared: "Woman Appeals for Woman Candidate."²⁰ But lest Bullock appear to be a novelty candidate, limited by her gender, Clara Shortridge Foltz and Mab Copeland Lineman frequently drew attention Bullock's brilliant judicial record of no reversals.²¹

All in all, considering the pathbreaking fact of her candidacy, Bullock's efforts to gain a Superior Court judgeship was relatively uncontroversial. (Whether no newspaper actually lamented the presence of a woman candidate or whether Bullock simply excluded such unfavorable tidings from her clippings file is, of course, an open question.) Indeed, the best the opposition, largely represented by the conservative Los Angeles Times, could manage was the suggestion that unspecified dark forces sought to unseat the incumbent, Judge Doran. An editorial of the Daily News urged Doran's reelection in the histrionic language of a radio serial:

To defeat him at the election Tuesday would be to put the stamp of approval upon the tactics of the corrupt ring of gangsters who, by open bootlegging, open gambling, and open traffic in human flesh, sought to defy the courts and who now seek to get control of the machinery of government. But even that editorial took care not to implicate Bullock herself in that nefarious conspiracy. She was simply too well respected a judge to tarnish with such an accusation.

Georgia Bullock, The Judge

Despite her hectic campaign schedule, Bullock continued to hear her usual calendar of cases. That the cases often made the papers and, thereby, provided yet another avenue to publicize her campaign was a felicitous by-product. Most notably, Bullock took a hard line with men who failed to provide for their families. Indeed, Bullock repeatedly sentenced husbands to jail for non support. The newspaper coverage of her pronouncements on the subject suggest that this was unusually strong punishment. As one newspaper reported, "Work or Pound Rock/ Ultimatum of Judge Bullock to Fathers."²² Against "severe sentences for recalcitrant parents" as a general rule, she nonetheless declared, "if the father won't work out of jail, he will have to work in jail."

Bullock's lighter cases made the papers as well. The Los Angeles Times gleefully reported the case of a wife who hurried home when a woman anonymously informed her that her nursemaid and husband were carrying on and used her handy tennis racket to express her frank disapproval. "I cannot see where a married woman may deem it safe to launch such attacks on innocent persons simply because of petty troublemakers," Judge Bullock said, "but because the gossipy neighbor is equally guilty, I shall sentence Mrs. Baker to thirty days in jail instead of the six months such cases usually merit." In a similar vein, several papers covered a "Flapper rights case" in which Bullock counseled a mother who would not let her daughter wear lipstick. She warned: "Health is the most important factor we have to consider at his hazardous age. Every girl must have normal healthy companionship with boys of her own age and no mother can successfully enforce the customs and the rules of a past generation."²³

To borrow Estelle Freedman's phrase, Bullock exhibited "maternal justice" in her courtroom and carried her responsibilities as a judge out into the world at the end of the day.²⁴ She helped people find jobs; she dispensed sage advice; she did not blanch in the face of the tragic stories she heard. In one lugubrious profile, a reporter opined: "Strange things have been told in Judge Bullock's court, stark, terrible things that we all turn our heads from. But she has listened and kept her balance. She has tended the lamp in her own sanctuary and it sheds light on dark places."²⁵ Occasionally, Bullock received letters from the young women who had appeared before her. For example, thanking Bullock for her "leniency," "a grateful girl" wrote : "[t]he other day I was so frightened and so ashamed that I could not properly thank you and I now wish to let you know that I am truly sorry and very -- very grateful to you."²⁶

Not only did Bullock take the time to counsel people appearing before her in court, but she also answered a stream of letters from desperate women seeking advice on a variety of legal and personal matters. For example, Mrs. Matilda Anspach wrote: "I would like to ask you about some family matters as I know you have such good judgment, and can tell me just what to do. Can a daughter be held responsible for her fathers debts?"²⁷ Based on Bullock's record in helping young women, other women wrote asking for her assistance in finding work.²⁸ Because Bullock was a public figure whose fame rested on private and peculiarly feminine virtues, these women felt comfortable sharing their problems with her--certain that the lady judge in the white hat, unlike her black-robed male colleagues, would not fail them.

Judging Georgia Bullock

Despite her hard work and that of her large number of supporters, Bullock lost the 1928 election. But she and the women whose hopes she carried eventually achieved the ultimate goal: Governor James Rolph, Jr. appointed her Judge of Superior Court on August 14, 1931. Even in that moment of individual triumph, Bullock took care to frame her victory as one to be shared by all women. In her response to the Governor's telegram, she declared: "My appreciation and gratitude for your splendid tribute to the women of California in appointing a woman to the Superior Court of Los Angeles County cannot be measured in words." Bullock took the occasion to remember the women who had come before her; her response to a handwritten letter from Clara Shortridge Foltz illustrates how much the older woman's high regard meant to her.²⁹

You have always known that above all women in my profession I admire you, and I doubt if the day will ever dawn when we will have the privilege and honor of knowing a greater woman lawyer than yourself, therefore, you must understand that your approval of whatever I do is of the highest value.³⁰

But perhaps Justice John Preston of the California Supreme Court best captured the importance of the moment. In a letter to Bullock, he reminded her that her appointment "augurs well for all the women but it is a distinct compliment to...you."³¹

Sketch for future research on Judge Georgia Bullock

I have attached the inventory from the Bullock Papers at the UCLA Special Collections Department. The Papers are the primary source of information on Bullock and are imperfectly catalogued. Though prominent in her own time, she has not been the subject of any sustained scholarly investigation. A more thorough investigation of the materials available than time permitted may disclose interesting personal details as well as additional professional information.

I know nothing at all about her early life. It does not seem to have been the subject of her public speaking. She appears to have an interesting childhood and adolescence, attending school in England and studying music before turning to the law. Similarly, she does not discuss her marriage or her husband in the material I have consulted. It looks as if she was widowed before attending law school. But as closer scrutiny of many early women professionals has disclosed, rumors of husbands' deaths have often been greatly exaggerated. Often dearly departed husbands simply departed to live with other "dears." More information on Bullock's marriage and early family life might shed light on her motivations for pursuing a legal career and her attitudes about her success in that traditionally masculine arena.

When her husband passed (or ran) away, Bullock was left with two children to support. Again, it is unclear whether she had any family money to cushion this blow or whether her choice of law related to a calculation that it would offer superior remuneration. From the clipping files that include a few mentions of her classically-trained son Wynne, operatic and music revue singer, and the less frequent references to her married daughter, I deduce that that the children were at most in their early teens (and probably younger) when Bullock went to law school. It does not appear that her daughter had a career and further research might disclose explanations for this fact. Did Bullock view herself as an exception and discourage her daughter from pursuing an independent path? Given Bullock's identification with other women professionals and the importance she attributed to those relationships, that seems implausible. But people are often contradictory and any complexity in the mother-daughter relationship might shed light on Bullock's own self-image and her approach to resolving domestic conflict in her courtroom.

A more nuanced picture of her character would add texture to her public achievements. That she actually practiced what she preached--by helping other women whether colleagues or supplicants--is evident from her correspondence. But attention to only her best features makes for better hagiography than biography. For leavening, a future researcher might develop the hints of the darker episodes--like her interaction with the Klu Klux Klan--and look for less attractive shades to her personality.

In this spirit, I can speculate about one such trait. Careful perusal of the available material indicates that Bullock may have been, well, a contentious tightwad. She was, at minimum, an extremely demanding customer. Her correspondence with her long-suffering clipping service illustrates this point.³² First, she wrote to complain that they missed some of her "mentions." Then, she wrote to complain of the duplicate clipping from the numerous local papers: "I do not believe it is necessary to furnish me with clippings of every little paper in Pasadena and Hollywood and Glendale, etc." Later that year, she disputed a three dollar charge for an initiation banquet, detailing the personal check number she had used to pay for her ticket and requesting that the treasurer phone her "to get the matter straightened out."³³ For slightly higher stakes, the New York law firm of Scudder, McCoun, Stockton, and Kerfoot pursued her case against the Hotel Belmont over a lost suitcase. The firm wrote that it secured a three hundred and five dollar recovery, but its costs came to four hundred dollars. But with the lesson of that lawsuit fresh in their minds, the lawyers wisely chose to charge Bullock a mere one hundred and thirty-two dollars for the privilege of representing her.

Bullock's friendships with other professional women in Los Angeles also merits further exploration. I found a tantalizing reference to a book supposedly published in 1928 by the Publisher's Press entitled Women of the West, featuring over one thousand prominent women, two hundred and eighty of whom (including Georgia Bullock) were from Los Angeles. Many of these women are featured in Estelle Freedman's Maternal Justice, but Bullock herself does not appear in Freedman's book. Orfa Jean Shontz, however, was a friend of Bullock's and, for proper context, it would be worth exploring Bullock's professional associations with other women in more detail. Similarly, Bullock was keenly aware of the previous generation of women lawyers--especially as represented by that most fabulous of firsts, Clara Shortridge Foltz--and paid public homage to their achievements. Her private thoughts on their examples, the costs of their missteps (both professional and personal) and the peculiar joys of the pioneer, would be worth further exploration.

Beyond "the personal" in Bullock's life, future research should attempt to situate Bullock more circumspectly in her period. Los Angeles changed dramatically from the 1910s to 1950s, from the second largest town in California to the second city of America. Bullock seems to have been an adept politician, maintaining contact with prominent men and women throughout the state. It would be worth noting how Bullock responded to the change around her and whether her reputation expanded with the increased prominence of the city or whether, as negative attitudes towards women in the legal profession intensified at the end of her career, she inevitably came to seem like a quaint by-product of an earlier era.

And, finally, what happened to Georgia Bullock? Like so many early women pioneers, her story has been largely lost. That we know anything more than her vital statistics can be attributed to her own her diligence in compiling and then donating her papers. She must have had a sense of her importance, but it is difficult to assess her legacy on the basis of her clipping file alone. The records of the testimonial dinners toward the end of her life might offer clues about her later career. Once elected to the bench, did she mentor younger women as she had been helped along by her fellow women lawyers? Or, had the brief heyday of women professionals (from the teens to the thirties) passed by the time she was in her most influential position? Did she adapt to the ideological changes or did she maintain the same conviction of special responsibility expressed in her letter to Caroline Kellogg, that her achievements and failures would be attributed to women generally?

Example of Campaign Pledge Card for 1928 Election I HEREBY PLEDGE MY SUPPORT TO JUDGE GEORGIA BULLOCK FOR JUDGE OF THE SUPERIOR COURT, OFFICE NO. 3 AND AUTHORIZE THE USE OF MY NAME AS ON OF HER CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE.

NAME

ADDRESS

PHONE

USE OF MY AUTO

GIVE OUT CARDS

MY SERVICES DURING CAMPAIGN

I WILL CONTRIBUTE $

Endnotes

¹ 'Her Honor the Judge -- Hats Off', LA EXAMINER, Oct. 5, 1922.

² Phi Delta Phi was itself a reconstitution of the "Legal Lights," the first women's legal sorority founded in 1911. For an important discussion of women at USC Law School, see John G. (Tom) Tomlinson, 'From the Beginning... USC Law School'; 'Largely a Student's School'; 'The Idea of Association,' USC LAW 3, 7-8 (Spring 1996). I am indebted to Tomlinson's article for his description of the USC women's organizations.

³ Bullock's classmate, Willie Waste, became Chief Justice of the California Supreme Court. See Georgia Bullock to Willie Waste, July 28, 1931.

⁴ For a thorough account of Adams' remarkable career and Preston's instrumental role in advancing it, see J.D. Horton's paper, Women's Legal History Website, Stanford Law School.

⁵ Cynthia Grey, LA CALIF. RECORD, Aug. 16, 1928.

⁶ 'Mrs,. Bullock Named Judge', LA EVENING HERALD, December 29, 1924.

⁷ Bullock's cases and speeches were widely covered. Along with the Mayor of Los Angeles, the head of the Traffic Bureau, a Society Matron, and the actress Lupe Velez, Bullock was featured in a campaign for safer night driving, sponsored by "Pilot Ray" Turning Lamps. LA EXAMINER, March 21, 1929.

⁸ In pointed contrast to the kind of reception granted some of the earliest women lawyers, Bullock was welcomed by the presiding judge of the Superior Court upon her temporary elevation. And he invited her to attend the judges' standing luncheons at a nearby club. Victor McLucas to Georgia Bullock, April 9, 1928.

⁹ Greely Kolts, Judge Georgia Bullock Should be Elected to the Superior Court, August 3, 1928.

¹⁰ Women Lawyer's Association, August 11, 1928.

¹¹ Women Lawyer's Association, August 11, 1928.

¹² Mary Page Brown to Georgia Bullock, August 13, 1928.

¹³ Charlottte Jeanette Blank to Georgia Bullock, February 21, 1928.

¹⁴ Georgia Bullock to G.W. Price, October 5, 1928.

¹⁵ T.S. Moodie, "Grand Dragon" for the "Realm of California," to Georiga Bullock, August 15, 1931. Similarly, a series of impersonal congratulations appear on either side of the telegram from Orfa Jean Shontz--signed "shontzie" which reads: "Three cheers for Gov. Rolph and for you. Am so happy."

¹⁶ Bullock sentenced Jesus Flores to the rock pile for his failure to support his divorced wife and child. [DOWNEY, CALIF.] LIVE WIRE, August 16, 1928. The next day, she warned Charles Seeling to make payments of $40 per month or face a jail term. LOS ANGELES ILLUSTRATED DAILY NEWS, August 17, 1928.

¹⁷ Georgia Bullock to Caroline Kellogg, June 14, 1928

¹⁸ Cynthia Grey, LOS ANGELES RECORD, August 16, 1928.

¹⁹ LA CALIF. RECORD, July 28, 1928.

²⁰ MONROVIA CALIF. NEWS, Aug. 21, 1928.

²¹ Judge Bullock Never Reversed, LOS ANGELES RECORD, April 21, 1928.

²² The story continued: "From now on husbands who don't support their families are going to the rock pile. Judge Georgia Bullock announced today in sentencing Edwin R. Autin for failing to support his wife and three small children a drastic policy for parental slackers. 'Our first consideration in this court is the minor children,' said Judge Bullock."

²³ Reach Compromise in Flapper Rights, LOS ANGELES RECORD, August 28, 1928.

²⁴ ESTELLE FREEDMAN, MATERNAL JUSTICE (1995)

²⁵ Retta Badger, LA TIMES SUNDAY MAGAZINE, Oct. 4, 1931, at 3.

²⁶ Hope Carpenter to Georgia Bullock, Feb. 23, 1928.

²⁷ Mrs. Anspach to Georgia Bullock, March 14, 1928

²⁸ Eva Davis to Georgia Bullock, March 20, 1928. Davis wrote: "I so have read of the good you have done and been interested in following our kindness to young girls. I am not a "young girl" but need help in finding work o [sic] so much." Bullock referred her to a friend. Georgia Bullock to Eva Davis, April 3, 1928.

²⁹ When Bullock was appointed to the Bench in 1931, Clara Shortridge Foltz wrote an effusive letter of congratulations: "My very dear Georgie!-- How very proud I am this morning to note your advancement -- words are inadequate to express. You have served so capably upon the municipal bench, that our very own great Governor Rolph could not have overlooked you, your legal qualifications, and your great human, understanding heart! Please accept my love, my fond wishes on your continued advancement, until you shall have reached the highest court in our beloved country."

³⁰ Georgia Bullock to Clara Shortridge Foltz, 28 March 1928. Bullock Papers (collection 1374), Box 25, UCLA Special Collections.

³¹ John Preston to Georgia Bullock, August 18, 1931.

³² Other incidents included a dispute with the Citizen's National Bank of Los Angeles in which the manager sent over Mr. Carter, the teller, to discuss her complaint. She wrote to thank the manager for his prompt attention and to let him know that the teller was "overdrawn just the amount I had missed." Georgia Bullock to Manager, Citizen's National Bank, August 27, 1928.

³³ Georgia Bullock to Isabella Dodds, Treasurer, Alpha Chapter, April 30, 1928.

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