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Lomen (Lucile) Collection
SC0776
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
Department of Special Collections and University Archives
Title: Lucile Lomen collection
creator:
Lomen, Lucile.
Identifier/Call Number: SC0776
Physical Description:
2.5 Linear Feet
(5 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1920-2004
Abstract: This collection includes correspondence by, to, and about Lucile Lomen; legal materials such as case notes, briefs, and legal
decisions; newspaper, magazine, and journal clippings or excerpts; writings authored by Lomen; General Electric documents
and publications, including some on their nuclear aircraft propulsion program; and autobiographical letters, essays and interview
transcripts.
This collection is open for research; materials must be requested at least 48 hours in advance of intended use.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries, Stanford, California 94304-6064. Consent
is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission
from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s) or assigns. See: http://library.stanford.edu/depts/spc/pubserv/permissions.html.
Restrictions also apply to digital representations of the original materials. Use of digital files is restricted to research
and educational purposes.
[Identification of item], Lucile Lomen Collection (SC0776). Dept. of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford
University Libraries, Stanford, Calif.
Biographical/Historical Sketch
Lucile Lomen was born in Nome, Alaska on August 21, 1920, the second of five children of Alfred and Mildred (nee Lehmann)
Lomen. At least partially inspired by her grandfather, Gudbran J. Lomen, as a young girl, she decided that she wanted to become
a lawyer. Her family moved to Seattle in 1934, where she graduated from Queen Anne High School in 1937. She was awarded a
one-year scholarship to Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, which she attended and from which she graduated with honors
in 1941. Upon her graduation from the University of Washington Law School in 1944, she was elected to the Order of the Coif.
A few months before her graduation from law school, Lomen was selected by Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas to serve
as his law clerk for the October 1944 term. When she reported for duty in September 1944, she became the first woman to clerk
for a Supreme Court Justice.
After one busy year in Washington, Lomen returned to Seattle, where she worked in the Washington state Attorney General's
office. She remained at this job for three years, save for a trip to Europe with her maternal grandparents from the summer
of 1946 to early 1947. In 1948, Lomen left the Attorney General's office to work for General Electric. Initially employed
as a lawyer in Richland, Washington, Lomen served in many different capacities in several different states during her tenure
with the company. She retired in 1983 and remained on the East Coast, where she was then living, for a few years before returning
to Seattle, where she died on June 21, 1996.
This collection was given to the Stanford University Archives by Ann Sandstrom and Jennie Berry Chandra in 2005.
This collection includes correspondence by, to, and about Lucile Lomen; legal materials such as case notes, briefs, and legal
decisions; newspaper, magazine, and journal clippings or excerpts; writings authored by Lomen; General Electric documents
and publications, including some on their nuclear aircraft propulsion program; and autobiographical letters, essays and interview
transcripts. Correspondence addressed to Lomen is from Edith Allen, Walter Beals, Vera and Vern Countryman, William O. Douglas,
Tom Edwards, Judson F. Falknor, John M. Ferren, Helen Gaylord, Donald G. Graham, Eugene Gressman, Julia Benton Hopkins and
Helen Vincent Dolan, Mr. and Mrs. Thorulf Lehmann (Lomen's grandparents), Chester Maxey, William G. McLaren, Conrad Oberdorfer,
Vilhjalmur Stefansson, Smith Troy, and Mabel Walker Willebrandt.
Other materials of note in this collection include a single-page essay entitled "October Term 1944," about her experience
at the Supreme Court; her May 1991 Whitman oral history interview; and Lomen's outgoing correspondence during her trip to
Europe, 1946-1947. Also included in the collection is the correspondence of Jennie Berry Chandra, 2004, who assembled some
of the materials in this collection in the course of her research on Lomen.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Law clerks -- United States
Stefansson, Vilhjalmur
Countryman, Vern.
United States. Supreme Court.
Oberdorfer, Conrad W.
Beals, Walter B.
Lomen, Lucile.
Maxey, Chester Collins
Lomen, Lucile.
Gressmen, Eugene.
General Electric Company.
Ferren, John M.
Douglas, William O. (William Orville)