Gertrude Durden Rush
"Mrs.
Rush not only contributed to this nation and this world,
but to her own
local community, making life better for so many in her cry for
justice..."
— Dr. Cleota Proctor Wilbekin, 1994 Attorney
Gertrude Durden
Rush, born in Navasota, Texas in 1880, moved to Des Moines in
1907 to become the first African-American woman
to be admitted to the Iowa Bar. She remained the sole African-American
female to practice law in Iowa until the 1950s. Receiving her
B.A. from Des Moines University in 1914, Rush began studying
law under her husband, James B. Rush, a Des Moines attorney,
passing the Iowa Bar Examination in 1918. In 1924, after denial
of membership in the American Bar Association, Rush and four
other African-American lawyers, who were men, created the National
Bar Association, a minority bar association, which officially
began in Des Moines in 1925. Rush was a member of the Illinois
Bar, maintaining offices both in Des Moines and Chicago, residing
in Des Moines. She also held positions in many nationally and
community organizations, including president of the Iowa State
Federation of Colored Women's Clubs and president of the Des
Moines Colored Federated Clubs. She died in 1962. Two monuments
in her honor are located at the Des Moines Public Library and
St. Paul AME Church. She was inducted into the Iowa Women's Hall
of Fame in 1994.
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