About Virginia Barton Wallace

White and Williams LLP is proud of the women who have become leaders in the firm’s history, starting with Virginia “Ginny” Barton Wallace, an extraordinarily accomplished pioneer among female attorneys. 

In 1950, Virginia, a former commanding officer of a WAC company in the Army Air Corps during World War Il who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in the spring of 1950, became the legal secretary for Bernard V. Lentz. After two months, Mr. Lentz told Mrs. Wallace to put away her typewriter because he needed an associate more than a secretary and she became an associate in the firm. Mrs. Wallace became a partner in 1961 at a time when there were very few, if any, female partners in any of the large law firms in Philadelphia. She was a specialist in Orphans' Court practice and was extremely well respected by the Orphans' Court of Philadelphia which had its own prestigious reputation at the time.

To honor her trailblazing career, White and Williams created the Virginia Barton Wallace Award, to be presented to a professional woman who embodies the same remarkable qualities that Ginny possessed: leadership, drive, exemplary work ethic, overall excellence in her field, and an ability to inspire other women to succeed. The award was last presented to the trailblazing late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor in 2013. Prior to that, recipients included Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns-Goodwin and Emmy Award-winning journalist Cokie Roberts. Local women leaders recognized in conjunction with the award have included the late JoAnn Epps, legal scholar, former Dean, Temple Law School, and the first Black woman to be permanently appointed to serve as the President of Temple University.