Mary K. Davey Carr ’52
Committed to gender equality and women’s rights in the workplace, Mary Kay Davey Carr ’52 was an early pioneer for women’s equality in the legal community and, in 1970, became the first woman in New York State to be appointed an administrative law judge.
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Interview Date(s)
May 3, 2012
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About Mary K. Davey Carr
In 1952, at age 25, Mary Kay Davey Carr was one of only five women in a graduating class of 142 at UB law school. She passed the bar exam on her first attempt, then began visiting law firms in downtown Buffalo, where she was told, “We don’t want women!” she wrote in her 2019 autobiography, #MeToo, Circa 1927: The Quest for Meaning.
Born in Buffalo, she worked as a clerk at Adam, Meldrum and Anderson department store, then was a cashier for New York Telephone Co. when she decided to enroll in UB’s Millard Fillmore College. She clerked in a law office and worked in the university libraries while earning her bachelor of law degree at UB.
Her search for a job ended when she found a position with the firm of Kenefick, Cook, Mitchell, Bass and Letchworth. Realizing that a woman had no chance of becoming a partner, she sought a position in Washington, D.C.
For a short time, she was an assistant counsel in the Office of General Counsel for the Department of the Navy, then returned to Buffalo to resume her legal career in labor law in a firm with Herald Price Fahringer, who had been editor of the UB Law Review when she was an associate editor.
In 1962, she was appointed as supervisor of the Juvenile Legal Division of the newly created Erie County Family Court. She set up the division’s Law Department and gave training to law enforcement officers.
During those years, she became active in Republican Party politics and various professional and charitable organizations. She served as president of the Republican Women Lawyers League and the Republican Civic Club and was campaign manager for Sheriff B. John Tutuska, who later became county executive.
In 1965, she was appointed as a case analyst for the newly established state Division for Human Rights. Two years later, she was named counsel to the Assembly’s Education Committee.
In 1970, she became the state’s first woman to serve as an administrative law judge, traveling between Buffalo, Albany and New York City to conduct hearings. She retired in 1983.
Born 1927—Died 2020
