Gertrude M. Handrick
The barriers of convention are high and strong, but so far as they have operated to restrain women from usefulness and service for which they are especially qualified such barriers are being rapidly broken down. Women have earned notable distinction in the fields of education, in medicine, the law and as practical business executives.
It is noteworthy that where courageous leadership on the part of one individual effects and entrance into hitherto conventionally restricted arenas, the example is quickly followed by others. Thus Gertrude M. Handrick after her admission to the bar of Ohio by examination before the Supreme Court at Columbus, December 21, 1911, was the first woman lawyer to take up active practice in Cleveland, but today, after only five years, the bar of that city contains eighteen women lawyers.
Mrs. Handrick was Cleveland's first woman attorney, the first to practice in the city, and has undoubted rank as the leader of her sex in the profession. She also enjoys the enviable distinction of being the only woman attorney in Cleveland to whom has been entrusted the handling of large and important cases. She is both an advocate and a counselor, and when addressing a crowded court room she seeks no favors, except such as her merit and ability deserve. Mrs. Handrick is a lady in every sense of the word, and her presence in the profession has served to elevate its general tone. While she is in general practice, she does not encourage business connected with criminal cases or divorce cases, and much prefers corporation work and damage suits. In the course of her practice she has earned some splendid fees on such cases.
Mrs. Handrick was born in Cleveland, May 1, 1871, a daughter of Judge Martin A. Foran and Katherine (Kavanagh) Foran. Her father is now one of the judges of the Common Pleas Court in Cleveland, and his career is given in a special article on other pages of this publication. Her mother died in Cleveland, May 20, 1893. Mrs. Handrick was born in one of her grandfather Kavanagh's houses, located on the West Side, on what was then called Washington Avenue and later Twenty-third Avenue, but today is Tillman Avenue, Northwest. The old house which was her birthplace is still standing. Grandfather Kavanagh was one of the early settlers of Cleveland, coming from Ireland. Besides his own residence he built a number of tenant houses around it, after the fashion of grouping such houses as followed in Ireland. The householders all obtained their water from one well, and there were various other community practices, such as modern American tenement districts no longer follow.
Mrs. Handrick was educated in private schools, in the Ursuline Convent at Villa Angeline, Ohio, and completed her literary training in the Academy of the Visitation Convent at Georgetown, Washington, D. C., which she attended while her father was in Congress. Visitation Convent is one of the oldest, if not the oldest convent in the United States. She was graduated there June 20, 1888.
On April 5, 1899, at the old Wedell house, which is now torn down, at Cleveland, she married Dr. Franklin Aylesworth Handrick, a brilliant young physician and surgeon, who died September 20, 1901. A sketch of Doctor Handrick appears on other pages. At his death Mrs. Handrick was left with two children, Martha A., the older, died May 13, 1907, at the age of seven years, two months. Martin Foran Handrick, the only son, was born in Cleveland, June 12, 1901, and at the age of fifteen is said to be the strongest and best physically developed boy of his age in the city. He stands six feet, one inch tall, weighs 230 pounds, and is a graduate of the Loyola High School, a branch of the St. Ignatius Jesuit College. He plays left guard on the Loyola football team, and his ambition is to be an all-American guard. He has been appointed to enter Annapolis and will take examination February 19, 1919.
Even as a young girl Mrs. Handrick recognized strong predilections for the profession in which her father was a distinguished member. After her husband's death she determined to earn a place in that vocation. As a stenographer she was employed in several different law offices, and for three years was secretary to her father before he went on the bench. Judge Foran was by no means favorable to her decision to become a lawyer, believing that the profession called for too much hard work for a woman, but he soon realized that her resolution was not subject to change, and he did all he could to increase her qualifications and early experience. In 1908 Mrs. Handrick entered the law department of Baldwin University, and was the only woman graduate in a class of thirty-six in 1911. Besides her law course she had been well trained under her father's direction. After her admission to the bar she began practice at Cleveland, January 1, 1912, and on March 20th of that year opened the office in the Society for Savings Building, where she is still located.
Mrs. Handrick is one of the ablest and most influential leaders in the suffrage movement in Cleveland, and was chairman of the Business Woman's Suffrage League in 1912 for one year. She took an active part in the suffrage campaign of 1912 and 1914, being captain of the Ninth Ward suffrage campaign of 1912. She also was one of the marchers in the suffrage campaign parade in Columbus in 1912, and at Cleveland in 1914.
Mrs. Handrick was the first woman attorney admitted to membership in the Cleveland Bar Association. In 1913 she served on the committee on Woman's Organizations of the Cleveland Commission, Perry's Victory Centennial. She is a member of St. John's Cathedral, belongs to the Catholic Ladies of Columbia, being president branch No. 14 of Cleveland for two years and a delegate to conventions in 1912 and 1914. She was formerly a member of the Ladies' Chamber of Commerce of Cleveland, but gave up active membership on account of the accumulating business connected with her profession.
From Cleveland - Special Limited Edition, The Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago & New York, 1918 v.1