Springfield in Delaware County, Pennsylvania — The American Northeast (Mid-Atlantic)

Caroline Burnham Kilgore

1838-1909

Photographed by Robyn Young, September 26, 2024

1. Caroline Burnham Kilgore Marker

Inscription. A vocal women's rights advocate. In 1885 Kilgore became the first woman admitted to the Pa. bar and was among the first women to argue before the U.S. Supreme Court. She fought for the right to attend the Univ. of Pa. law school, take the state bar exam, and practice in state courts. An active member of the National Woman Suffrage Assoc., she appealed to the Pa. Supreme Court in 1873 for women's right to vote. Resided near here late in life.

Erected 2023 by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Civil Rights • Education • Women. In addition, it is included in the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC) series list.

Location. 39° 54.781′ N, 75° 21.149′ W. Marker is in Springfield, Pennsylvania, in Delaware County. It is at the intersection of 1301 Baltimore Pike and Swarthmore Avenue, on the right when traveling north on 1301 Baltimore Pike. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1301 Baltimore Pike, Springfield PA 19064, United States of America.

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Regionally, this marker is in Southeast Pennsylvania and in Greater Philadelphia.

It is also in the American Northeast

and in the Mid-Atlantic.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy,

New Netherland,

and one of the original Thirteen Colonies.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: An Original Landscape (approx. 0.6 miles away); Benjamin West (approx. 0.6 miles away); World War II Memorial (approx. 0.8 miles away); Korean War Memorial (approx. 0.8 miles away); Vietnam War Memorial (approx. 0.8 miles away); Swarthmore in the World War (approx. 0.8 miles away); J. Edgar Thompson (approx. 0.8 miles away); Providence Monthly Meeting Burial Ground (approx. 1.6 miles away).

More about this marker. Marker was approved in 2023 and that is the year on the marker.

It was installed and dedicated on 9/26/2024.

Also see . . . Historical marker honoring trailblazing female attorney unveiled on Baltimore Pike.

Photographed by Devry Becker Jones (CC0), December 14, 2025

2. Caroline Burnham Kilgore Marker

Article from the Daily Times, Oct. 8, 2024.

The marker honors attorney Caroline Burnham Kilgore (1838-1909), a trailblazer and legal scholar who fought for 14 years for the right to attend law school, the right to take the bar exam and the right to practice in the state courts.

After her win in 1883, Kilgore became the first woman to practice law in the Pennsylvania state courts. Kilgore was a trailblazer in other ways, too, being the first woman to be admitted to the bar in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

(Submitted on November 20, 2024.)

Credits. This page was last revised on December 14, 2025. It was originally submitted on November 7, 2024, by Robyn Young of Media, Pennsylvania. This page has been viewed 249 times since then and 43 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on November 7, 2024, by Robyn Young of Media, Pennsylvania. 2. submitted on December 14, 2025, by Devry Becker Jones of Washington, District of Columbia. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.