Pearl McCall’s step-father was Judge Edwin Beecher who rode the circuit with Abraham Lincoln.  Pearl would grow up to also be a lawyer, was an aide to four U.S. senators; a trail blazer for women in the legal profession.  

Pearl McCall also served as the first woman in America to be appointed assistant United States attorney.  She served in that role from 1921 until 1934. As a woman attorney, she fought for justice for women and young girls.  She was involved in numerous high-profile cases, including murder trials, racketeering cases, and diploma fraud.  

Pearl McCall was born in Kentucky in 1876 and grew up on a farm in Wayne County.  She graduated from Hayward College and taught music in North Dakota and Idaho.  She relocated to Washington DC about 1912 to work on Capitol Hill during the day, and attend law school at night.  

“In 1919 at the age of 37….”I was a lawyer at last, .”  She told a friend on a visit to Fairfield as a spry 83 year old, still working in DC.   She retired from her private practice in 1963.  Pearl McCall – Washington DC lawyer and activist, died in 1977 at the age of 100.