The Honorable Mary Coon Walters / Chief Justice Pamela B. Minzner

The panel's first woman chief justice came fifteen years after the first woman justice, and not by accident. The New Mexico Supreme Court rotated its chief justiceship by seniority, but when Walters's turn came the court's men refused to cast their votes for her, and she left the bench without having led it. Minzner, who had succeeded her on the Court of Appeals in 1984, became chief justice in 1999. In 2007, the year Minzner died, the court named Walters an honorary chief justice and hung her portrait in its Hall of Chief Justices.

What the plaque says

Official Scenic Historic Marker Women of the Judiciary The Honorable Mary Coon Walters (1922-2001) Ms. Walters, who was a transport pilot during World War II, was the only woman in her UNM law school class when she graduated at age 40. She served on the state Court of Appeals and as a probate judge. In 1984, she became the first female New Mexico Supreme Court justice. She was a role model and mentor to women in New Mexico's legal community. Official Scenic Historic Marker Women of the Judiciary Chief Justice Pamela B. Minzner (1943-2007) Pioneers prove their value in those that follow. Pamela Minzner took Mary Walters's seat on the Courts of Appeals. Later, following Justice Walters to the New Mexico Supreme Court, she became the first woman chief justice. Renowned for her intellect, kindness, professionalism and gentle spirit, she, in turn, mentored hundreds in the legal profession. Today, women regularly serve on New Mexico's court benches.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Petroglyph National Monument — 7.9 mi
  Some 24,000 images pecked into the dark basalt of Albuquerque's West Mesa, protected in 1990 and then crossed by a city boulevard.

More markers nearby

• Clarita Garcia de Aranda Allison / Flamenco — 0.6 mi
• Crossroads at Martineztown — 1.3 mi
• Harvey Girls / Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, 1869 - 1958 — 1.7 mi
• Graciela Olivárez — 2.1 mi