Sacramento County
Biographies
MRS. VALLA E. PARKINSON
MRS. VALLA E. PARKINSON.--Prominent among the relatively few, but
for that reason all the more interesting and important women who have conferred
distinction upon the Bar of California, is Mrs. Valla
E. Parkinson, practicing attorney, with offices in the Forum
Building, Sacramento.
Born near Firebaugh, Fresno County,
she was the daughter of Harrison Rich and his good wife, Jeanette (McCoy) Rich,
successful fruit-growers, who were early settlers and still living to tell the
tale of their pioneer days.
Valla rich attended the grammar and high schools in Santa
Cruz County, and
in 1922 was married to Wilbur Parkinson.
Thereafter she studied law in a law office in Sacramento,
and on February 16, 1914, was admitted to practice in the courts of California;
and since then she has practiced here continuously. She has also been
admitted to practice in the Federal courts of the state.
Mrs.
Parkinson was the first lady attorney admitted to practice in the Sacramento
courts. She is the only woman member of the
Sacramento County Bar Association, and she is also a member of the American Bar
Association. During the World War she was one of the four-minute
speakers, was a member of the advisory council, and took an active part in the
Liberty-Loan, Red-Cross, and other war drives. She is a member of the
vice-presidents of the Woman’s Bureau of the same. Fraternally, she is a
member of the Rebekahs and of the Native Daughters of
the Golden West, being a past president of Colomo
Parlor No. 212, Sacramento; and she
is also a member of the Sacramento Business Women’s Club.
Sacramento
is justly proud of Mrs. Parkinson, whose influential life and substantial
accomplishments worthily represent the many women of worth and note in the city
and county.
Transcribed by Barbara Gaffney.
Source: Reed, G.
Walter, History of Sacramento County, California
With Biographical Sketches, Page 416. Historic Record Company, Los Angeles, CA. 1923.
© 2007 Barbara Gaffney.