Ella M. Groninger

(April 1877–Aug. 25, 1940). Born near Camden, Indiana, Ella M. Groninger attended school in Camden and later taught in district schools until coming to Indianapolis in 1900 where she attended East Business College. She worked days as a clerk and stenographer in her brothers’ law firm while taking classes at the Indianapolis Law School at night (see Law Schools). 

After graduating with her law degree in 1914, she joined her brothers, Taylor and Frank, at the family firm. On March 20, 1918, Groninger was appointed deputy prosecutor for Marion County. That same month, as chairman of the Women’s Liberty Loan committee, she organized a door-to-door campaign selling Liberty Bonds to support American troops during World War I. 

A strong supporter of women’s suffrage, Groninger often voiced concerns over women’s lack of representation within the legal system.  On October 15, 1919, in Marion County Superior Court (see Courts in Marion County) Groninger became the first woman judge to preside in an Indiana courtroom with her ruling on the Tenney v. Tenney case.  

In the case, George Tenney arrived with a litany of grievances in his divorce petition against his wife, who had not been informed of the action. After careful consideration, Groninger denied the petition, saying, “From the evidence introduced here, this woman has given twenty-nine of the best years of her life to this man. There is no proof of wrong.”  

On August 27, 1920, Groninger took part in another groundbreaking event, becoming one of the first women to serve on an Indiana jury. The case, a replevin suit (a legal action to reclaim wrongfully taken property) for the recovery of a Victrola, took place in the court of T. Ernest Maholm, Justice of the Peace. The jury deliberated for five minutes before Forewoman Ella M. Groninger announced they had reached a verdict in favor of the plaintiff. In addition to Groninger, the jury was comprised of eleven other women representing a mix of races, religions, and professions:

• Miss Minnie E. Mason – teacher
• Miss Natalie Smith – suffrage worker
• Mrs. Lena Goodspeed – public stenographer
• Miss Daneva Donnell – County Treasurer’s Office clerk (First female African-American to serve on a jury)
• Miss May Strawn – employment and housing secretary of YWCA
• Mrs. Felix T. McWhirter – suffrage worker
• Miss Nell M. Taylor – Indianapolis League of Women Voters secretary
• Miss Mabel Wheeler – newspaper woman
• Miss Sara Lauter – suffrage worker
• Miss Louise Douglass – no occupation given
• Mrs. Samuel Lewis Shank – no occupation given

Groninger would go on to practice law for over four decades, retiring in 1934. She also served as a member of the Altrusa Club, a service organization for women in professional occupations. Groninger died in 1940 and is buried in Crown Hill Cemetery.  

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