NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A2318
SPONSOR: Aubry (MS)
 
TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the public authorities law and the
highway law, in relation to renaming the Queens Midtown tunnel the Jane
Matilda Bolin tunnel
 
PURPOSE:
This bill aims to honor Jane Matilda Bolin, the first African-American
female judge in the U.S. by renaming the Queens Midtown tunnel in her
honor. Jane served on the Family Court bench for four decades, advocat-
ing for children and families via outside institutions. She died in Long
Island City, Queens, New York, on January 8, 2007, at the age of 98.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
This bill aims to honor Jane Matilda Bolin, the first African-American
female judge in the U.S. by renaming the Queens Midtown tunnel in her
honor. Jane Matilda Bolin was born in Poughkeepsie, New York, on April
11, 1908, to an interracial couple, Matilda Ingram Emery and Gaius C.
Bolin. Her father was an attorney who headed the Dutchess County Bar
Association. Bolin worked with her family's practice in her home city
for a time before marrying attorney Ralph E. Mizelle in 1933 and relo-
cating to New York.
After unsuccessfully running for State Assembly, she took on assistant
corporate counsel work for New York City, creating another landmark as
the first African-American woman to hold that position.
On July 22, 1939, a 31-year-old Bolin was called to appear at the
World's Fair before Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, to be sworn in as a
Judge. Bolin once again made history again as the first African-American
female judge in the United States.
Having already been assigned to what would be known as Family Court,
Bolin was a thoughtful, conscientious force on the bench, confronting a
range of issues on the domestic front and taking great care when it came
to the plight of children. She also changed segregationist policies that
had been entrenched in the system, including skin-color based assign-
ments for probation officers.
Jane Bolin has left an indelible mark on our great state and is deserv-
ing of this honor.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.