Lutie History

The Lutie A. Lytle Black Women Law Faculty Writing Workshop (the “Lytle Workshop”) is an annual workshop for current and aspiring black women law faculty. Although the Workshop’s primary focus is legal scholarship, it also offers opportunities for mentoring, career support, and fellowship.

The Lytle Workshop has been held annually each summer:

• 2022: Boston University School of Law, hosted by Dean Angela Onwuachi-Willig
• 2021: Howard Law School, hosted by Dean Danielle Holley
• 2020: Howard Law School, hosted by Dean Danielle Holley
• 2019: Penn State Law, hosted by Professor Eleanor Brown and Professor Shaakirrah Sanders
• 2018: Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, co-chaired, organized and hosted by Professor Lolita Buckner Inniss and Professor Jessica Dixon Weaver
• 2017: University of Michigan Law School, hosted by Professor Laura Beny
• 2016: 10th Annual Commemorative Workshop – University of Iowa College of Law, hosted by Professor and now Dean Angela Onwuachi-Willig
• 2015: Vanderbilt University Law School, hosted by Professor Beverly I. Moran
• 2014: University of Wisconsin Law School, hosted by Professor Tonya L. Brito
• 2013: William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, hosted by Professor Rachel J. Anderson
• 2012: Suffolk University Law School, hosted by Professors Kim M. McLaurin and Bernie D. Jones (and the first “Lytle Dean,” Camille Nelson)
• 2011: Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University, hosted by Professor Asmara M. Tekle
• 2010: University of Kentucky College of Law, hosted by Professor Melynda J. Price
• 2009: Seattle University School of Law, hosted by Professor Natasha T. Martin
• 2008: Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver, hosted by Professor Catherine Smith (Denver) and Professor Jacquelyn L. Bridgeman (Wyoming) (under the name “Black Female Faculty Summer Writing Workshop”)
• 2007: University of Iowa Inaugural Workshop, hosted by founder Dean Angela Onwuachi-Willig

The Workshop was given its current name at the 2008 Denver gathering. In 1898, Lutie A. Lytle, the daughter of enslaved parents, became the first Black woman law professor in the United States, when she began teaching law at her alma mater, Nashville’s Central Tennessee College (CTC). In 2018, one of the members of the Lutie collective, Professor Taja-Nia Henderson, published an article detailing the life of Lutie Lytle and the importance of her legacy. In honor of her achievements, the Lytle Workshop continues to offer professional development, support, and community to a growing cadre of women faculty who are continuing the legacy of excellence in law teaching that began with Professor Lutie A. Lytle over 121 years later.