Elizabeth Pittman

Elizabeth Davis Pittman (June 3, 1921 – April 8, 1998) was an American jurist who served as both the first woman judge and the first black judge in the state of Nebraska.

Born in Iowa, she moved in her youth to Omaha, Nebraska, where she would later earn a law degree. By the time she graduated, she was the first black woman lawyer in the state, and one of only a few in the western United States. She was elected as the first black person to serve on the board of Omaha Public Schools in 1950, appointed the first woman deputy county attorney and the first black deputy county attorney in Douglas County in 1964, and the first black woman appointed by a governor to a judgeship in the United States in 1971. She retired in 1986 at age 65.

Early life Elizabeth (or Betty) Pittman was born Elizabeth Ann Davis on June 3, 1921, in Council Bluffs, Iowa, moving with her family soon to Omaha, Nebraska. Her mother, Mabel Davis, was a librarian, and her father, Charles Davis, was a lawyer and leader in the local black community. Mr. Davis established Carver Savings and Loan, the first black-owned bank in the area, which lent money to the local community to purchase homes and closed in 1965. Pittman attended Omaha North High School, a school outside of the local black community, where she graduated in 1938.

On Christmas Day in 1942, Elizabeth married Dr. Arthur B. Pittman (1915-1990), Omaha's first Black veterinarian. They had one daughter, Antoinette Marguerite "Toni" Pittman (1947-2018). The Pittmans eventually divorced.