Mary Tiera Farrow

Mary Tiera Farrow (May 27, 1880 – November 9, 1971) was an American lawyer who co-founded the Women's Bar Association of Kansas City in 1917, was elected treasurer of Kansas City in 1907, and was the first woman to argue a case before the Kansas Supreme Court.

Early life Farrow was born in Columbus, Indiana, on May 27, 1880, the daughter of Alva Curtis Farrow and Martha Haislup Farrow. Her father owned a general store. In 1855, she moved to Delphos, Kansas, and later attended business school in Kansas City, Missouri. After working as a stenographer, she enrolled at the Kansas City School of Law in 1901, graduating in 1903 as the only woman in her class of 75. Later in life, she earned a degree in sociology at the University of Illinois, and a master's degree from Columbia University. She also studied abroad in Paris, Munich, Petrograd, and Riga.

Career Farrow was secretary of the stenographers' union in Kansas City as a young woman. Soon after, she was appointed a "divorce proctor", evaluating divorce suits for the court.

In 1917, Farrow was one of the founding members of the Women's Bar Association of Kansas City. She was also a charter member and president of the Women's State Bar Association of Missouri. During World War I she joined the National League for Women's Service as an ambulance driver in New York City.

Personal life and legacy At least one younger woman was named "Tiera Farrow" after the noted lawyer. Before and after retirement, Farrow traveled internationally with a friend, accountant Perle Stinson, including a 1911 camping trip together in the Sahara. In 2020 she was featured in a coloring book about women's suffrage in Missouri, published by the Kansas City Public Library.