Her former law partner told the story of Nina Miglionico being chastised by her mother for going to jail to confer with her clients.
“Ladies don’t go to jail,” her mother said.
“Mother, I’m not a lady; I’m a lawyer,” she replied.
But Samuel Rumore Jr. added, “Nina was both.”
Miglionico was inducted into the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame (AWHF) on March 1. The AWHF, founded in 1970, is housed in A. Howard Bean Hall on Judson’s campus in Marion.
Miglionico, who died in 2009 at age 95, served as a lawyer for 73 years.
Miglionico was born in Birmingham to Italian immigrants. She graduated from Woodlawn High School, completed her undergraduate education at Howard College (now Samford University) in Birmingham and earned her law degree at the University of Alabama.
One of the first women lawyers in Alabama to start her own practice, Miglionico was elected president of the National Association of Women Lawyers in 1958. In 1996, she received the Margaret Brent Award from the American Bar Association as one of the five outstanding women lawyers in the United States.
Miglionico began her political career by winning a seat on the newly formed Birmingham City Council in 1963. She served until 1985, including a stint as president from 1978 to 1981.
The primary address was delivered by Circuit Judge Helen Shores Lee of Birmingham. “When I think of Nina, I think of adjectives like perseverance, strength, courage and conviction,” Lee said. “She was only 4 feet 11 inches (tall), but Nina was never overlooked by the council members with whom she served.”
Lee said Miglionico was vilified because of her ethnicity, her Catholicism and her progressive views on race. “Nina got phone threats, hate mail, a cross burned in her yard and even an attempted bombing at her home,” Lee said. “But she continued to work for the underdog.”
Rumore was associated with the Miglionico law firm for 37 years. He noted that Miglionico was able to practice law for so long because she began so early.
“There were no positions for female attorneys in that day, so she was offered a secretarial job and told to learn shorthand,” Rumore said. “Nina decided she’d rather open her own practice.”
Miglionico was inducted into the Birmingham Gallery of Distinguished Citizens in 2008. She will be inducted into the Alabama Lawyers’ Hall of Fame on May 4.
Rumore also served as Miglionico’s executor and that she’d given generously to Catholic charities around the state.
“Most surprising was that she left $1 million to the Birmingham Museum of Art,” Rumore said. “People of Alabama will enjoy [her gift] for years to come.”
For more information, visit awhf.org.
(JC)
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