2/22/2012 - Nina Miglionico to be inducted into Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame March 1

Distinguished Birmingham lawyer and former city councilman Nina Miglionico will be inducted into the Alabama Women’s Hall of Fame on March 1.

Miglionico, who died in 2009, was the first woman to be elected to the Birmingham City Council and the first woman to be president of the Alabama League of Municipalities.

Miglionico was born in Birmingham to Italian immigrants. She graduated from Woodlawn High School, completed her undergraduate education at Howard College (now Samford University) 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.

In 1959 she was a delegate to the American Bar Association House of Delegates, the only woman in an assembly of 250 lawyers.

President John Kennedy named her in 1961 to serve on an international committee on the status of women.

Miglionico began her political career by winning a seat in 1963 on the newly-formed Birmingham City Council. She served until 1985, including service as president from 1978 to 1981.

Miglionico was active in the American Association of University Women and served as vice chairman of the Alabama Commission for Jury Service for Women, president of the Alabama Merit System League, president of the Alabama Federation of Business and Professional Women’s Clubs and president of the Alabama Association of Women Lawyers.

Because of her support for women's rights and her progressive views on race, she became a target for extremists. A bomb, which did not detonate, was found at her home in 1965 and a cross was burned in her yard in 1974.

Miglionico holds the distinction of being the longest practicing female attorney in the history of Alabama, having served for 73 years. At the time of her death she was senior partner in the Miglionico & Rumore firm.

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.

According to the AWHOF guidelines, a nominee must have been born in Alabama or made special contributions to the state and have been deceased for two years. The AWHOF, founded in 1970, is housed in the A. Howard Bean Hall on the campus of Judson College in Marion.

The induction ceremony will be at 10:30 a.m. in Alumnae Auditorium on the Judson campus.

Additional information is available on the AWHOF website.

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