Pioneering Woman. She was the first female Assistant United States Attorney. The Western District of Michigan set a precedent when it hired Ella M. Backus as an Assistant United States Attorney in 1903. In an age when traditional values dictated gender roles and job opportunities, Ms. Backus not only became the first female Assistant United States Attorney, but she also became a symbol of perseverance and justice for 35 years. Ella Backus had passed the bar exam in the late 1800s without the benefit of law school. Her dedication was never doubted and only reinforced when she refused to go home ill the day before she passed away at the age of 76 in 1938. (bio by: Always with Love)