Peoria Standard

Sen. Win Stoller celebrates the historic moment of Lisa Holder White becoming the first African American woman to serve on the Supreme Court.

In a July 8 Facebook post, Stoller congratulated Illinois Supreme Court Justice Lisa Holder White for her appointment.

"In case you missed it, Illinois history was made this week! Lisa Holder White is the first African American woman to serve on the state’s highest court in its 203-year history. Congratulations to Justice Holder White on your accomplishments and this well-deserved honor," Stoller said.

Lisa Holder White graduated from Lewis University in 1990 with Magna Cum Laude honors in 1990. Three years later, she earned her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Law in Urbana-Champaign. She has served as Assistant State's Attorney in Macon County, and as an Associate Judge in the Sixth Judicial District before her appointment to a Circuit Court Judge position. Following appointment by the state supreme court, she was sworn in on Jan. 14, 2013, as the first Black Justice on the Illinois Appellate Court, Fourth District. In 2014, she was elected to the Illinois Appellate Court, Fourth District.

Lisa Holder White took the oath in Springfield to become the first Black woman to serve as a justice on the Illinois Supreme Court in the institution’s 203-year history. Holder White was selected by retiring Justice Rita Garman as her replacement in the central Illinois district, with the six other jurists on the court approving the appointment of the Decatur Republican this spring.

“My heritage is a heritage that once involved minds and bodies that were shackled, and doors that were so, so long closed,” Holder White said. “Taking my oath in this place today recognizes the undeniable value and merit of what I — as a Black woman, mother, daughter, sister, wife, and jurist — have to contribute to the work of our state’s highest court.” “It is proof positive of the progress of this great nation and our great state. It is a testimony to the notion that as women and people of color we need not limit our dreams or settle for less.”