Jane Bolin, who was the first black woman to graduate from Yale Law School and became the nation's first black female judge, has died at age 98.

Ms. Bolin was sworn in by Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia in a surprise ceremony in 1939, becoming the first black female judge in the United States, according to the city's law department.

Assigned to the Domestic Relations Court, later renamed Family Court, Ms. Bolin fought racial discrimination from the bench. She worked to end segregation in child placement facilities and the assignment of probation officers based on race. She also helped to create a racially integrated treatment center for delinquent boys.