Alma Zola Groves (1898-1984) was an assistant attorney general who served with six Illinois attorneys general. Groves was a proofreader and assistant night editor for the Quincy Herald-Whig from 1922 to 1925, and later, secretary to the president of the Illinois State Bank in Quincy. In 1940, she went to work as a legal secretary in the law office of Justice Lorne E. Murphy of the Illinois Supreme Court in Monmouth, Illinois. While there, she petitioned the Illinois Supreme Court to be allowed to study under Justice Murphy. Groves passed the bar in 1947 and was admitted to the Illinois Bar on January 12, 1948. On February 21, 1949, she was appointed assistant attorney general of the Illinois Appellate Division under Attorney General Ivan A. Elliott. Groves continued to work under five more attorneys general. Working primarily in the appellate division, she abstracted records, wrote briefs, and tried cases. Groves argued before the Illinois Supreme Court and the Illinois Appellate Court. Groves was active in several professional organizations dedicated to advancing women's issues. She was president of the Illinois Federated Business and Professional Women's Club in 1958 and 1959 and helped organize the Monmouth and Chicago chapters. She was director of the Women's Bar Association, a member of the National Association of Women Lawyers, and a Zonta Club member (a service organization of executives and professionals). Groves died November 3, 1984.
From the description of A. Zola Groves papers, 1943-1974. (University of Illinois-Chicago Library). WorldCat record id: 57176183
