Wanda Sobieski is mostly retired now, wrapping up a handful of cases from her law practice. And you could more easily gain access to Fort Knox than extract her personal phone number from her previous law firm – Sobieski, Messer & Elledge – which she founded here in 1993.

Before practicing family law, she was the very first female partner in the 100-year history of Baker Worthington Crossley Stansberry & Woolf (now Baker Donelson), handling construction law as I recall.

And before you say, “big whoop,” remember in 1982, when Wanda graduated from law school, women were only 8% of the practicing bar in the United States.

This writer has total respect for Wanda Sobieski and was surprised to see her and husband John, retired UT law professor, as underwriters for the recent and upcoming Knoxville Symphony Orchestra’s Violins of Hope: Strings of the Holocaust.

“We were pleased to support this project,” said Sobieski, noting the extensive cultural opportunities in Knoxville. “I had a German Jewish violin teacher.”

Wanda Sobieski plays the violin?

Since the third grade, she said. Leopold Shopmaker came around to third grade classrooms in Kansas City to introduce the violin and seek students for his private classes.

Leopold Shopmaker obituary from July 31, 1989

Mr. Shopmaker was a legendary violinist and conductor in the area, and young Wanda was captivated. “We had no resources,” she said, but her grandmother somehow found a ¼-sized violin to rent. She went to a Shopmaker class where everyone else played full-sized instruments.

After a year, the teacher decided she needed private lessons and a regular violin.

Her family gathered 50-cents a week for a bus ticket to town, the schedule putting her at Shopmaker’s studio about an hour early.

“I would sit in the hall, lean against the door and listen to him practice,” she said.

Then one day the door opened and she literally fell into the studio. “He was so positive; he invited me to wait inside. … He gave me sheet music and sometimes bought me a malt before the bus trip home. … He probably lost money on my lessons.”

The little girl who rode a bus into the city for violin lessons became a lawyer, a partner in a major firm and a builder of statues to commemorate women’s achievements.

The Suffrage Coalition

As founder of the The Suffrage Coalition, Wanda Sobieski is responsible for the women’s suffrage memorial on Market Square and the Harry and Febb Burn statute at 610 S. Gay St. The Suffrage Coalition has a fundraiser ahead on August 18, 2025.

Wanda was a founder and past president of the East Tennessee Lawyers Association for Women (ETLAW) and the Tennessee Lawyers Association for Women (TLAW).

She received her bachelor’s degree from Wichita State University in 1969, master’s degree and J.D. from the University of Tennessee. She has three children and four grandchildren.

Violins of Hope

The Violins of Hope are a collection of historic violins, once played by Jewish musicians during the Holocaust. Previous story here.

The violins are on display as part of a professionally curated exhibition, which will run through April 9, 2025, at Digital Motif, 108 S. Gay Street, Knoxville. KSO musicians and educators will also present 20 free in-classroom performances and educational sessions about Violins of Hope.

The KSO performance will be Tuesday, April 8, 2025, at the Tennessee Theatre. Ticket information here.