A Jim Thorpe woman was among the first recipients of the Ona Judge Award for Human Rights.

Christine Penn was awarded for advocating and educating on behalf of the trans community.

The award was given by the Human Rights Society, a joint student organization at Penn State Law in University Park and the School of International Affairs.

Recipients were chosen for efforts to champion the cause of human rights in their personal and professional lives and to represent communities that are often the target of human-rights abuses, including Black, Indigenous, and other people of color; women; and LGBTQ+ communities.

The award is named for Judge, who was born into slavery on the Mount Vernon plantation of George and Martha Washington. At the age of 10, Judge was trained to work as Martha Washington’s personal attendant and companion.

When George Washington was elected to the presidency, Judge was taken to Philadelphia with the new president. Throughout the next decade, Judge worked as the assistant to the first lady, enabling some of her successes in that position.

On May 21, 1796, while the Washingtons’ Philadelphia household was preparing to travel to Mount Vernon for the summer, Judge walked out of the house while the family was eating dinner. She was able to make her way to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for refuge with the assistance of the black and abolitionist communities, living the remainder of her life in New Hampshire - free, but a fugitive. When she died in New Hampshire on Feb. 25, 1848, at the age of 75, she was still legally the property of George Washington’s step-grandchild.

Penn said, “I am so honored to have you bestow this award to me. I was not familiar with Ona’s story prior to receiving this, but she sounds like a very strong and interesting woman. I’m honored to have been compared to her legacy.”