purely international disputes and that international law should be codified on the basis of equity and right. Federal judicial service Allen was nominated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on March 6, 1934, to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit vacated by Judge Smith Hickenlooper. She was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 15, 1934, and received her commission on March 21, 1934. She was the second woman to serve in the federal judiciary and the first woman to serve as an Article III federal judge. Genevieve R. Cline was earlier appointed to serve as an Article I federal judge on the United States Customs Court. Her nomination to the prestigious position received widespread praise. Newspaper articles described Allen as "an able jurist" and a "profound student" of the law. Allen served as Chief Judge from 1958 to 1959. She was a member of the Judicial Conference of the United States in 1958. She assumed senior status on October 5, 1959. Her service terminated on September 12, 1966, due to her death. Women's rights advocacy and pacifism Allen continued her ongoing advocacy of women's rights. She was a member of the National Association of Business and Professional Women, and spoke at several of their conventions, and was a member of the National Association of Women Lawyers. Allen continued to advocate an end to wars. In 1935, she was one of ten "outstanding American women", with Eleanor Roosevelt and feminist leader Carrie Chapman Catt, to contribute to Why Wars Must Cease. In her essay, Allen asserted that wars "unleash demoralizing instincts" such as "callousness, cynicism, and greed." She said they also contribute to numerous social problems, including the break-up of families, and increases in crime. Supreme Court speculation The press continued to speculate on Allen as a possible Supreme Court nominee. In early 1939, when Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis was about to retire, some of Allen's supporters tried to persuade President Roosevelt that it was time to name a woman, and they reminded the president that Allen was extremely qualified. Chief among advocates on her behalf was Lillian D. Rock, former vice president of the National Association of Women Lawyers and chair of a newly created committee whose purpose was to encourage the appointment of more women to important positions in government. Allen was not named to the Supreme Court, however,