The
awesome woman for Wednesday, October 24, 2012 is Belva Lockwood, USA,
attorney, author, world peace and women’s rights activist, and
politician. She was either the first or second woman to run for
President of the United States, and she was one of the first female
civil rights attorneys in the US.
Lockwood was born on October
24, 1830 in Royalton, NY, USA. She started teaching elementary school
at age 14. By age 18, she was married. By 20, she had a baby. When
her husband died three years later, she decided to go to college so that
she could support herself and her daughter. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
There wasn’t a lot of community support available for widowed mothers
seeking higher education, but Belva did it anyway, and, while she was at
it, she became interested in the law. After graduating, she taught at,
and later ran, local schools for young women. During that time, she
met Susan B. Anthony, who advocated for broadening the subjects being
taught to young women. Belva agreed and began offering such subjects as
public speaking and gymnastics. Id.
However, Belva continued
to be interested in practicing law, and there was no law school near
her, so she and her daughter moved to Washington DC, where she opened a
coeducational school and began to study law herself. She completed her
coursework, but the school refused to give her a diploma, because she
was a woman.
Without a diploma, Lockwood could not gain
admittance to the District of Columbia Bar. After a year she wrote a
letter to the President of the United States, Ulysses S. Grant,
appealing to him as president ex officio of the National University Law
School. She asked him for justice, stating she had passed all her
courses and deserved to be awarded a diploma. In September 1873, within a
week of having sent the letter, Lockwood received her diploma. She was
43 years old.
Lockwood was admitted to the District of Columbia
Bar, although several judges told her they had no confidence in her.
This was a reaction she repeatedly had to overcome. When she tried to
gain admission to the Maryland Bar Association, a judge lectured her and
told her that God Himself had determined that women were not equal to
men and never could be. When she tried to respond on her own behalf, he
said she had no right to speak and had her removed from the courtroom” Id.
In spite of all that, she managed to build a
large and influential civil rights law practice, to mount a credible
third party candidacy for President of the United States, and to become
an important and well-known advocate for world peace. Id.
For more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Lockwood was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar, although several judges told her they had no confidence in her. This was a reaction she repeatedly had to overcome. When she tried to gain admission to the Maryland Bar Association, a judge lectured her and told her that God Himself had determined that women were not equal to men and never could be. When she tried to respond on her own behalf, he said she had no right to speak and had her removed from the courtroom” Id.
