Belva Lockwood

Belva Lockwood

Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood (October 24, 1830–May 19, 1917) was a United States attorney, politician, author, and noted feminist, although she never used that word. Lockwood overcame many social and personal obstacles related to gender restrictions of her time, to gain a good education. After college, she became a schoolteacher and was actively involved in working towards equal pay for women teachers.

Early life and education

She was born Belva Ann Bennett in Royalton, New York, where she later married Uriah McNall, a farmer. He died in 1853, three years after their daughter Lura was born. She then attended Gasport Academy in Gasport, New York, and Genesee College in Lima, New York, which eventually became part of Syracuse University. Lockwood taught school for several years. At the end of the Civil War, restless and always fascinated by politics, she decided to move to Washington, D.C.

Supreme Court attorney

In Washington, Lockwood quickly became a member of woman suffrage and temperance organizations. In 1868, she married Ezekial Lockwood, a dentist, lay minister, and claims agent. They had a daughter, Jessie, who died before her second birthday. In 1872, Lockwood earned her law degree from what is now The George Washington University Law School and became one of the very first woman lawyers in the U.S., although after she obtained her degree she was not allowed to practice in the U.S. Court of Claims or the United States Supreme Court. The justices said coverture and the practices of centuries barred women.

That didn’t stop Lockwood. She lobbied Congress from 1874 to 1879 for an anti-discrimination bill. In 1879 Congress passed a law allowing all qualified women attorneys to practice in any federal court. Lockwood was sworn in as the first woman member of the U.S. Supreme Court bar on March 3, 1879. Late in 1880, she became the first woman lawyer to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Candidate for U.S. Presidency

She was the second woman (after Victoria Woodhull) to run for President of the United States but was the first woman to appear on the ballot in United States presidential election, 1884 and United States presidential election, 1888 as the candidate of the National Equal Rights Party. Her running mates were Marietta Stow and Charles Stuart Wells respectively. She did not have a serious chance of winning the Presidency and received few votes, particularly because many states still did not allow women to vote at this time. On January 12, 1885, she petitioned Congress to have her votes counted, making the claim "that during the recent session of the Electoral College of the State of Indiana at the capitol thereof, that after it had cast its vote for Cleveland it changed its mind, as it had an undisputed legal right to do, and cast its united vote for your petitioner." She further claimed she "received one-half the electoral vote of Oregon, and a large vote in Pennsylvania, but the votes in the latter state were not counted, simply dumped into the waste basket as false votes."

Indian rights and religious minorities

She was a well-respected and often controversial writer, determined, practical, and energetic. She played an important role in the advancement of rights for women and was an active member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and also the Equal Rights Party.

International peace activist

She was very active in the Universal Peace Union, representing the group at meetings in Europe and lobbying its positions before Congress and at the White House. She hoped that the group would receive the Nobel Peace Prize, but it did not.

Legacy

The small communities of Belva, West Virginia, and Lockwood, West Virginia, are named in her honor. In her day, girls were also named for her. During WWII, a merchant marine ship was given her name.

In World War II the United States liberty ship SS Belva Lockwood was named in her honor.

The New York State Library and Archives in Albany, New York, has a Belva Ann Lockwood Collection, 1830-1917. Swarthmore College has the Belva Ann Lockwood Papers 1878-1917, 1984, 1986, 1992. The Archives of Syracuse University also has alumnae records, clippings, correspondences, and other material about Lockwood [1]. The National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., owns a portrait of Lockwood depicted in 1908, when she received an honorary doctorate in law from Syracuse University. [2]

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• Cook, Frances A. Belva Ann Lockwood: for Peace, Justice, and President (1997) Women's Legal History Biography Project, Robert Crown Law Library, Stanford Law School.
• Norgren, Jill. Belva Lockwood, Blazing the Trail for Women in Law. Prologue Magazine. Spring 2005, Vol. 37, No. 1.
• Norgren, Jill. Belva Lockwood, Blazing the Trail for Women in Law, Part 2. Prologue Magazine. Spring 2005, Vol. 37, No. 1.
• Norgren, Jill. [3]Belva Lockwood: The Woman Who Would Be President. NYU Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-81475834-2

Notes

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