Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood--Intrepid Woman

Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood is one of the women I am writing about for my biography series on Intrepid Women for middle grade readers.

Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood was born in upper New York state in 1830. She was an educator, attorney, author, and politician, an ambitious woman back when ambitious women weren’t generally valued or encouraged. Her family had neither wealth nor social standing so her accomplishments are all the more remarkable for not having that support. Education was important to her and she worked hard to obtain it.

She became a teacher in a rural school at age 14 and was upset even at that young age that she was paid half what the male teacher was paid. Social justice would be a theme throughout her life.

Another theme was the importance of education for women. After the death of her first husband, she had to support her daughter and knew education could provide that. She eventually got a degree from a Methodist women’s seminary so she could attend Genessee College. Women at the time, especially widows, did not typically seek higher education and she was viewed negatively by many. Though the school did not have a law program, one professor offered private classes that she participated in. That’s where her interest in becoming an attorney was fostered.

After graduating with honors, she became headmistress of a school. It was more money than she got teaching, but yet again found that men in her position earned twice as much. While headmistress at a different school, she met Susan B. Anthony and became involved in women’s rights issues. She also worked on world peace issues.

In 1866 she and her daughter moved to Washington, D.C. since she viewed it the center of power and would giver her opportunities in law. She remarried in 1868, a Baptist minister and dentist, who shared her progressive ideas about women’s roles.

After being rejected by the Coulmbian Law School, she entered a different program. Belva completed course work for her law degree from National University Law School (now George Washington University Law School). However, due to her gender they would not confer her diploma. If she had not diploma she couldn’t be admitted to the bar.

She wrote a letter to President Ulysses S. Grant presenting her case and asking for fairness in getting her degree awarded. A week later, she had her diploma. She applied for and was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar.

However, the prejudice continued. She was told repeatedly that judges and other attorneys had no confidence in her. But she built a practice and won cases, gradually getting other to accept her. She fought for women’s rights issue mainly. Eventually, she was the first woman attorney allowed to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Belva was the first woman presidential nominee to run a full campaign in 1884 and 1888. Victoria Claffin Woodhull was the first proclaimed woman presidential nominee in 1872, but her campaign was localized and not national. Belva knew that even if women supported her, they couldn’t vote for her. She couldn’t even vote for herself.

In 1884, Belva ran her first presidential campaign for the National Equal Rights Party with Marietta Stow as her vice president nominee. In 1888, after a kerfuffle, she ended up with Charles Weld as her running mate. Newspapers took her seriously enough to run editorials warning against “petticoat rule.”

After the 1884 election, she alleged wide-spread voter fraud in Oregon and Pennsylvania and said she had far more than the 4100 votes reported.

Belva also wrote frequent essays on women’s rights issues and the need for legal equality for women. She co-edited The Peacemarker, a journal dedicated to seeking world peace. She represented the U.S. at the International Peace Congress.

Belva died in 1917 before women got the right to vote but she must have seen it was imminent. She also was disappointed that the U.S. entered WWI. Unfortunately, her grandson destroyed most of her papers after her death, so we have to piece her life together from the papers of her contemporaries.

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