About
Lawyer, politician, teacher, and writer highly reputed for becoming one of the 1st female lawyers in the U.S., as well as the first woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. She became the first woman to run for President of the United States, on the National Equal Rights Party ticket, in both 1884 and 1888. She was also a regular contributor of essays on women's suffrage and the necessity of legal equality. She was a strong proponent for world peace and spoke on its behalf until her death in 1917.
Before Fame
She began teaching at a local elementary school when she was just 14 years old. In her subsequent pursuit of higher education and law studies, she faced countless obstacles and discrimination due to her gender, but she persevered and lobbied for legal reforms. She became a passionate advocate for women's issues, equal rights, and world peace, among other concerns. She also built a legal practice and established renown among her opponents.
Trivia
She sponsored Samuel R. Lowery, the 5th black attorney to be admitted to the Supreme Court bar, and the 1st black attorney to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. She received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Syracuse University in 1908. She has had 4 separate towns in the United States named in her honor. She was also posthumously inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1983 and featured on a 1986 Great Americans series postage stamp released by the United States Postal Service.
Family Life
She was the daughter of a farmer named Lewis Johnson Bennett, and his wife Hannah Green. She married a farmer named Uriah McNall in 1848, when she was just 18 years old, and they had a daughter named Lura. McNall passed away from tuberculosis in 1853, and she later remarried to Reverend Ezekiel Lockwood, who was highly supportive of her desire to study and become a lawyer. They had a daughter named Jessie who sadly passed away as a baby; however, Lockwood helped her raise Lura until his own passing in 1877.
Associated With
Many of her views and beliefs on women's rights were inspired by activist Susan B. Anthony. In 1879, an anti-discrimination bill which she drafted, was signed by President Rutherford B. Hayes, allowing qualified female attorneys to practice in federal court.
