Belva Ann Lockwood: Difference between revisions

{{shortShort description|American lawyer politician, educator, author and suffragette (1830–1917)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=OctoberAugust 20132024}}

| name = Belva Lockwood

| image = File:Belva Ann Lockwood - Brady-Handy (cropped).jpg

| birth_name = Belva Ann Bennett

| birth_date = {{birth date|1830|10|24}}

| birth_place = [[Royalton, New York]], U.S.

| death_date = {{death date and age|1917|5|19|1830|10|24}}

| death_place = [[Washington, D.C.]], U.S.

| spouse = {{plainlist|

| party = [[National Equal Rights Party|National Equal Rights]]

| education = [[Genesee Wesleyan Seminary]]<br>[[Genesee College]] ([[Bachelor of Arts|BA]])<br>[[Syracuse University]] ([[Master of Arts|MA]])<br>[[National University School of Law|National University]] ([[Bachelor of Laws|LLB]])

Lockwood overcame many social and personal obstacles related to gender restrictions. Earlier in her life, Lockwood was a teacher and school principal, working to equalize pay for women in education.<ref name="Margaret Bell 1922, p. 14">{{Cite news|last=Bell|first=Margaret|date=August 8, 1922|title=Women of Spirit|pages=14|work=[[The Boston Globe]]|url=https://bostonglobe.newspapers.com/image/431046421/|access-date=February 23, 2022}}</ref> She supported the movement for world peace, and was a proponent of the [[Temperancetemperance movement]].

==Early and personalPersonal lifeLife==

Belva Ann Bennett was born in [[Royalton, New York]], daughter of Lewis Johnson Bennett, a farmer, and his wife Hannah Green.<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite ANB|last=Norgren|first=Jill|title=Lockwood, Belva Ann Bennett McNall (1830-1917), teacher, lawyer, and social activist|doi=10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1500416}}</ref> Her aunt's house where she spent some of her childhood still stands at 5070 Griswold Street. In front of this house is a memorial to her with a plaque that gives a brief biography of her life. By 14, she was teaching at the local elementary school.<ref>{{Cite news|date=October 20, 1907|title=Once Ran for President|pages=59|work=[[The Boston Globe]]|url=https://bostonglobe.newspapers.com/image/430888300/|access-date=February 23, 2022}}</ref> In 1848, when she was 18, she married Uriah McNall, a local farmer.<ref name="Kitty Parsons 1964, p. 19">Kitty Parsons. "Who Was the First Woman to Run for the Presidency?", ''Christian Science Monitor'', March 11, 1964, p. 19</ref>

Lockwood quickly realized she needed a better education to support herself and her daughter. She attended [[Genesee Wesleyan Seminary]] to prepare for study at college. Her plan, as she explained to ''Lippincott's Monthly Magazine'', was not well received by many of her friends and colleagues; most women did not seek higher education, and it was especially unusual for a widow to do so.<ref name="Belva A. Lockwood 1888, pp. 215-30">Belva A. Lockwood. "My Efforts to Become a Lawyer", ''Lippincott's Monthly Magazine'', February 1888, pp. 215–30</ref> Nonetheless, she was determined andShe persuaded the administration at Genesee College in [[Lima (village), New York|Lima, New York]] to admit her.

Lockwood graduated with honors in 1857 and soon became the headmistress of [[Lockport Union School]].<ref name="ReferenceA"/> It was a responsible position, but Lockwood found that whether she was teaching or working as an administrator, she was paid half of what her male counterparts were making.<ref name="Kitty Parsons 1964, p. 19"/> (Later Lockwood worked for pay equity for women during her legal career.)

For the next few years, Lockwood continued to teach and also work as the principal at several local schools for young women. She stayed at Lockport until 1861, then became principal of the [[Gainesville (town), New York|Gainesville]] Female Seminary. In 1863, Belva bought The Owego Female Seminary, where she was Principal before leaving to pursue her political career. This building was dismantled and moved, before being renovated in 2019 as the Belva Lockwood Inn in Owego, NY.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Preservation in Progress |url=https://www.belvalockwoodinn.com/about-us/ |website=The Belva Lockwood Inn |access-date=24 May 24, 2021}}</ref> Lockwood's educational philosophy was gradually changing, particularly after she met women's rights activist [[Susan B. Anthony]]. Lockwood agreed with many of Anthony's ideas about society's restrictions on women. Anthony was concerned about the limited education girls received. Courses at most girls' schools chiefly prepared female students for domestic life and possibly for temporary work as teachers.<ref name="Belva A. Lockwood 1888, pp. 215-30"/> Anthony spoke about how young women ought to be given more options, including preparation for careers in the business world, where the pay was better. Lockwood was encouraged to make changes at her schools. She expanded the curriculum and added courses typical of those which young men took, such as [[public speaking]], [[botany]], and gymnastics.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

In February 1866, Belva and her daughter Lura moved to Washington, D.C., as Belva believed it was the center of power in the United States and would provide good opportunities to advance in the legal profession.<ref name="Belva A. Lockwood 1888, pp. 215-30"/> She opened a coeducational private school while exploring the study of law. In the mid-1860s, [[coeducation]] was unusual; most schools were separated by gender.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

In 1868, Belva remarried, this time to a man much older than she. Reverend [[Ezekiel Lockwood]], an [[American Civil War]] veteran, was a [[Baptist]] minister and practicing dentist. They had a daughter Jessie (who died before her second birthday). Lockwood supported his wife's desire for legal study as well as encouraged her to pursue subjects that interested her.<ref name="Kitty Parsons 1964, p. 19"/> She earned a [[Master of Arts]] from [[Syracuse University]] in 1871.<ref name="Syracuse">{{cite web |url=https://library.syr.edu/digital/guides_sua/html/sua_lockwood_b.htm |title=Belva Ann Lockwood Collection |publisher=[[Syracuse University]] |accessdate=January 28, 2022}}</ref> Not only did Rev. Lockwood have progressive ideas about women's roles in society, he helped raise Belva's daughter Lura, from her first marriage. Ezekiel Lockwood died in late April 1877. In July 1879 Lockwood's daughter Lura McNall married DeForest Orme, a pharmacist.

The [[District of Columbia Bar]] admitted her, although several judges told Lockwood they had no confidence in her, a reaction she repeatedly had to overcome.<ref name="Belva A. Lockwood 1888, pp. 215-30"/> When she tried to gain admission to the Maryland Bar, 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.<ref>"Notes", ''Albany Law Journal'', NovNovember 9, 1878, p.380</ref> She also applied to the Court of Claims to represent veterans and their families, but was denied. She applied to the United States Supreme Court bar after having practiced for the minimum three years and secured Albert G. Riddle as sponsor, but her motion was also denied on gender grounds.<ref>David C. Frederick, Oral Argument in the Supreme Court p.p. 31-32 (2003)</ref>

Because her practice was limited in the 1870s due to social discrimination, Lockwood drafted an anti-discrimination bill to have the same access to the bar as male colleagues. From 1874 to 1879, she lobbied Congress to pass it.<ref name="Belva A. Lockwood 1888, pp. 215-30"/> In 1879, Congress finally passed the law, which President [[Rutherford B. Hayes]] signed into law. It allowed all qualified women attorneys to practice in any federal court. Lockwood was then sworn in as the first woman member of the U.S. Supreme Court bar on March 3, 1879.<ref>{{Cite web |title=In Re Lady Lawyers: The Rise of Women Attorneys and the Supreme Court: Belva Lockwood |author= |work=[[United States Supreme Court]] |date= |access-date=30 July 30, 2024 |url= https://www.supremecourt.gov/visiting/exhibitions/LadyLawyers/Section2.aspx}}</ref>

Representing a third party without a broad base of support, Lockwood did not have a serious chance of winning the presidency. A letter she sent to [[Linda Slaughter]] provided some insights into her campaign. She wrote: "I intend if possible to get up an Electoral ticket for each State; and thus get up a grand agitation on the woman question, but am not so anxious about the number of votes polled.".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Norgren|first=Jill|title=Belva Lockwood: The Woman Who Would Be President|url=https://archive.org/details/belvalockwoodwom00norg_426|url-access=limited|date=2007|publisher=New York University Press|isbn=978-0-8147-5834-2|location=New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/belvalockwoodwom00norg_426/page/n198 164]}}</ref> ''Notable American Women'' stated she received about 4,100 votes.<ref>Edwin Louis Dey, "Before Shirley Chisholm", ''The Washington Post'', June 26, 1984, p. A12</ref> Since women could not vote, and most newspapers were opposed to her candidacy, it was unusual that she received any votes. In an 1884 article, the ''[[Atlanta Constitution]]'' referred to her as "old lady Lockwood" and warned male readers of the dangers of "petticoat rule".<ref>"Is it A Revolution?", the ''Atlanta Constitution'', September 9, 1884, p.4</ref>

On January 12, 1885, Lockwood petitioned the [[United States Congress]] to have her votes counted. She told newspapers and magazines that she had evidence of voter fraud. She asserted that supporters had seen their ballots ripped up and that she had "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.".<ref>Belva A. Lockwood, "How I Ran for the Presidency", ''National Magazine'', March 1903, pp. 728 and 733.</ref>

Lockwood was a well-respected writer, who frequently wrote essays about [[women's suffrage]] and the need for legal equality for women. Among the publications in which she appeared in the 1880s and 1890s were ''Cosmopolitan'' (then a journal of current issues), the ''American Magazine of Civics'', ''Harper's Weekly'', and ''Lippincott's''. In addition to being active in the [[National American Woman Suffrage Association]] and the Equal Rights Party, Lockwood participated in the [[National Women's Press Association]]. The organization for women journalists also advocated for equal rights for women.

Lockwood believed strongly in working for world peace. She co-edited a journal called ''The Peacemaker'', and she belonged to the Universal Peace Union; she was one of its representatives at an exposition held in Paris in 1889. She was also a delegate to an [[International Peace Congress]] in London in 1890.<ref>"Belva Lockwood is 86", ''The Washington Post'', October 25, 1916, p. 5</ref> She continued to speak on behalf of peace and disarmament to the year of her death. She was likely disappointed as the United States prepared to enter the war in Europe.<ref name="Margaret Bell 1922, p. 14" />

[[File:BelvaLockwoodShipFigurehead.jpg|left|thumb|150px|Belva Lockwood Shipship Figureheadfigurehead]]

[[File:Belva Ann Lockwood, Congressional Cemetery.jpg|rightupright|thumb|Belva's grave at the Congressional Cemetery.]]

At least three figureheads were carved in her likeness: for the ships ''Martha'', ''Julia Lawrence'', and an unnamed ship that has a full-length masthead. One of the figureheads is displayed in the museum at [[Mystic Seaport]] in [[Mystic, Connecticut]]. "With raised chin she gazes straight ahead as if her attention were fixed on the distant horizon.".<ref>{{cite book

The [[National Portrait Gallery (United States)|National Portrait Gallery]] in Washington, D.C., has a portrait of Lockwood by [[Nellie Mathes Horne]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://npg.si.edu/object/npg_NPG.66.61?destination=node/5631%3Fedan_q%3Dnellie%2520horne%26edan_local%3D1%26edan_fq%255B0%255D%3Dset_name%253A%2522Catalog%2520of%2520American%2520Portraits%2522%2520OR%2520set_name%253A%2522National%2520Portrait%2520Gallery%2520Collection%2522%26incCAP%3Dtrue%26op%3DSearch|title=Belva Ann Lockwood|website=npg.si.edu|access-date=26 December 26, 2017}}</ref> It was painted in 1908, when she received an honorary doctorate in law from Syracuse University.<ref>[http://www.npg.si.edu/cexh/nwomen/lockwood2.htm Belva Lockwood] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070610091059/http://www.npg.si.edu/cexh/nwomen/lockwood2.htm |date=June 10, 2007 }}, National Portrait Gallery</ref>

In 1983, Lockwood was inducted into the [[National Women's Hall of Fame]] in [[Seneca Falls (village), New York|Seneca Falls, New York]]. The statement about her noted:

<blockquote> "Using her knowledge of the law, she worked to secure woman suffrage, property law reforms, equal pay for equal work, and world peace. Thriving on publicity and partisanship and encouraging other women to pursue legal careers, Lockwood helped to open the legal profession to women."<ref name="womenshalloffame.org"/><ref>[http://greatwomen.org/women.php?action=viewone&id=99 National Women's Hall of Fame]</ref></blockquote>

In 2016, she was honored by the [[The Green Bag (1997)|Green Bag]] with a [[bobblehead]] doll.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://greenbag.org/bobbleheads/pdfs/Lockwood_annotated_bobblehead_2016.pdf|title=Belva Ann Lockwood: The Annotated Bobblehead|access-date=17 June 17, 2018}}</ref>

* Cook, Frances A. (1997). [http://wlh-static.law.stanford.edu/papers/LockwoodB-Cook97.pdf "Belva Ann Lockwood: for Peace, Justice, and President"] (1997). ''Women's Legal History Biography Project'', Robert Crown Law Library, Stanford Law School.

* Kerr, Laura. ''The Girl Who Ran for President''. Thomas Nelson, 1947.

* Norgren, Jill (Spring 2005). [https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2005/spring/belva-lockwood-1.html "Belva Lockwood, Blazing the Trail for Women in Law"]. ''Prologue Magazine''. Spring 2005, Vol. 37, No. 1.

* Norgren, Jill (Spring 2005). [https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/2005/spring/belva-lockwood-1.html "Belva Lockwood, Blazing the Trail for Women in Law, Part 2"]. ''Prologue Magazine''. Spring 2005, Vol. 37, No. 1.

* Norgren, Jill (2007). ''Belva Lockwood: The Woman Who Would Be President''. New York: New York University Press, 2007.

* [http://www.nysl.nysed.gov/msscfa/sc21041.htm Finding Aid to Belva A. Lockwood Collection, 1830–1917] at the [[New York State Library]]

* The [http://archives.tricolib.brynmawr.edu/repositories/8/resources/7376 Belva Ann Lockwood Papers] held at the [https://www.swarthmore.edu/peace-collection Swarthmore College Peace Collection]

* Lockwood, Belva. [http://greenbag.org/v19n4/v19n4_from_the_bag_lockwood.pdf "My Efforts to Become a Lawyer"]. ''Lippincott's Monthly Magazine''. February 1888 (reprinted in [[The Green Bag (1997)|The Green Bag]] (Summer 2016), pages 413-432).

* Belva Lockwood alumnae records and other material [http://archives.syr.edu/archives/collections/alumni/lockwood_bio.html]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, [[Syracuse University]] Archives

* [https://archive.org/details/fiftyyearsrecol00bonhgoog/page/n257 <!-- pg=248 --> Mrs. Belva A. Lockwood: Counsellor-At-Law and Advocate.] Jeriah Bonham, editor. ''Fifty Years' Recollections with Observations and Reflections on Historical Events giving sketches of Eminent Citizens—Their Lives and Public Service.'' Peoria, Illinois, J.W. Franks & Sons, 1883. Pages 248–261.

* [http://oabonny.com/indexpage49.htm#r4 Current photos of the remains of her home outside of Royalton, NY]

* Much of Belva Ann Lockwood's papers have been digitized and are available at the [http://inherownright.org/records/dg-098 In Her Own Right project] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606001813/http://inherownright.org/records/dg-098 |date=June 6, 2021 }}

[[Category:19th-century American women lawyerseducators]]

[[Category:EducatorsGenesee fromWesleyan Washington,Seminary D.C.alumni]]