Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Thursday Thirteen #27



13 Things About Belva Ann Lockwood





Who? You ask? Belva was a wonder. She ran for President twice when women weren't even allowed to vote; she fought to receive a degree in law when she was denied that right, she lobbied to argue in front of the Supreme Court. I just had to find out more about her. So here you go!

1. She was born Belva Ann Bennett on October 24, 1830 in Royalton, New York.

2. She was educated in the public school system and in 1844 she began teaching school for $5.00 a month plus board. This is half of what male teachers made.

3. She married at the age of 18 and had one daughter. Her husband died in 1854 and she left her daughter Lura with her parents and enrolled in Genesee College.

4. Belva graduated in 1857 from Genesee College and began teaching in Lockport, New York for the sum of $400 a year, while male teachers earned $600 per year.

5. In 1863, she operated the McNall Seminary in Oswego, NY, but after the Civil War sold the school and moved to Washington DC. There she opened the city's first co-educational school.

6. In 1868, she married a dentist and baptist minister, Dr. Ezekiel Lockwood, and they had one daugher. The daughter died at 20 months of age and Dr. Lockwood died in 1877.

7. At the age of 40, in 1870, Belva entered the National University of Law School and finished her courses 3 years later. She was refused her diploma because she was a woman. She petitioned President Grant for the right to practice and then was admitted to the Washington bar where she specialized in cases against the government.

8. In 1874, she was denied permission to practice before the U.S. Court of Claims because she was a woman. Belva said, "For the first time in my life I began to realize it's a crime to be a woman, but it was too late to put in a denial, so I pled guilty."

9. Due to her tireless campaigning, in 1879 a bill was passed through both houses of Congress and signed by President Rutherford B. Hayes, which allowed Belva to become the first woman to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States.

10. One of Belva's first actions was to nominate a black Southern colleague for admission to the court. She also won a $5,000,000 settlement for the Cherokee Indians, which was an astronomical amount of money...both then and now!

11. In 1884, Belva was nominated for president of the United States by the National Equal Rights Party. She received 4,194 votes at a time when women were not even allowed to vote! She ran again in 1888.

12. Belva's professional life focused on women's rights. She promoted temperance, peace and arbitration. She was also on the nominating committee for the Nobel Peace Prize and any of her papers on peace were published.

13. Mrs. Lockwood served as president of the Women's National Press Association, and served on other committees such as: the International Peace Bureau, the American Women's League, the National Council for Women, and the National Arbitration Society of the District of Columbia. Belva died on May 19, 1917, and was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1986.

26 comments:

Susan Helene Gottfried said...

I love that you learn all these things -- and then share them with us. In fact, this goes well with my TT this week.

Maybe I ought to rename my historian. What do you think of Lara?

suchsimplepleasures said...

wow...she sounds like an incredible woman!! someone who our daughters should emulate...instead of paris, brittney and lindsey!!

great tt!

Unknown said...

A most amazing woman. Hearing things like this is so empowering. Happy T13!

Lori said...

She sounds like my kind of girl. Yuu've got to love strong women...our population is growing every years:) Happy TT and thanks for stopping by.

Nicole said...

Wow, neat! I love the quote. "... it was too late to put in a denial, so I pled guilty." Just awesome.

Open Grove Claudia said...

This is such an inspirational story. Really wonderful. Gosh, so many people have reasons for not doing - she just did. Thanks for sharing!

Happy TT!

Anonymous said...

I love women trailblazers.

pussreboots said...

Thank you for teaching me about her. Happy TT.

Cynthia said...

Strong women good!

Chelle Y. said...

You always have interesting stuff on your TT's.

Cheerio said...

Wow! She really is a great woman. She should have won for Presidency.
Thanks for sharing great information.
Thanks for the visit.

Anonymous said...

Oh, that was so interesting. I confess I had never heard of her, but thank you for posting this. Very educational.

Lex Valentine said...

Great TT! I love it when the TTs are educational.

Anonymous said...

Wow, what an amazing go getter!

Happy TT!

Anonymous said...

She was indeed an astonishing woman. All American women owe her a debt we can never repay.

Mine:
13 Hearts

Anonymous said...

Thank you for information on the extraordinary woman.

And thank you for stopping by our blog and leaving such a wonderful comment!

Renee

Anonymous said...

Score! We were looking for great women this week in class, now we have an awesome example. Thank you.

Darla said...

What an amazing woman! Thanks for bringing her to our attention! That quote in #8 is priceless.

Anonymous said...

Belva and Lura. I guess Appalachia wasn't the only place with those kinds of names back in the day. I keep a list and listed a few today. I love to hear these inspiring stories of women going for it.

Anonymous said...

What a fascinating woman! Thanks for talking about her in your TT.

Anonymous said...

Wow Belva was quite a woman!
Thanks for sharing a bit of her history with us.

storyteller said...

Thanks for this reminder of what women of the past did to make life better for themselves and us. Numbers 8 and 12 ‘resonate’ as striking contrasts to one another. Belva Lockwood was a force to be reckoned with and we all owe her a debt of gratitude.
Hugs and blessings,

Anonymous said...

Nice list, I definitely learned something.
Thanks for sharing~

Addicted to crafting said...

As usual, interesting and great.

Have a great weekend Lara.:)

MamaGeek @ Works For Us said...

Wow, what an awesome woman. I just love actually LEARNING something from blogging! :)

pussreboots said...

#6 took me by surprise. Happy TT.