Lockwood, Belva Ann

Lockwood, Belva Ann

▪ American lawyer
née  Belva Ann Bennett 
born Oct. 24, 1830, Royalton, N.Y., U.S.
died May 19, 1917, Washington, D.C.
 American feminist and lawyer who was the first woman admitted to practice law before the U.S. Supreme Court.

      Belva Bennett attended country schools until she was 15 and then taught in them until her marriage in 1848 to Uriah H. McNall, who died in 1853. She then resumed teaching and continued her own education. She graduated from Genesee College (forerunner of Syracuse University) in 1857. After college she continued as a teacher in various towns in upper New York state until 1866, when she moved to Washington, D.C. There she taught for a year and, while operating her own private school, began to study law. In 1868 she married Ezekiel Lockwood, a former minister and dentist who took over her school. After Columbian College (now George Washington University), Georgetown University, and Howard University had each refused her admission, she was enrolled in the new National University Law School in 1871. She graduated in 1873 and in the same year was admitted to the District of Columbia bar. She was not allowed to speak before the Supreme Court because of “custom.”

      Offended by the legal and economic discrimination against women in American society, Lockwood became one of the most effective advocates of women's rights (women's movement) of her time. Although her law practice dealt primarily with pension claims against the government, her work in Washington gave her the opportunity to lobby on behalf of legislation favourable to women. She drafted a bill for equal pay for equal work by women in government employment, and the bill was enacted into law in 1872. After being denied admission to the Supreme Court (Supreme Court of the United States) in 1876 she singlehandedly lobbied enabling legislation through Congress and in March 1879 became the first woman to avail herself of the new law. She gained national prominence as a lecturer on women's rights and was active in the affairs of various suffrage organizations.

      In 1884 and 1888 Lockwood ran for the presidency on the ticket of the National Equal Rights Party, a small California group. She was chosen by the Department of State to be a delegate to the International Congress of Charities, Correction, and Philanthropy at Geneva in 1896, and she attended peace congresses in Europe in 1889, 1906, 1908, and 1911. She took a prominent part in the campaign headed by Ellen S. Mussey (Mussey, Ellen Spencer) that secured for the married women of the district equal property rights (see Married Women's Property Acts) and equal guardianship of children in 1896. When the statehood bills for Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona came before Congress in 1903, she prepared amendments granting suffrage to women in the proposed new states. She later held office in several reform organizations.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Lockwood,Belva Ann Bennett — Lock·wood (lŏkʹwo͝od ), Belva Ann Bennett. 1830 1917. American lawyer and suffragist. She was the first woman admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court (1879). * * * …   Universalium

  • Belva Ann Bennet Lockwood — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Belva Lockwood Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood ( *24 de octubre de 1830 19 de mayo de 1917) fue una abogada, política, educadora y autora estadounidense. Trabajó activamente por los derechos de la mujer, aunque el término …   Wikipedia Español

  • Belva Ann Lockwood — Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood (October 24, 1830 – May 19, 1917) was a United States attorney, politician, educator and author. She was active in working for women s rights, although the term feminist was not in use. The press of her day referred to… …   Wikipedia

  • Belva, West Virginia — Belva is an unincorporated community in west Nicholas County, West Virginia, United States. The town is situated at the bottomland surrounding the convergence of Bells Creek with Twentymile Creek and, subsequently, Twenty Mile Creek with the… …   Wikipedia

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  • Lockwood (Virginia Occidental) — Lockwood es una comunidad desincorporada en el condado de Nicholas de Virginia Occidental en los Estados Unidos. EL poblado se encuentra junto al arroyo Otter y la autopista 39 de Virginia Occidental. La comunidad recibe su nombre en honor de… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Lockwood — may refer to:People*Al Lockwood, retired RAF officer and politician *Annea Lockwood, composer *Belva Ann Lockwood, feminist and lawyer. *Betty Lockwood, Baroness Lockwood of Dewsbury, political activist *Cara Lockwood, American writer *Charles A …   Wikipedia

  • Lockwood — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Belva Ann Lockwood (1830–1917), US amerikanische Anwältin und Frauenrechtlerin Didier Lockwood (* 1956), französischer Jazz Geiger und Komponist Frank Lockwood (1846–1897), englischer Anwalt und Politiker… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Belva — can refer to:People*Belva Gaertner, the inspiration for the character of Velma Kelly in Chicago *Belva Ann Lockwood, American lawyer, politician, and early feminist *Belva Plain, American authorPlaces*Belva, West Virginia …   Wikipedia

  • Lockwood — /lok wood /, n. Belva Ann Bennett /bel veuh/, 1830 1917, U.S. lawyer and women s rights activist. * * * …   Universalium

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