Women didn't even get the VOTE until 1920! So how is it possible that Victoria Claflin Woodhull (born Victoria California Claflin in 1838) ran for President of the United States in 1872? As there was no law on the books preventing women from running for office, Woodhull was nominated by the newly-formed Equal Rights Party on May 10, 1872, at Apollo Hall, New York City. Frederick Douglass, famous orator, newspaper publisher, abolitionist, and former slave, was nominated Vice President. (Douglass never acknowledged this nomination. Instead, he served as a presidential elector in the United States Electoral College for the State of New York.) At the beginning of her campaign, she owned a stock brokerage (in partnership with her sister, Tennessee) and published a New York journal, "Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly." Yet Victoria spent election day in jail, having been arrested by the U.S. government under the Comstock Act for sending "obscene" literature through the mail. By the end of her historical run (Ulysses S. Grant was elected President), she had been evicted from her home and, by one account, had been jailed by the U.S. Government EIGHT times (during which time her printing press and personal papers were confiscated). Eventually acquitted of any crime,Victoria was nonetheless financially ruined by the experience, having spent a fortune in legal bills and bail. (For more info, read Miriam Brody's 2003 biography, Victoria Woodhull: Free Spirit for Women's Rights) What an amazing story! (Check out the ChicoLaura web site: www.ChicoLaura.com )
Saturday, April 5, 2008
First Woman Presidential Candidate
Women didn't even get the VOTE until 1920! So how is it possible that Victoria Claflin Woodhull (born Victoria California Claflin in 1838) ran for President of the United States in 1872? As there was no law on the books preventing women from running for office, Woodhull was nominated by the newly-formed Equal Rights Party on May 10, 1872, at Apollo Hall, New York City. Frederick Douglass, famous orator, newspaper publisher, abolitionist, and former slave, was nominated Vice President. (Douglass never acknowledged this nomination. Instead, he served as a presidential elector in the United States Electoral College for the State of New York.) At the beginning of her campaign, she owned a stock brokerage (in partnership with her sister, Tennessee) and published a New York journal, "Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly." Yet Victoria spent election day in jail, having been arrested by the U.S. government under the Comstock Act for sending "obscene" literature through the mail. By the end of her historical run (Ulysses S. Grant was elected President), she had been evicted from her home and, by one account, had been jailed by the U.S. Government EIGHT times (during which time her printing press and personal papers were confiscated). Eventually acquitted of any crime,Victoria was nonetheless financially ruined by the experience, having spent a fortune in legal bills and bail. (For more info, read Miriam Brody's 2003 biography, Victoria Woodhull: Free Spirit for Women's Rights) What an amazing story! (Check out the ChicoLaura web site: www.ChicoLaura.com )
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Fascinating! Yet another example of history that never made it into my school history textbooks! Mlee
ReplyDelete