Belva Lockwood: A Lawyer Who Ran For President Before Women Could Vote

"I cannot vote, but I can be voted for," said Belva Lockwood, a female US Presidential candidate in 1884, nearly 40 years before women got the right to vote. She was the second woman (the first being Victoria Woodhull) to contest the general election and the first female lawyer to fight for women's suffrage in the US Supreme Court. As a powerful orator, peace activist, and lobbyist, Lockwood became a prominent figure in the women's rights movement in America and beyond.

"I Am Going To Be President Lockwood," She Said

Belva Lockwood contested the US Presidential election twice before women achieved voting rights. She was first nominated by the Equal Rights Party in 1884. "It is quite time that we had our own party; our own platform, and our own nominees,” she wrote in The National Magazine (October 1902- March 1903), in an article titled 'How I Ran For President'.

“We shall never have equal rights until we take them, nor respect until we command it," Lockwood asserted. She also noted that America lagged behind many other countries with women in leadership. “Is not Victoria Empress of India? Have we not among our countrywomen persons of as much talent and ability? Is not history full of precedents of women rulers?”

Lockwood lost the election but not before building a legacy. Americans named businesses, streets, and even their children after her. She ran again in 1888; She told journalist Nellie Bly, "Men always say, ‘Let’s see what you can do,’ If we always talk and never work, we will not accomplish anything.” However, her second campaign failed to garner much attention.

Who Was Belva Lockwood?

Belva Ann Bennett was born on October 24, 1830, on a farm in Royalton, New York. As a young girl, she faced many biases like not getting valued for her accomplishments or discouragement from schoolwork by her parents. However, she was passionate about pursuing an education and achieving more. By age 14, Lockwood became a teacher.

While working as a young educator, Lockwood was furious to find out that her male colleagues were being paid much more than her. In 1848, she married a farmer named Uriah McNall. He died three years later, leaving her on her own to support their daughter, Lura. Lockwood then enrolled at Genesee Wesleyan Seminary and graduated in 1857.

Lockwood got involved in the women's rights movement. In 1866, she moved to Washington, D.C., cultivating a circle of influential progressive friends and becoming the president of the Universal Franchise Association. In 1868, she married an elderly minister and dentist, Ezekiel Lockwood. They had a daughter Jessie (who died before her second birthday). 

She soon enrolled into the National University Law School. However, the University initially refused to grant her a diploma. Lockwood fought and even wrote to President Ulysses S. Grant, appealing for his assistance. Finally, in September 1873, the university granted her a diploma and, at age 43, she was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar.

Look Back At Belva Lockwood's Legal Career

Lockwood became the first woman lawyer admitted to the Supreme Court bar in March 1879, years after being denied. The next year, she became the first woman to argue a case, Kaiser v. Stickney, (sex discrimination in employment). She fought murder suspects to veterans, and pensions and real estate interests. She also encouraged more women to pursue law.

After Lockwood's Presidential run, her photos decorated the chambers of many female lawyers in America. Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote in the introduction to Belva Lockwood: The Woman Who Would Be President, by Jill Norgren, "Resilience, wit, and good humour, Lockwood’s work and days reveal, can turn put-downs and slights into opportunities."