Photo: Belva Ann Lockwood

Photographer: Allen C. Browne
Taken: February 14, 2015
Caption: Belva Ann Lockwood
Additional Description: Born Oct. 24, 1830
Died May 19, 1817
Lockwood
Headstone in Congressional Cemetery, Washington, DC
“Born Belva Ann Bennett in Royalton, New York. At age 22 with a young daughter, Lura, Lockwood was widowed. She became a teacher and school principal and described herself as ‘an earnest, zealous laborer in the cause of Education, Sabbath School and Missionary work, and an indefatigable advocate of the Temperance Cause…’ At age 36, she came to Washington, DC ‘to see what was being done at this great political centre—this seething pot, to learn something of the practical workings of the machinery of government, and to see what the great men and women of the country felt and thought.’ She obtained a teaching position and spent her free time listening to the debates in Congress and the Supreme Court, which fostered a fascination with law and lawmaking. She married again, to Ezekiel Lockwood, and acted on her ambition to be a lawyer. By then she was already an established leader and a spokeswoman for the DC suffrage movement, and a lobbyist for women’s equal employment. After years of adversity, Lockwood was finally presented with her diploma and admitted to the DC bar in 1873. The first woman licensed to practice law, she was an ardent lobbyist for women’s rights and frequently argued before Congressional committees against sex discrimination. Her law practice in her own name survived for 40 years, and she managed to earn respect for her legal accomplishments. Despite her success, the number of female lawyers remained a small handful, a pattern which did not change until the mid-1970s. She fought to gain the right to present cases to federal courts, until finally the Senate passed the legislation which allowed her to present arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court. In 1884, she was the Presidential candidate for the Equal Rights Party. Her candidacy caused her business to decline. She relied on her pension from her husband’s death, lecture fees, and her tenants, supported not only herself but her widowed mother and the orphaned son who survived her daughter. Although she died in 1917 before seeing her dream fulfilled, Lockwood’s tireless efforts to gain women the right to vote had a profound impact on the creation of the 19th Amendment in 1920.” — Congressional Cemetery Educators, Agitators & Lawyers walking tour pamphlet.
Submitted: March 24, 2015, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland.
Database Locator Identification Number: p303600
File Size: 3.329 Megabytes

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