Crime and Punishment in America Biographies | Belva Ann Lockwood Biography

Born October 24, 1830 (Royalton, New York)

Died May 19, 1917 (Washington, D.C.)

Attorney

Belva Ann Bennett McNall Lockwood gained notoriety as the first woman to run for president in the United States. She was nominated in both the 1884 and the 1888 presidential races by the National Equal Rights Party. Lockwood is best remembered, however, as the first woman admitted to practice law before the Supreme Court of the United States. She was also the first woman to practice law in the lower federal court system.

As a lawyer in Washington, D.C., Lockwood exerted a great deal of political influence in both Congress and the courts. While she was most visible in her campaign to earn women's rights, especially the right to vote, Lockwood also lobbied Congress on a wide range of issues addressing injustice against a variety of groups. Lockwood was an avid pacifist (person opposed to the...