Women’s History Month 2020

Arabella Mansfield graduated as valedictorian from Iowa Wesleyan University in 1866, and spent the next two years teaching English, political science, and history at Simpson College. After marrying in 1868, Arabella and her husband applied together for admission to the Iowa bar in 1869. Arabella’s performance on the exam elicited a statement from her examiners that her examination was “the very best rebuke possible to the imputation that ladies cannot qualify for the practice of law.”

Appealing an Iowa law that limited the taking of the bar to “any white male person,” Arabella was certified as an attorney that year with the Iowa legislature amending its statute to permit women and minorities to practice law. She never went into practice, but she did become active in the women’s rights movement through her leadership roles in local suffrage organizations.

Learn more about Arabella here:
https://law.jrank.org/pages/12251/Mansfield-Arabella-commanding-presence.html

Sojourner Truth is best-known as a powerful member of the abolitionist movement. Born into slavery in NY, she was eventually forced to marry another slave with whom she had five children. In 1827, shortly after her master refused to grant her freedom in accordance with the newly passed New York Anti-Slavery Law, she left her master’s estate and soon became a traveling preacher, becoming involved in the growing antislavery movement during the 1840s.

Through her travels, she met a number of women’s rights activists, including Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony – and quickly joined their causes with her own. In her famed 1851 “Ain’t I A Woman” speech at a women’s rights conference in Ohio, Sojourner passionately illustrates how neither her womanhood nor her race make her any less worthy of equal rights. Sojourner even parted ways with Frederick Douglass while the two were touring together as he held that suffrage for black men should occur before suffrage for women, and she felt that neither group should have to wait.

Learn more about Sojourner:
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/sojourner-truth
https://www.nps.gov/articles/sojourner-truth.htm

In 1914, wealthy textile manufacturer Henry Kaufman hit Constance Kopp’s family buggy with his car, damaging the buggy enough to need repairs. Kaufmann ignored Constance’s requests that he pay the repair costs, leading Constance to sue him. Constance was awarded a $50 judgement – which Kaufmann refused to pay.

Instead, he and his friends sent threatening letters and even went so far as to prowl around her family farm and shoot at the house. The letter writers tried to get her to pay for her safety and on one occasion, she was lured to meet a man who claimed to have knowledge of a plot to kidnap her sister. Constance brought a concealed handgun, and police support, to each meeting.

Constance was eventually able to show in court that Kaufmann was behind the threats. Sheriff Robert Heath was so impressed by Constance’s help with, and handling of, her case, he appointed her Under Sheriff. Unfortunately, in 1916 a new sheriff was elected and Constance, and others appointed by Sheriff Heath, was replaced.

Learn more about Constance:
https://www.loc.gov/rr/news/topics/kopp.html
https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/pg79zm/americas-first-female-sheriff-got-her-job-after-a-man-tried-to-screw-her-over

Known as the “founding mother” of the revenge porn and internet privacy legal fields, Carrie Goldberg is also the creator of a groundbreaking new legal theory of accountability for BigTech companies. Previously invincible with statutory immunity, tech platforms have been able to operate with impunity: for example, failing to protect users from violent platform misuse, and failing to prevent child porn on their sites. Carrie created and advanced the legal theory that such companies actually offer products, not services, and therefore should be liable under a products liability theory, circumventing CDA 230 immunity. Carrie’s theory is gaining traction and has been adopted by several courts and considered in various pieces of legislation.

Carrie has been described as a legal heavyweight and powerhouse, but her business acumen deserves praise as well. She is the founder of C. A. Goldberg, PLLC, a victims’ rights law firm, recognized by the Law Firm 500 in 2018 as the fastest growing law firm in the country based on revenue growth. Her widely-acclaimed book, Nobody’s Victim, was released in 2019. Carrie is from Aberdeen, WA.

Learn more at:
https://www.cagoldberglaw.com/

Augusta Ada King, Countess of Lovelace, generally known as Ada Lovelace, has long been credited as the first computer programmer.

Showing a lifelong interest in mathematic and scientific developments, she is most famous for her works alongside friend Charles Babbage. Babbage, a mathematician and inventor, proposed the idea of the Analytical Engine – a device intended to be capable of processing ‘instructions’ and ‘variables’ while following conditional logic statements.

Ada translated an article written about the Analytical Engine, annotating along the way to better explain the function of the machine. Among her annotations is a detailed method for using the machine to calculate a sequence of Bernoulli numbers, which could have been run had it ever actually been built. This portion of her notes is generally considered to be the first known computer program, making her the first recognized computer programmer.

Learn more about Ada Lovelace:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_Lovelace

Girls Who Code is a national foundation aimed at closing the gender gap in technology fields. The group provides classroom lesson plans and develops clubs and summer programs where girls and young women interested in technology fields can support each other as well as learn hands-on tech skills.

Elementary through High School clubs are free after-school programs where girls work with peers and role models to learn the basic building blocks of computer science and, as a team, design an impact project around a real-world problem they care about.

Learn more about all their programs and how you can support Girls Who Code:
https://girlswhocode.com/

Caroline Cohen was elected to the Civil Court in Brooklyn in 2019 – the youngest woman to win a judicial seat in the district. Prior to her election she was a Senior Associate Attorney with Crumiller P.C. – working on a variety of cases including discrimination cases brought by NYS Division of Human Rights, holdover, non-payment, HP and Article 78 proceedings – treating all those she has worked on behalf of with dignity and respect, and working tirelessly to ensure that cases moved to a tangible resolution in a timely manner.

Drawing from her litigation experience and community work, Caroline noted, “Working people wait too long for their cases to be heard and pro se litigants are often left without hope for legal representation or resolution. Women who work in or enter our courts are often disrespected or marginalized. Immigrants often avoid showing up to court because of fear. Our seniors and disabled are often deprived of accessibility within the courthouse. Transgender individuals feel that they are beneath the system,” and vowed her in courtroom everyone would have an equal chance to be heard and treated with respect, compassion, and dignity.

More about Caroline:
https://www.psreader.com/caroline-p-cohen-honest-engagement/

Mary O’Toole was born in Ireland in 1874 and, when she emigrated to New York at age 16, she became the first woman naturalized in Steuben County, NY – a few years later becoming the first woman in the county to be appointed as an official stenographer. Her reputation earned her the attention of a judge who not only offered her a better salary to work for him, but actively encouraged her to study law.

She received her Law degree in 1908, and by 1921, her reputation was such that President Harding appointed her to the bench in the Municipal Court of Washington, D.C. – an appointment which was met with much approval. She would later be reappointed by Presidents Coolidge and Hoover. Her work on the bench was largely focused on the juvenile court and her courtroom demeanor was described as quiet and easy-going, but firm.

Mary did not limit her community involvement to legal organizations. She was active in numerous women’s rights groups and the Washington Chamber of Commerce and supported local arts organizations. She also managed to find time to knit for the Red Cross.

Read more about Mary at:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/18EeB4Dv5bOIjKViirVvSHffT5eSDQNye/view?usp=sharing

Hattie Caraway, following a precedent of the time for widows to temporarily fill their husbands’ political seats, was appointed to the U.S. Senate representing the state of Arkansas in December of 1931. She then won a special election in January 1932, allowing her to complete the final few months of her husband’s term.

She surprised everyone when, in May of that year, she declared that she would run for a full-term seat in the Senate. The field was crowded with candidates who had presumed she’d step aside. Hattie purportedly told reporters that “The time has passed when a woman should be placed in a position and kept there only while someone else is being groomed for the job.”

Aided in her campaign by Louisiana Governor & Senator Huey Long, Hattie won her primary with nearly double the votes of her closest opponent, and won the subsequent general election in November. Hattie would remain in the Senate, winning re-election in 1938 – the first woman to win re-election to the Senate, serving on and chairing (another first for women) a number of committees, until 1945.

Learn more about Hattie – and her other Senate firsts – at: https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/C/CARAWAY,-Hattie-Wyatt-(C000138)/

Born to an interracial couple in 1908, Jane Bolin grew up to become the first African American woman to serve as a judge in the United States. She enrolled at Wellesley College at age 16, graduating in the top of her class in 1928, despite enduring overt racism and social isolation. She continued her education at Yale, graduating from Yale Law School in 1931 – the first African American woman to do so. Initially joining her father’s law firm, Jane would soon relocate to NYC and make history once again by becoming the first female African American assistant corporate counsel for the City.

In 1939, Jane was invited to appear before Mayor La Guardia at the World’s Fair, where he swore her in as a judge. Jane was known to be thoughtful and conscientious on the bench, taking particular care with domestic issues and those involving children. She also made changes to segregationist policies within the court system and worked with Eleanor Roosevelt in support of the Wiltwyck School.

Jane would serve a total of four 10-year terms on the bench before she was forced to retire at age 70.

Learn more at:
https://www.biography.com/political-figure/jane-bolin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Bolin

Margaret Sanger founded the birth control movement in the early 1900s, at a time when it was taboo to speak about family planning or women’s healthcare in public. The 6th of 11 children, growing up in poverty, she that her mother’s pregnancies took a physical toll contributing to her death at age 50. Margaret became a nurse and eventually moved to New York City.

Believing strongly that a woman’s ability to limit her family size could end the cycle of women’s poverty, she not only set herself on a crusade to repeal the Comstock Law, but also to help get birth control information to women in need – despite it being illegal at the time.

When she opened a birth control clinic in Brooklyn, she was quickly arrested. Appealing her conviction, Margaret lost her case, but the courts ruled that doctors could prescribe contraceptives to women for medical reasons. She used this loophole to open a new clinic in 1923, staffed by female doctors and social workers, which would later grow to become the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. Margaret was also a driving force in the development of “the pill,” which was FDA approved in 1960.

Read more:
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/margaret-sanger

The Women Lawyers’ Club was created in 1899 by a group of 18 female lawyers in New York City. In the early 1910s they began publication of the ‘Women Lawyers Journal’ and saw a rise in their membership – nearly 200 women across 25 states by 1915. Two members – Judge Mary Belle Grossman and Mary Florence Lathrop – were the first women admitted to the American Bar Association in 1918.

By 1923, due to increased membership nationwide, the Women Lawyers’ Club was renamed the National Association of Women Lawyers and held its first national convention. NAWL throughout its history has fought for women’s equality – from suffrage efforts to social legislation and the Equal Rights Amendment.

Today NAWL continues to work for women’s equality both in and out of the legal profession through education and activism initiatives.

Learn more about NAWL at:
https://www.nawl.org/

Ernestine Rose was born in Poland in 1810 to the town rabbi. As a young woman, she was well-educated for the time, and did not agree with the Jewish laws and customs that held women as inferior. After her mother’s death, she received a large property inheritance, which her father tried to sign away as her wedding dowry – to a man she did not intend to marry. Ernestine took the matter to court and won, soon leaving Poland and meeting her husband her a few years later in England. The two emigrated to America in the late 1830s.

In strong opposition to laws stating that a woman could not retain control of property she owned before marriage, Ernestine began to push for equal women’s rights. A drive she led in New York State to reverse these laws led to 1848 legislation permitting married women to keep control of property they held when they were single. After the Seneca Falls convention, Ernestine’s involvement in the women’s rights crusade grew, co-founding the National Women Suffrage Association with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Ernestine was also a strong supporter of the temperance and abolitionist movements.

Learn more at:
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ernestine-Rose

Despite having little formal education, June Almeida became a Doctor of Science and a pioneer in the fields of virus imaging, identification, and diagnosis. She managed to get work as a histopathology technician in Glasgow, just after leaving school at 16, and would eventually move with her husband to Ontario to work as an electronmicroscopist. Her abilities far outshone her lack of qualifications, and she was promoted in line with her skills. She developed a method to better visualize viruses by using antibodies to aggregate them.

Much of her work focused on hepatitis B and the cold virus, and she also produced the first images of the rubella virus. In conjunction with David Tyrrell, she categorized a group of viruses that are now called #coronaviruses. In 1979, she published a manual for rapid laboratory viral diagnostics for the World Health Organization and her work is still used today to quickly identify emerging viruses.

Learn more at:
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/18289806.june-almeida-tribute-scotlands-forgotten-hero-coronavirus/

Edith, a widow since 1908, met the recently widowed President Woodrow Wilson in 1915, the two quickly falling in love and marrying by the end of that same year. With the U.S.’s entry into World War I in 1917, Edith set aside her hostessing duties, and immersed herself in Woodrow’s work, trying to help ease the strain he was under. When he suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed, Edith, at the urging of his doctors to ensure he rested, became the “steward” of his presidency.

She oversaw many of the routine details of the government and filtered issues – determining what was important enough to present to the President for review and relegating other matters to appropriate department heads. Her management of the presidency during her husband’s prolonged illness lasted until the end of his term in 1921, and she is sometimes referred to as the “Secret President” or “First, First Lady President.”

Learn more at:
https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/first-ladies/edith-bolling-galt-wilson/

Sisters Victoria Woodhull and Tennessee Claflin spent their early years traveling as mediums and faith healers. In 1868, the sisters moved to NYC to make a better life for themselves. Initially continuing to work as mediums, they gained the trust of William Vanderbilt who helped them to open Wall Street’s first woman-owned and run stock brokerage in 1870. Their firm gave women of all levels of society the ability to control their own money. The brokerage profits allowed them to start the first women-owned newspaper – which advocated many radical reforms including shorter work days, fair wages, gender equality, and sex education for teens.

The pair became active in the political scene as well, and in 1872, Victoria announced she would run for President and was endorsed by the Equal Rights Party, which she and her sister had founded. Tennessee’s political aspirations were less ambitious and while ignored for election to robber baron Jim Fisk’s colonelcy in the 9th Regiment of the NY National Guard, a newly-created regiment for black soldiers, aware of her history of advocacy, elected her as their colonel.

Learn more at:
https://blog.mcny.org/2014/06/24/revolutionary-sisters-victoria-woodhull-and-tennessee-claflin/

Founded in 1966 the National Organization for Women (N.O.W.) is the largest organization of grassroots feminist activists in the United States. N.O.W.’s ongoing work supports economic, constitutional, and racial equality; reproductive rights; LGBTQIA+ rights; and end to violence against women.

Learn more at:
https://now.org/