A Comparative Study of Women's Reasons for Entering the Legal Profession in the Late 1880s

Summary

In 1869, Annabella Mansfield was admitted to the Iowa Bar, becoming the first woman lawyer in the nation. Because women were not viewed as possessing the traits necessary to be a lawyer in the late 1800s, women who wanted to enter the profession had to fight an uphill battle. One such woman was Belva Lockwood. Born in 1830, Lockwood was one of a small number of women to seek higher education. While teaching in order to put herself through college, she became upset that male teachers made twice as much as female teachers and that those in positions of authority told her nothing could be done about the earnings disparity. Though Lockwood developed an interest in women's rights and law while at Genessee College (now Syracuse University), she returned to teaching after graduating in 1857. Lockwood sold her school in 1866 and moved to Washington, DC, where she taught, observed the workings of government, and advocated women's rights and other liberal causes.

Finding teaching too confining, Lockwood decided to study law. After being rejected by Columbia and Georgetown because of her gender, she was admitted to the first coeducational law school class at National (now George Washington) University. In the face of hostility from her male classmates, Lockwood and 13 other women graduated in 1873. Lockwood was immediately admitted to the D.C. Bar, which had begun to accept women two years before. She rapidly developed a lucrative practice, succeeded in many government claims cases and became a well-known figure in the District. In 1874, however, the Court of Claims denied her admission to the Court of Claims Bar, citing the legal disabilities women faced as a barrier to practicing law. She appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which affirmed the denial in 1877. Afterwards, Lockwood drafted a bill to admit women to practice in the federal courts. The bill passed the House in 1878 and the Senate in 1879. After it was signed by the President, the U.S. Supreme Court and the Court of Claims admitted her to their bars. She also continued to advocate women's rights. In 1884 and 1888, Lockwood was nominated as the Equal Rights Party's Presidential candidate. She faced opposition and ridicule from within and outside the women's movement, and only gained a few thousand votes in each election. The publicity was beneficial, as demand for her services as a lawyer and a lecturer increased. After her second loss, Lockwood abandoned the women's rights movement in favor of advocating world peace. She won an important contract dispute before the United States Supreme Court for the Cherokee Indians in 1906, and practiced law until 1917, the same year she died.

There were several reasons why women entered the professions in the latter half of the 19th century. The Civil War created a heightened demand for labor, opening professional opportunities to women. Gas, electricity, running water, and servants in well-to-do households gave women in the middle and upper classes respite from household chores. Women's colleges were founded, and as women became educated and aware of their intellectual capabilities, they sought to enter the professions, develop careers and delay or avoid marriage and motherhood. The suffrage movement piqued the desire of some women to show their equality with men. As states passed married women's property rights and earnings laws, the legal disabilities that had previously precluded women from practicing law became obsolete. Law school replaced apprenticeships as the principal method of educating lawyers; the increasing number of law schools and competition to attract students necessitated liberal admissions policies. All of these factors led a few determined women to enter the legal profession in the late 1800s.