BELVA LOCKWOOD
(Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood)
It would be over 30 years more before American women could vote for President. Lockwood never could.
At the time, in many states married women could not control their own inheritance, could not sign a contract, owned no part of a family business that a women might have founded and worked in her entire life, could not be an executor of a will—even if it were her husband’s.
Stowe persuaded Lockwood to stand for President. They tried to recruit a man for the Vice Presidential nomination, and when they could not, Stowe became the first female to become a Vice Presidential candidate.
It is interesting that the first national women’s political party was a strong advocate of protectionism and saw free trade as an unfair hurdle for mostly male workers. At the time, the Republicans were staunch protectionists, and the Democrats, the free traders thus illustrating that the major parties continuously flip-flop on major issues.
It is noteworthy that women did not at the time even have the vote, but were still politically active.
Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood was an American attorney, politician, educator, and author. She was active in working for women's rights, including women's suffrage. Lockwood overcame many social and personal obstacles related to gender restrictions. After college, she became a teacher and principal, working to equalize pay for women in education. She supported the movement for world peace, and was a proponent of the Temperance movement.
