Profile America, Women

Profile America: Belva A. Lockwood, First Woman To Appear Before US Supreme Court

March 14, 2016 7:30 AM·

COURT APPEARANCE: Belva A. Lockwood

 

Monday, March 14 — This month in 1879 marked a milestone in women’s history and the opportunities available to them. Earlier, President Rutherford Hayes signed a congressional act “to relieve certain legal disabilities of women.” So in March, the act’s leading champion, 49-year-old Belva A. Lockwood, became the first woman to be admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, which she did in 1880. Lockwood was one of about 75 female attorneys in 1880. By 1890, there were only 208 in a national total of 89,600 lawyers. Today, there are more than 1.1 million lawyers, judges, judicial law clerks and other judicial workers, with more than 34 percent of them women.

 

Source: U.S. Census Bureau

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Author: Michael Benjamin is a public affairs consultant and an editorial board member at The New York Post. He is a former contributing columnist to the NY Post, City and State NY and other publications. He is a former Member of the New York State Assembly (2003-2010) and once led the Bronx Board of Elections. Since leaving office, he has appeared as a commentator on TWC NY1, Bronxnet OPEN, Good Day NY, and Al Jazeera America. His columns and blog focus on corruption, government, education, politics, redistricting, nuclear energy and race. He holds a B.A. in political science from Syracuse University.