"She Comes Armed with the Proper Documents" - Legal and Political Activism
Dublin Core
Title
"She Comes Armed with the Proper Documents" - Legal and Political Activism
Subject
Legal and Political Activism
Description
Myra Bradwell believed in the justice of the American legal system. This belief in justice resulted in her petitioning against inequalities she found held the courts back from doing its best job. Her own Supreme Court case, her newspaper the Chicago Legal News, and her legislation demonstrates this tough love for the American legal system. She believed in legal reform and thought it to be the key for women's rights. Unlike some her fellow suffrage advocates, Myra Bradwell believed that a judicial desicion could result in suffrage for women. Within this collection, you will find documents covering her reform efforts in law that she hoped would result in more political rights of women.
Collection Items
An Account of the Proceedings on the Trail of Susan B. Anthony, on the charge of Illegal Voting, At the Presidential Election in Nov., 1872...
This trial transcript perhaps captures why Susan B. Anthony harbored grudges against Myra Bradwell. In her trial for casting a vote in the 1872 presidential election, the legal review uses Myra Bradwell's case to further reinforce how the 14th…
Constitution of the American Woman Suffrage Association and the History of its Formation
This page from the Constitution of the American Woman Suffrage Association shows who served as officers in 1880. Rival to Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Staton's National Women's Suffrage Association, the AWSA aligned with the Republican party…
The Slaughter-house Case
In this edition of the New National Era, weekly newspaper owned by and published for African Americans, a concerned African American questions the effects of the Slaughterhouse Cases. The Slaughterhouse Cases have often overshadowed Bradwell v.…
United States Supreme Court Opinion: Myra Bradwell v. The State of Illinois
Myra Bradwell printed the United States Supreme Court majority opinion of her case in this edition of the Chicago Legal News. Justice Miller, who wrote the majority opinion, first explains the details of the case, including how Bradwell was denied…
Women Lawyers
In this section from the Chicago Legal News, the paper reprinted a statement from the American Law Review on the matter of women entering the profession of law. The legal news journal focuses on the development of women’s ability to access occupation…
The XIVth Amendment and the Civil Rights Bill
In this brief article, Myra Bradwell discusses the Fourteenth Amendment and the Civil Rights Bill with specific focus on Justice Bradley’s opinion and decisions on such legislation. An important feature of this article is how Bradwell defines the…
United States Supreme Court: Myra Bradwell v. The State of Illinois - Bradley's Opinion
In this follow up article to Bradwell v. Illinois, the Chicago Legal News prints the additional opinions of other United States Supreme Court Justices. Justice Bradley’s opinion, outlined in blue, has gained the most attention from Bradwell’s case.…
The XIV Amendment and Our Case - Part 2
This follow up article demonstrates Bradwell’s reaction and legal analysis of the United States Supreme Court’s opinion to Bradwell v. Illinois. After giving readers the chance to read both the Court’s majority and concurring opinion, Bradwell gives…
The XIV Amendment and Our Case
In this article, Myra Bradwell and an unnamed party explain their legal journey in appealing to both the Illinois Supreme and United States Supreme Court for the right as a woman to practice law. The piece sets forward the plaintiff’s actions and…
Women's Equal Employment Law
Bradwell printed the Equal Employment Law that she crafted and passed through the Illinois State Legislator. Interestingly, this legislation was ratified even before the Unites States Supreme Court had decided on her case. By lobbying the political…