"The Trades and Professions Open to Women" - Employment Activism
Dublin Core
Title
"The Trades and Professions Open to Women" - Employment Activism
Subject
Employment Activism
Description
This collection features documents that trace Myra Bradwell's efforts to provide better employment opportunities for women. Her own Supreme Court case dealt with the right of a woman to choose her form of employment, an issue she passionately fought for before and after her case. During her lifetime, there were no federal laws to prevent sex-based discrimnation in employment, like we have today. Although Bradwell never lived to see federal legislation that protect women's employment rights, this collection shows that she fought for the employment rights of many women within her own community and those across the nation.
Collection Items
A Successful Woman's Paper
*Bottom of Column 6 * In this edition of the New National Era, weekly newspaper owned by and published for African Americans, the newspaper mentions the success of Myra Bradwell's newspaper. The articles sights the success of the Chicago Legal News…
Illinois Woman's Press Association
When the World’s Columbian Exposition was held in Chicago in 1893, a World’s Congress auxiliary was formed to manage the exposition. Many committees and subcommittees were formed to overview all potential gatherings within the city. This is a call…
Susan B. Anthony's dedication on the first volume of the Chicago Legal News.
Transcription: "The first legal paper edited by a woman – Myra Bradwell – This file is from 1868 & 1869 – It was Mrs. Bradwell whose right to be admitted to the Bar of Illinois was carried up to the United States Supreme Court. Senator Matthew…
The Illinois Press Association Seventh Annual Convention at Rock Island
The Quincy Daily Whig’s coverage of the seventh convention of the Illinois Press Association and covers the different events that occurred. In one section, the paper mentions that Myra Bradwell read “a wonderful little poem on the woman question.”…
Chicago Legal News Original Volume Cover
This is a scanned copy of the cover for the first volume of the Chicago Legal News, donated to the Library of Congress by Susan B. Anthony in 1903. Myra Bradwell started the newspaper in 1868 under her own name, an accomplishment only possible…
A Practical Business Guide for American Women of All Conditions and Ages, Who Want to Make Money, but Do Not Know How
This is a "how to" monograph written in 1893 for “women of all conditions and ages, who want to make money, but do not know how.” During this time when women began to enter new spaces of the workforce once reversed for men, it would make sense to…
The Commercial Agency Register
This page from the Commercial Agency Register in Chicago, Illinois from 1878 shows the Chicago Legal News as a commercial agency with Myra Bradwell listed as president. At a time when a woman’s property rights were barely existent, to have the…
For the Ladies
This newspaper articles highlights certain developments for women's rights, including their ability to serve as county superintendents for school boards. The paper states that 13 Illinois women serve in their county school board and Myra Bradwell…