LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - SEPTEMBER 27, 2020 by Lynne Belluscio Last year, when the University of Buffalo presented Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg with an honorary doctorate, she was asked which women influenced her, and without hesitation, she mentioned Belva Lockwood. In fact, Ginsburg wrote the forward in the acclaimed biography “Belva Lockwood – The Woman Who Would Be President.” She wrote: “With optimism and tenacity, may we continue to strive as she did to advance our Nation and World the ideals of liberty, equality, and justice for all.”. And since all history is local history, here is a short version of the Belva Lockwood story, and what happened in LeRoy. She was born in the little town of Royalton, New York, in Niagara County in 1830. Her father strongly believed that women didn’t need to be educated, but Belva was undaunted. By ten she had read the entire Bible. At the age of fifteen she had already been hired to teach school. But in line with her father’s belief that a woman’s purpose in life was to marry and raise a family, at 18 she was married to Uriah H. McNall, a gentleman farmer. In the first year of marriage she gave birth to a daughter. But she was widowed when she was 22 after her husband died of tuberculosis. Belva managed her husband’s mill for a year and then decided to complete her education and entered an academy in Gasport and studied geometry, German, anatomy, physiology and bookkeeping. Even though she carried a full academic course of study, she also kept house for five other relatives who were also attending the academy. After teaching for two years at $12 a month, she was determined to continue her education and enrolled at the Genesee Wesleyan College in Lima. She graduated in 1857. (It should be noted, that in 1857, Ingham University in LeRoy was granted its charter to graduate women with a four-year degree.) During her two-years in Lima, her daughter went to live with relatives in Illinois. But mother and daughter were reunited and lived in Lockport where Belva taught in the Union School. Within a short time, she moved to Gainsville, in Wyoming County where she taught at the Seminary. She then moved to Hornellsville and soon bought a seminary building in Owego. In 1866, she sold the seminary for twice what she paid for it and enrolled her daughter at her alma mater in Lima. In 1867, she helped found the Universal Franchise Association, whose mission was to publicize the demands of women’s rights. In 1868, Lockwood moved to Washington D.C. and married a dentist, Ezekiel Lockwood. She applied to the Columbian Law School in Washington, but was denied entrance because she was a women ---and married. The review panel claimed that her presence “would likely distract the attention of the young men.” She then applied and was accepted to the new National University Law School, (which later merged with George Washington University) and although she completed all the courses required, the school refused to give her a diploma. Without a diploma, she could not become a member of the Washington Bar. A year later, she wrote a letter to President Grant, who was president ex officio of the school and finally, at the age of 43, Belva Lockwood received her diploma. There were only two female lawyers at that time. In 1879, she was admitted to the Supreme Court Bar and was the first woman to argue a case in 1880. She was instrumental in writing legislation for the statehood of Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. She gained the right for women to have equal property rights as men and guardianship of their own children. In 1884 and again in 1888, she ran for President, claiming that although she could not vote, the Constitution did not prevent her from running for President. During her campaign of 1884, groups of men formed clubs called the “Belva Dears” to mock her attempt to run for President. The Belva Dears in LeRoy held a parade led by the LeRoy Band “The boys were dressed in Mother Hubbard dresses with poke bonnets. They will carry brooms and torches. The parade will no doubt provoke a great deal of merriment.” Belva went on to champion a claim by the Cherokee Indian Nation against the United States and won a $1,000,000 settlement. She was also successful in nominating the first Black lawyer, William Lowrey, from Alabama, to the Washington Bar. In later years, she turned from women’s rights to international peace and served on the selection committee for the Nobel Peace Prize. She died on May 19, 1917, having never had the chance to vote. She wrote “We shall never have equal rights until we take them. No respect until we command it.” It was said that “she had a great force of charter and indomitable perseverance.” The same could be said about Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Local History