Get out the Vote!

In 1848 in Seneca Falls New York, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott organized the first Women's Rights Convention to discuss women's equality ~ including the right to vote. 





Wyoming Territory was the first territory to grant women the right to vote in 1869. In the late 1890's, Idaho and Utah followed suit. 


On August 26, 1920, the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was finally ratified. This finally gave ALL American women the same rights and responsibilities of citizenship as men! 

Women fought hard for you and I to have this right.

Get yourself to the polls this year and exercise that right!

The New Justice League

Women have been fighting to be a part of the justice system throughout this country's history. 

In 1869, Arabella Mansfield was granted admission to practice law in Iowa; making her the First Woman Lawyer. She was formally admitted to the Iowa State Bar after a ruling in the Iowa courts in her favor.

A year later, Ada H. Kepley, of Illinois, graduated from the Union College of Law in Chicago. She was the first woman lawyer to graduate from a law school.

Even after some of the first women had achieved success, it was still not an easy road for women trying to practice law in this country. 

In 1872, Myra Bradwell filed a petition with the U. S. Supreme Court to appeal the decision of the Illinois Supreme Court. Even though she had completed her legal studies and passed the bar examination, they denied her admission to the state bar.  The Supreme Court upheld the lower court's decision. She was eventually granted license in 1890.

In 1879, Belva A. Lockwood was the first woman attorney admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court.

Charlotte E. Ray, a Howard University graduate, was the first African American woman lawyer. She was admitted to the District of Columbia Bar in 1872. She applied for admission under the name C. E. Ray. The admissions committee thought she was a male so the application went through without problems.

In 2010, 31.5% of lawyers in the United States were women. 

Ms. MD

Elizabeth Blackwell was The First Woman Doctor in the United States. She was admitted in 1848 to Geneva Medical College of New York as a fluke. The faculty thought the application was a practical joke by a rival school.


Blackwell graduated at the head of her class. 


Her sister, Emily Blackwell, had more of a challenge getting accepted into a program. She eventually completed her medical studies at Case Western Reserve University and went on to become a doctor as well. 


Blackwell went to Paris to get clinical experience in the care and treatment of women (gynecology) especially the care of women during pregnancy and childbirth (obstetrics).


She then returned to the United States to not be able to find a job. So she, her sister, and another woman doctor - Marie Zakrewska; opened the New York Infirmary for Women and Children.


In late 1860s, The Blackwell sisters founded the Women's Medical College in New York City to advance women's opportunity in the medical field. 

Today MORE than 30% of the US Doctors are Female.

05 When You Believe cover by Siobhan Magnus