Myra Bradwell was a proper Victorian lady, who stepped out of her comfort zone, passed the Bar exam with honors, but was denied a license to practice law. She took her case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, but the justices ruled against her. In response, she didn’t wait for permission. Myra went ahead and published a legal newspaper. She became so influential that lawyers and justices relied on her to clarify and publish rulings. She made herself indispensable to the very people who wanted to keep her out of the courtroom.

1. MYRA BRADWELL
America’s “First”
Female Attorney
and someone you should know
Tuesday, August 6, 2013

2. A Story of Conflict and Irony
• “First” (just a technicality)
• Wrote laws (never elected)
• Judges relied on her,
but kept Myra
out of courtrooms
Tuesday, August 6, 2013

3. Early Years
Born 1831, Vermont
Age 12 moved to Schaumburg
Attended School
Kenosha, WI
Elgin Female
Seminary
Tuesday, August 6, 2013

4. 19th Century
Rights and Privileges of Law
Principle of Common Law
A husband had
complete control
A wonderful time
for self-made MEN
Tuesday, August 6, 2013

5. The legal profession:
no place for a woman
Married 1852
True womanhood
Myra had modest hope
1855 James admitted to the
Chicago Bar, later a IL Legislator
& Cook Co. Judge
James B. Bradwell
Tuesday, August 6, 2013

6. Wife and mother
Daughter Myra born 1854, died at age 7
Thomas born 1856
Bessie born 1858
James born 1862, died at age 2
Bessie Bradwell Helmer
Tuesday, August 6, 2013

7. Application to Practice Law
She passed the Bar exam in 1869 with high honors
Applied for a license
A Circuit Judge and State’s Attorney
signed her application
Myra cited the Illinois
Revised Statue, which said
IL laws were gender neutral
Tuesday, August 6, 2013

8. “Wrecking” her family
1870 IL Supreme Court
Denied! because she was a
married woman
Must be “available” to her
husband at all times
Myra responded with a
scholarly brief
“God designed sexes to
occupy different spheres”
Alfred M. Craig, Illinois Supreme Court Judge
Tuesday, August 6, 2013

9. Women said to be unfit
for Civil Occupations
1873 U.S Supreme Court
Bradwell v. Illinois
Denied! Law license
a privilege granted by states
Family harmony, interest,
identity “repugnant” to
a woman having a career
Justice Bradley
U.S. Supreme Court
Tuesday, August 6, 2013

10. Far-reaching influence
1868 Editor and publisher
1871 Chicago Fire
Indispensable to all lawyers
Released judicial decisions
before courts published them
Judges came to her to correct a
published ruling
Tuesday, August 6, 2013

11. Author and advocate
1872 Myra and Alta Hulet drafted
a statute opening occupations
to women
James saw that it passed in IL
1873 Alta, at age 19, was admitted
to the IL Bar
Tuesday, August 6, 2013

12. Never Again!
1876 James and Myra helped Mary Lincoln
1876 Represented IL at the Centennial
Expo in Philadelphia
By 1879 made it possible for 26 women
to become lawyers in several states
1890 IL Supreme Court reversed itself
Tuesday, August 6, 2013

13. History Destroyed
Bessie Bradwell Helmer took over CLN
Granddaughter Myra Bradwell Helmer Pritchard
inherited Mrs. Lincoln’s letters
Myra Pritchard wrote articles about
Mrs. Lincoln’s insanity trial,
but the magazine cancelled.
Robert Lincoln’s widow and
lawyers destroyed originals
Robert Lincoln
Tuesday, August 6, 2013

14. History Recovered
Jane Friedman biography of Myra Bradwell,
Americaʼs First Woman Lawyer,
1993 Prometheus Books
2005 Jason Emerson found of two letters penned
by Robertʼs attorney, Frederic N. Towers
2006, 25 of Mrs. Lincolnʼs letters, previous
unpublished, were discovered in a steamer trunk
owned by the children of Robert Todd Lincolnʼs attorney
The Madness of Mary Lincoln by Jason Emerson, 2007
The Dark Days of Abraham Lincolnʼs Widow, Myra Helmer Pritchard, written in
1927, released 2011, SIU Press
Tuesday, August 6, 2013