Skip to main content Smithsonian Institution

Catalog Data

Artist:
Benjamin Joseph Falk, 14 Oct 1853 - 19 Mar 1925  Search this
Sitter:
Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood, 25 Oct 1830 - 19 May 1917  Search this
Medium:
Albumen silver print
Dimensions:
Image/Sheet: 14.7 × 9.8 cm (5 13/16 × 3 7/8")
Mount: 16.4 × 10.7 cm (6 7/16 × 4 3/16")
Type:
Photograph
Date:
c. 1880
Exhibition Label:
Widowed at twenty-two years of age, Belva Ann Lockwood used her inheritance to educate herself in law. Although she completed her degree requirements, she only received her diploma after she enlisted the help of President Ulysses S. Grant.
Lockwood became the first woman to campaign for the presidency (1884 and 1888). She was nominated by the Equal Rights Party, which Victoria Woodhull had founded and used for her incomplete presidential campaign in 1872. Lockwood’s platform focused on women’s rights issues, particularly suffrage, temperance, and reform for divorce and marriage laws.
In 1880, at the age of forty-eight, Lockwood became the first woman to appear before the Supreme Court of the United States and successfully argued for Cherokee land rights. That same year, she also moved for the admission of the first southern black attorney. Despite her major accomplishments in American history, Lockwood’s first (and only) biography was not published until 2007.
Viuda a los 22 años de edad, Belva Ann Lockwood utilizó su herencia para estudiar derecho. Aunque completó los requisitos para el título universitario, tuvo que pedir ayuda al presidente Ulysses S. Grant para lograr que le dieran su diploma. Lockwood fue la primera mujer que hizo campaña presidencial (1884 y 1888). Fue nominada por el Equal Rights Party, fundado por Victoria Woodhull para su inconclusa campaña presidencial en 1872. La plataforma de Lockwood se centró en los derechos de la mujer, sobre todo el sufragio, la templanza y la reforma de las leyes de matrimonio y divorcio.
En 1880, a sus 48 años, Lockwood fue la primera mujer que compareció ante el Tribunal Supremo de Estados Unidos, litigando exitosamente por los derechos territoriales de los cherokee. Ese año también presentó una moción para admitir al primer abogado sureño de raza negra. A pesar de sus grandes logros en la historia americana, su primera (y única) biografía vino a publicarse en 2007.
Topic:
Interior  Search this
Photographic format\Cabinet card  Search this
Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood: Female  Search this
Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood: Law and Crime\Lawyer  Search this
Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood: Politics and Government\Presidential candidate  Search this
Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood: Arts and Culture\Education and Scholarship\Educator\Lecturer  Search this
Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood: Arts and Culture\Education and Scholarship\Educator\Teacher  Search this
Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood: Arts and Culture\Education and Scholarship\Administrator\School administrator\Principal  Search this
Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood: Social Welfare and Reform\Reformer\Social reformer\Civil rights activist\Suffragist  Search this
Portrait  Search this
Credit Line:
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution
Object number:
NPG.80.298
Restrictions & Rights:
CC0
See more items in:
National Portrait Gallery Collection
Location:
Currently not on view
Data Source:
National Portrait Gallery
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/sm4c61f8139-3287-4a9b-b7a9-a203785680c7
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:npg_NPG.80.298