Ballots for Belva: The True Story of a Woman's Race for the Presidency

Though groundbreaking, her candidacy inspired opposition and ridicule, not just from men, but from women and even other suffragists. Quotes from Lockwood and others enliven the text. Her letter to President Grant regarding the denial of her law school diploma, for example, neatly demonstrates her

polite but forceful personality. Handsome illustrations clearly set the time and place, and Lockwood's fortitude comes through in her posture and facial expressions. She is an appealing historical figure, and, with little available about her for younger readers, this is an especially timely and useful biography.

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User reviews

LibraryThing member AbigailAdams26

In this picture-book biography of Belva Ann Lockwood, a nineteenth-century educator, lawyer, and woman's rights activist who deserves to be better known, Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen tells the story of a remarkably determined, courageous woman, one who never let injustice stand in her way, and who

believed that she could do anything - even become the president of the United States of America. One of the first practicing woman lawyers in the country - she was in the first class of women admitted to the National University Law School, but despite finishing her coursework, had to petition then president Ulysses S. Grant (also president of the school) in order to receive her diploma - Lockwood was the first woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court, and was a tireless advocate for expanding the political and social rights available to women, including the franchise. Although not able to vote herself - the 19th Amendment, which extended suffrage to women, was passed in 1920, three years after Lockwood's death - she ran as a presidential candidate in the election of 1894, becoming the first woman candidate to receive documented popular votes.

This is an extraordinary tale, and Bardhan-Quallen does justice to her subject in Ballots for Belva, which really highlights the extraordinary lengths to which Lockwood often had to go, in order to get something approximating the same chance as her male counterparts. I found it amazing that she had to write to President Grant in order to obtain her diploma, and wondered why, if the school didn't intend to grant the diploma, they allowed her to enroll in the first place (perhaps they assumed she'd fail?). I also appreciated the fact that the author doesn't gloss over the fact that many other women's rights advocates didn't agree with Lockwood's actions, and that she mentioned that another woman (Victoria Woodhull) had previously run for president, although there is no documentation of any (possible) votes for her. All in all, this is a strong biography of a strong woman! I don't know that the artwork did that much for me, but it didn't detract from my reading experience, and the text was sufficiently involving that I didn't care. Recommended to young readers with an interest in American history and the (ongoing) struggle for women's rights!

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LibraryThing member scote23

Long before Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin and Geraldine Ferraro, there was Belva Lockwood who ran for president before women could even vote. She also was the first woman to argue a case before the Supreme Court, she fought for the ability of the first black man to argue before the Supreme Court,

and she represented the Eastern Cherokee Indian Nation over the "Trail of Tears" that they were forced to march and won them five million dollars. I had never heard of her until this book, but I think she's someone that everyone should know.

(Sadly, not a Smithie. She went to Genesee College, which is now Syracuse University.)

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LibraryThing member matthewbloome

This is a must have picture book biography. Not only does it chronicle the life of an otherwise unknown historical figure; it does so extensively and without allowing itself to be obscured by jargon or forgotten terminology. Its author note contains further information on the times from which Belva

Lockwood came and how her impact affected the country. I was very impressed with the timeline of women's sufferage at the end. This book is among the finest works I've read this year in that regard. Truly outstanding.

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LibraryThing member bunnyjadwiga

Belva Ann Lockwood was one of the first woman lawyers in the US, and took on various civil rights and suffrage causes. But she was the second woman to run for president of the United States and the first to have any votes for her counted (Victoria Woodhull ran, but was arrested on obscenity charges

right before the election.)
The author of this brief biography is particularly clear about the issues involved with running for president, including the fact that election ballots were not printed by a central authority at this time, and about the votes for Lockwood that were either discarded or counted for another candidate. However, the author is coy about Woodhull's situation-- I can't find anyone claiming that Woodhull suspended her campaign before election day because she ran out of money: insofar as her campaign was inactive, it was because she was arrested for alleged obscenity. That factual error takes away from my estimation of the book. Still an excellent resource for talking about the presidency, women's suffrage, and women's history.

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