Customer Reviews

Belva Lockwood: The Woman Who Would Be President

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This book made a deep impression on me, but it's also just fun to read. I can't recall when I've had such pleasure reading a work of non-fiction. The life of Belva Lockwood, presidential candidate and first woman to argue before the Supreme Court, is the stuff of an engrossing novel, filled with real characters and gripping "plots," and Norgren tells it with engaging sympathy, passionate drive, and first-rate scholarship. The book is filled with anecdotes, quotations, and stories that are alternately touching, bizarre, amazing, and outrageous. This truly is a book that is hard to put down, and it conjures up a past rich in context and immediacy. But at a deeper level, it dramatically brought to my attention, as a male who considers himself relatively "enlightened," a dimension of the struggle for human rights that I appreciated before only in a fairly general way. As such, the book has obvious bearings on contemporary issues and continuing struggles. In summary, this is a page-turner that made me think and see the world in a new way.

In a moment of autobiographical reflection, Belva Lockwood once stated that while her work as an equal rights activist had failed to raise the dead, it had "awakened the living." Jill Norgren's biography of Lockwood, a little known but extremely important historical figure should and could awaken all of us to live a life of conviction and activism.

At 232 pages long, Norgren eloquently and succinctly educates the reader on the story of the first woman to ever be allowed to argue before the United Supreme Court, as well as the first woman to ever launch two full scale bids for this country's presidency. Lockwood's place in history is far less prominent than many of her contemporaries, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, but her contributions were significant and seem all the more important for study today as we witness a very legitimate bid by another woman for the United States presidency. As a woman who was deeply concerned with advocating for democracy, pacifism and equal rights, Belva Lockwood led a life defined by fighting for the causes she believed in and worked hard not only to further said causes, but at the same time had to support herself as a single widow of a young daughter. Lockwood turned her tragedy into an opportunity to exercise freedom and possibility with education and her voice. While little remains of Lockwood's personal writing and documents, she used the power of the pen tirelessly during her life and much of her writing was published and documented.

Norgren's writing is engaging and her narrative is accessible yet rich with fact. Like her other book The Cherokee Cases, which makes difficult United States Supreme Court case studies accessible and engaging; Norgren could inspire all of us to become avid readers of historical biographies. Jill Norgren took an obscure historical figure who left few personal papers behind, and gave us a portrait of a political hero. At a time when heroism in politics is scarce, one can't help but read this book and recommend that we use Lockwood as an example that could awaken us to the possibilities and expectations we should have for those who desire to be a leader in this country.

Even if Hillary Clinton were not running for president and Nancy Pelosi wasn't the first woman speaker of the house, this book is a must read. The story of a woman of humble beginnings who would not take NO for an answer and became the first woman lawyer to argue before the Supreme Court and the first woman to run a serious campaign for President is told in an objective yet compelling fashion by author Jill Norgren. The research is exhaustive and Norgren does a great job of integrating Belva's home and family life with her professional achievements. Belva comes across as an extraordinary ordinary person, which makes her an inspiring role model for all of us looking toward the day when the American promise of equal rights becomes a complete reality.

Belva is a forgotten heroine. A century before the barriers to law school admission began to fall, Belva beat on the doors of the legal establishment. Jill Norgren's fascinating and lively biography reveals the grit and determination that enabled this failed farmer's daughter to obtain a college education, a legal degree and support her family with a successful law practice. Anyone who is interested in why women have faced such opposition and achieved so little success in their attempts to participate in the political process should read this book and give it to their daughters.

Jill Norgren writes an illuminating biography of Belva Lockwood, who is too often cast aside in first-wave feminist discourse. The book is not, however, written from a feminist standpoint. Norgren even claims that Lockwood desired to live a "life of a great man" (4). While I would prefer to think she desired to live a life of a "great woman," the book clearly indicates that Lockwood had an intrinsic tenacity to achieve more in life than what was expected of women in late nineteenth and early twentieth century America. Norgren's biography is an easy to read story of a great woman, mother, activist, lawyer, politician, and lobbyist who steps outside the normative gender roles of her day to challenge the status-quo, and even more so, a woman whose efforts and actions have had a lasting impact on the practice of law, equitable treatment of women within education, employment, and politics.

In addition to highlighting her journey to practice law and provide herself an equitable income (to that of men), Norgren also details Lockwood's conflicts with various early women's movements and their most notable leaders such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Because of these conflicts, a reader can surmise why Lockwood is commonly not at the forefront of discourse concerning the early women's movement. Lest one forget, however, that these were often middle-upper class white women movements that were not always characterized as altruistically seeking holistic equality for all marginalized identities. So Lockwood's absence in the common discussions surrounding the early movements is neither surprising nor condemning.

Overall, the biography paints a thorough picture of Lockwood's life and is a worthwhile read for academics as well as for anyone interested in progressive era history, the practice of law, and/or women's studies. The book is also an excellent (and easily readable) work for those who seek to find encouragement and motivation in overcoming social, political, and/or economic obstacles in the twenty-first century.

The story of Lockwood and of her interactions with the more famous women of her time is very interesting. I, however, found Norgren's style somewhat cumbersone and not especially linear. I would be following an event and she would diverge into another event of a different time. But, with that said, it was an interesting read, and quite informative. Coming from the area where Lockwood was born,I was somewhat aware of her accomplishments, though her lawyering tribulations were hitherto unknown to me. I am glad I pushed through the slower parts to finish the book.