Marietta L. B. Stow (1830 or 1837Sherilyn Cox Bennion: ''Equal To The Occasion: Women Editors On The Nineteenth-Century West.'' University of Nevada Press, 1990, , p. 98 ().–1902) was an American politician and women's rights activist. Throughout her career in law and politics, Stow advocated for women's suffrage, access to political office, and probate law

reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...

Personal life

Marietta Stow grew up in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

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and worked as a teacher there throughout her early adulthood. Marietta Stow financed her own causes; she lectured about young girls working in dangerous shops and helping the orphaned daughters of

Union Soldiers During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

. After getting divorced in her early twenties, she later went on to marry Joseph Stow at the age of thirty-six. Three years later, Marietta Stow went back out into the political realm and became an active suffragette. Nine years before women were granted the right to vote in California, Marietta Stow died of

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...

in 1902.

Activism for women's rights

San Francisco Women's Suffrage Association

Stow replaced Elizabeth Schenck as president of the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

Women's Suffrage Association after Schenck became sick in 1869. Aiming to widen the support of the movement, Stow called for a meeting in

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to implement a suffrage bill, and she gave lectures in order to raise money for the cause. The organization decided to reject her idea and hold a conference in

instead, causing Stow to resign from the organization and leave the movement.

Probate law reform

Eight years into their marriage, Stow's husband died on August 11, 1874 at the age of 48. Stow was in Europe at the time of his death and the courts denied her inheritance of $200,000. This sparked her advocacy for probate law reform, which was an area that experienced extensive

gender inequality Gender inequality is the social phenomenon in which men and women are not treated equally. The treatment may arise from distinctions regarding biology, psychology, or cultural norms prevalent in the society. Some of these distinctions are empi ...

at the time. In regards to probate law, Stow proposed a bill to the

legislature A legislature is an assembly with the authority to make law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its p ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in 1876 stating that the widow of a spouse would be granted control over their property and putting their affairs in order. Stow also met with attorney

Belva Lockwood Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood (October 24, 1830 – May 19, 1917) was an American lawyer, politician, educator, and author who was active in the women's rights and women's suffrage movements. She was one of the first women lawyers in the United Sta ...

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and together they came up with a bill to reform federal marital property and estate laws; they brought it to the House of Representatives in 1879, but it was brushed aside. Stow wrote a book called ''Probate Confiscation'' about her belief that women's rights and roles in society involved more than just their positions as wives. In 1879, Stow gave speeches to other women about probate law injustices while writing her book on the side. When the book was finally published, she earned close to one thousand dollars as a result of selling approximately four hundred copies and she promised this money would go towards a college for women.

Career and political office

Stow was nominated by the

Greenback Party The Greenback Party (known successively as the Independent Party, the National Independent Party and the Greenback Labor Party) was an American political party with an anti-monopoly ideology which was active between 1874 and 1889. The party ran ...

in 1880 to be the San Francisco School Director. A year after accepting this nomination she formed the Women's Independent Political Party. This new party allowed for women to be further involved in politics and it was a way for them to gain confidence and experience. Stow believed it was vital that women have their own party, but she was still a supporter of the

and its candidates. Stow ran for Governor of California in 1882, as the Women's Independent Political Party candidate. She was anti-Chinese, anti-monopoly, and anti-ring, but she was not against whiskey and tobacco. Stow campaigned these views via her own newspaper. The newspaper was also used to promote her ideas and thoughts on the philosophy of positivism, industrial education for women, and the new science of sociology while being actively against the masculinity of the government. Likewise, Stow promoted the usage of birth control, practicing

eugenics Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior o ...

, shorter work days, and preventing crime.

Vice Presidential candidacy

She and Clara S. Foltz nominated

Belva Ann Lockwood Belva Ann Bennett Lockwood (October 24, 1830 – May 19, 1917) was an American lawyer, politician, educator, and author who was active in the women's rights and women's suffrage movements. She was one of the first women lawyers in the United Sta ...

for

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

, and Stow ultimately supported Lockwood on the National Equal Rights Party ticket as its vice presidential candidate in the 1884

United States presidential election The election of the president and the vice president of the United States is an indirect election in which citizens of the United States who are registered to vote in one of the fifty U.S. states or in Washington, D.C., cast ballots not dir ...

. Stow was the first woman to run for vice president of the United States. The Equal Rights Party platform included equal rights for men and women, a curtailment of the liquor traffic, uniform marriage and divorce laws for the entire nation, and "universal peace." Lockwood also supported the rights of the Chinese, which went against Marietta Stows anti-Chinese agenda. Stow was accused of being outspoken and was notably against the Republican Party at the time and believed it was a dying group. The ticket won some 4,000 votes nationwide. Women's suffrage was its major focus. In

1892 Events January–March * January 1 – Ellis Island begins accommodating immigrants to the United States. * February 1 - The historic Enterprise Bar and Grill was established in Rico, Colorado. * February 27 – Rudolf Diesel applies fo ...

she was a vice presidential candidate again, nominated by the "National Woman Suffragists' Nominating Convention" on September 21 at Willard's hotel in Boonville, New York presided over by Anna M. Parker, President of the convention. This time

Victoria Woodhull Victoria Claflin Woodhull, later Victoria Woodhull Martin (September 23, 1838 – June 9, 1927), was an American leader of the women's suffrage movement who ran for President of the United States in the 1872 election. While many historians ...

was at the top of the ticket. Stow was the editor of ''Women's Herald of Industry'' and ''Social Science Cooperator''.

Notes

External links

* ttps://archive.today/20121215032150/http://www.swarthmore.edu/library/peace/wchmiel1/women%20in%20politics/S_Z/Stow,%20Marietta.htm Stow, Mariettabr>''Belva Ann Lockwood: For Peace, Justice, and President'' By Frances A. CookStumpers-L Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stow, Marietta American women's rights activists 1884 United States vice-presidential candidates 1892 United States vice-presidential candidates Women in California politics National Equal Rights Party politicians Female candidates for Vice President of the United States 1830s births 1902 deaths Activists from California 19th-century American women