Ada Harriet Miser Kepley (February 11, 1847 – June 13, 1925) was the first American woman to graduate from law school. She graduated in 1870 with a law degree, from what is today

Northwestern University School of Law Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law is the law school of Northwestern University, a private research university. It is located on the university's Chicago campus. Northwestern Law has been ranked among the top 14, or "T14" law scho ...

. At that time, she was prohibited from legal practice by state court rule that denied women admittance to the bar. She finally was admitted to the bar in 1881, but did not practice. She was an advocate for

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

and

temperance Temperance may refer to: Moderation *Temperance movement, movement to reduce the amount of alcohol consumed *Temperance (virtue), habitual moderation in the indulgence of a natural appetite or passion Culture *Temperance (group), Canadian danc ...

Early life

Ada Harriet Miser was born in Somerset, Ohio, in 1847. Her parents were Henry and Ann M. Miser. She had a sister, Nora Miser Scott. Her family moved to

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, in 1860, and in 1867, Ada married Henry B. Kepley, who had his own law practice in Effingham, Illinois. At his urging, Ada attended the

Old University of Chicago The Old University of Chicago was the legal name given in 1890 to the University of Chicago's first incorporation. The school, founded in 1856 by Baptist church leaders, was originally called the "University of Chicago" (or, interchangeably, "Ch ...

's law department (now Northwestern) in Chicago from 1869 to 1870. There she earned her

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

in 1870. She was the first woman to graduate from law school in the United States. However, Illinois state law denied her admission to the state bar because she was a woman. In response, her husband Henry Kepley drafted a bill banning sex discrimination in professional occupations; it became state law in 1872. Kepley, who was more interested in social reform than legal practice, did not apply for admission to the bar in Illinois until 1881, when she gained easy admission. She also was an ordained Unitarian Minister.

Reformer

Kepley's legacy was not in the practice of law, but rather in her passion for

and

. Her temperance crusade centered around her establishment of the Band of Hope, a youth-oriented temperance group, which focused on educating the youth of the Effingham, Illinois, area concerning the hazards of alcohol addiction. In conjunction with her organization, she also published a monthly temperance newspaper entitled, ''The Friend of Home'' which openly attacked the dram shops (saloons) and their patrons. In 1897, an angered saloon-keeper's son broke into Kepley's home and attempted to shoot her with a gun, but missed and shot one of her dogs in the foot. Kepley's association with nationally known women's movement icons Frances Willard (of the

Woman's Christian Temperance Union The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization, originating among women in the United States Prohibition movement. It was among the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program th ...

or WCTU) and Susan B. Anthony (co-founder of the

National Woman Suffrage Association The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) was formed on May 15, 1869, to work for women's suffrage in the United States. Its main leaders were Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. It was created after the women's rights movement spl ...

) gained Kepley national recognition in these organizations. Frances Willard attended a WCTU rally in Effingham at Kepley's request. Upon the death of her husband Henry in 1906, the bereaved Ada moved to the Kepley's farm between

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and

Mason, Illinois Mason is an incorporated town in Effingham County, Illinois, United States. The population was 345 at the 2010 census, down from 396 at the 2000 census. It was named after Roswell Mason, an official of the Illinois Central Railroad. Mason is pa ...

(now known as Wildcat Hollow State Forest). There, Kepley wrote her autobiography, entitled, ''A Farm Philosopher, A Love Story'' (since edited and re-published), which she published in 1912. The book was printed by Worman's Printery in Teutopolis, Illinois. Of the land that is now Wildcat Hollow she writes

Poverty and death

Within the next few years, she lost her beloved farm and was forced to move to a small home in Effingham. Kepley died in St. Anthony's Memorial Hospital in 1925, and she is buried in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Effingham, next to her husband, Henry. Kepley's health and financial issues in her final years are allegorical to the very causes she so passionately fought for, and although she did not live to see the full impact of the national women's suffrage movement, her influence on the movement during its early years helped pave the way for the one of the greatest political achievements in United States history: the19th Amendment.

Works

*''A Farm Philosopher, A Love Story'', Ada H. Kepley, 1912

References

External links

Ada Kepley
at the Women's Legal History Biography Project
Ada Kepley biography
by the Unitarian Universalist Historical Society * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kepley, Ada 1847 births 1925 deaths 19th-century American women lawyers Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law alumni People from Somerset, Ohio People from Effingham, Illinois Old University of Chicago 19th-century American lawyers