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Rhoda Lavinia Goodell (May 2, 1839 – March 31, 1880) was the first woman licensed to practice law in Wisconsin and the first woman admitted to the
Supreme Court of Wisconsin The Wisconsin Supreme Court is the highest appellate court in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over original actions, appeals from lower courts, and regulation or administration of the practice of law in Wisconsin. Location The Wi ...
. In 1880, she also became the first to litigate (and win) an appeal to the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. She was a strong proponent of women's suffrage,
abolition Abolition refers to the act of putting an end to something by law, and may refer to: * Abolitionism, abolition of slavery * Abolition of the death penalty, also called capital punishment * Abolition of monarchy *Abolition of nuclear weapons *Abol ...
, temperance, and prison reform. She was also the first woman to run for city attorney.


Early life

Goodell was born in Utica, New York, to Clarissa and William Goodell. Her father was a prominent abolitionist and she shared his strong beliefs in abolition. In 1858, she wrote a letter to her sister Maria just before graduating from Brooklyn Heights Seminary where she expressed her desire to study law:
I think the study of law would be pleasant, but the practice attended with many embarrassments. Indeed I fear it would be utterly unpracticable ic/blockquote>She stayed in New York during the Civil War and worked at her father's newspaper, ''The Principia'', even filling in as editor-in-chief while her father was ill. She also worked at ''
Harper's Bazaar ''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...
'' as an assistant in the editorial room. However when her parents moved to Janesville, Wisconsin, she followed them in 1871. She began to study law on her own the following year, directed by local attorney A. A. Jackson. She also regularly attended the local circuit court but was unsuccessful in convincing any attorney to take her on as an apprentice.


Career

In 1874, she convinced a local attorney and civic leader Pliny Norcross to sponsor her application for the Rock County, Wisconsin, bar. However, he informed her that Judge Harmon Conger intended to reject her application unless she could find precedent. Goodell wrote to
Lucy Stone Lucy Stone (August 13, 1818 – October 18, 1893) was an American orator, abolitionist and suffragist who was a vocal advocate for and organizer promoting rights for women. In 1847, Stone became the first woman from Massachusetts to earn a colle ...
and other female lawyers across the country to find previous judges who had allowed women to be admitted to the bar. Ultimately the judge could not bar her application and she wrote to her cousin on June 18 that she was a member of the Wisconsin bar. In 1879, she was present when another female lawyer, Angie King, was examined for admission to the bar. On January 28, 1879, they formed a partnership which is believed to have been the third female legal partnership in the United States.


Wisconsin Supreme Court

Her first significant case was representing temperance women who wanted to sue two men for the illegal sale of liquor. This case – along with an estate administration case – were appealed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1875. In order for Goodell to appear before the court, she needed to be admitted to the Supreme Court. She petitioned to be admitted in the summer of 1875 and she went to
Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
on December 14 to argue before Chief Justice Edward G. Ryan.
Ithamar Sloan Ithamar Conkey Sloan (May 9, 1822December 24, 1898) was an American educator, lawyer, and politician. A Republican, he served two terms in the United States House of Representatives, representing Wisconsin. He was the brother of Andrew Scott Slo ...
represented her. On February 16, 1876, her petition was denied. In May, she wrote a reply to the ruling which denied her admission and submitted it to Wisconsin newspapers,
Myra Bradwell Myra Colby Bradwell (February 12, 1831 – February 14, 1894) was an American publisher and political activist. She attempted in 1869 to become the first woman to be admitted to the Illinois bar to practice law, but was denied admission by the ...
's ''Chicago Legal News'', and the ''
Woman's Journal ''Woman's Journal'' was an American women's rights periodical published from 1870 to 1931. It was founded in 1870 in Boston, Massachusetts, by Lucy Stone and her husband Henry Browne Blackwell as a weekly newspaper. In 1917 it was purchased by ...
''. Then, on March 22, 1877, the Wisconsin legislature enacted a law which prohibited courts from denying admission to the bar on the basis of sex. The bill had been drafted by Goodell and she worked with Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly
John B. Cassoday John Bolivar Cassoday (July 7, 1830December 30, 1907) was an American lawyer, politician, and judge. He was the 9th Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the 27th Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly. Biography Born in Herkimer ...
for it to pass. Goodell was admitted to practice before the Wisconsin Supreme Court on June 18, 1879. In 1880, Goodell argued and won her first case, ''Ingalls v. State'', shortly before her death.


Political Beliefs


Abolition

Goodell's father was a well-known abolitionist and she began writing for his paper, ''The Principia'', in late 1859.


Women's Rights

Goodell was an active member of the
women's rights movement Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...
and published many articles on these issues. In 1871, she wrote a series of four articles for the ''Woman's Journal'' on suffrage and later wrote a series of articles rebutting the position of the '' Christian Union'' that women should be subservient to their husbands. She drafted a bill for the Wisconsin legislature which would have granted married women whose husbands were unable to support them the right to petition the court to take possession of his property. She convinced John B. Cassoday to introduce the bill but it was never passed. She corresponded with
Elizabeth Cady Stanton Elizabeth Cady Stanton (November 12, 1815 – October 26, 1902) was an American writer and activist who was a leader of the women's rights movement in the U.S. during the mid- to late-19th century. She was the main force behind the 1848 Seneca ...
and Susan B. Anthony through her life and helped to circulate petitions for a constitutional amendment that would give women the right to vote. In 1878, Goodell signed the Susan B. Anthony amendment, which would become the nineteenth amendment in 1920.


Prison Reform

In November 1875, she was appointed to defend two criminal defendants and afterwards, she began to regularly visit the Janesville (Rock County) jail. She considered the prisoners to be her "boys" and allowed them to call her "mother". She began a prison literacy program and wrote to her sister on New Years Day:
I believe I could run that jail so as to turn out every man better than he came in. Jails and prisons could just as well be made schools of virtue as vice if people chose to have it so, and would give a very little thought to the subject.
She wrote articles for the ''Christian Union'' about prison reform where she advocated for prisoners to be given schooling and voluntary religious education and spoke about it at the 1879 American Women's Association Congress.


Temperance

She was an active public speaker about temperance. In 1875, she wrote a petition for the
state legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...
in favor of a prohibitory law. She attended a national temperance meeting in Chicago where she argued that temperance women should support women's suffrage because it would allow them to vote on the issue of temperance. This resolution was backed by
Anna Dickinson Anna Elizabeth Dickinson (October 28, 1842October 22, 1932) was an American orator and lecturer. An advocate for the abolition of slavery and for women's rights, Dickinson was the first woman to give a political address before the United States Co ...
and was passed.


Legacy

Goodell died on March 31, 1880, from ovarian cancer in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Betty Diamond, a playwright and professor at
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
, wrote a 2013 play titled ''Lavinia'' about Goodell. Wisconsin Chief Justice
Shirley Abrahamson Shirley Schlanger Abrahamson (December 17, 1933December 19, 2020) was the 25th chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court. An American lawyer and jurist, she was appointed to the court in 1976 by Governor Patrick Lucey, becoming the first femal ...
, the State Court's Office, and several notable professors of women's studies brought Goodell's story to the Wisconsin Humanities Council for grant funding in 2012. The WHC first funded Diamond's research and writing of the play, and then with a second grant in 2014 funded the performance of the play throughout Wisconsin. In 2019 the WHC awarded another major grant to help fund the development of a digital biography of Lavinia Goodell. In November 2019 the
State Bar of Wisconsin The State Bar of Wisconsin (SBW) is the integrated (mandatory) bar association of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Created by the Wisconsin Supreme Court for all attorneys who hold a Wisconsin law license, the State Bar of Wisconsin aids the courts i ...
awarded Lavinia a posthumous lifetime legal innovator award for opening the Wisconsin bar to women.


References


Further reading

* Cleary, Catherine B
"Lavinia Goodell, First Woman Lawyer in Wisconsin"
''Wisconsin Magazine of History'', vol. 74, no. 4 (Summer 1991), pp. 242–271. * Schier, Mary Lahr. ''Strong-Minded Woman: The Story of Lavinia Goodell, Wisconsin's First Female Lawyer''. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2001.


External links


Profile, Wisconsin Historical SocietyRhoda Livinia Goodell, 1839 - 1880
at Dictionary of Wisconsin History
Profile, Wisconsin State Bar
* Teresa M. Derichsweiler
"The Life of Lavinia Goodell: Wisconsin's First Woman Lawyer"
Stanford Women's Legal History Project, spring 1997 {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodell, Lavinia 1839 births 1880 deaths Wisconsin lawyers 19th-century American women lawyers People from Janesville, Wisconsin People from Utica, New York Deaths from cancer in Wisconsin 19th-century American lawyers