Victoria Woodhull Free Spirit for Women's Rights

by Brody, Miriam

• ISBN13: 9780195143676
• ISBN10: 0195143671
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-06-24
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

At a time when women were regarded as second-class citizens, VictoriaWoodhull (1838-1927) led a life of many "firsts." She was the first womanstockbroker, the first woman to speak before Congress, and the first woman torun for President of the United States.Born into a poor family in rural Ohio, Woodhull took what she learned from eachparent-business know-how from her scheming father and an ear to the spirit worldfrom her religious mother-and marked out her destiny. She amassed a smallfortune on the New York Stock Exchange and opened a brokerage firm on WallStreet. With her profits she launched a newspaper, Woodhull and Claflin'sWeekly, and ran for the U.S. Presidency.In what proved to be her downfall, Woodhull accused Henry Ward Beecher, one ofthe most respected ministers of her time, of committing adultery with the wifeof one of his parishioners. After writing about the scandal in her newspaper,Woodhull was jailed several times and lost most of her money and supporters.Woodhull finally fled the United States for Britain, where she disassociatedherself from her radical past, remarried, and died the wealthy widow of aBritish banker. Victoria Woodhull was unorthodox because of her boldness,radical because of her ambition, notorious because of her reputation, yetadmired for her courage and her fight for women's rights.

Table of Contents

PREFACE	6	(2)
1 THE CLAFLINS, THE WOODHULLS, AND THE SPIRITUAL TELEGRAPH	8	(26)
Sisterhood of Furies	13	(21)
2 GOTHAM: BROKER, CANDIDATE, AND JOURNALIST	34	(24)
The Rising Tide of Reform	55	(3)
3 TAKING UP THE BURDEN: THE PETITIONER FOR WOMAN SUFFRAGE	58	(18)
We Mean Treason	70	(6)
4 ROCKING THE BOAT: THE "SOCIAL QUESTIONS"	76	(18)
Free Speech, Free Love	88	(6)
5 PARTING THE RED SEA: ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL	94	(16)
Equality, Not Just Freedom	99	(11)
6 STANDING ALONE: WOODHULL UNDER ATTACK	110	(24)
The Living Death of a Mother	125	(9)
7 SAFE HARBOR: THE SECOND CAREER OF VICTORIA WOODHULL	134	(9)
CHRONOLOGY	143	(4)
FURTHER READING	147	(2)
INDEX	149