Woman Lawyer: The Trials of Clara Foltz

Foltz, Clara Shortridge

Clara Shortridge Foltz was a pioneering woman attorney who opened the California bar to women lawyers. She practiced law until the age of 80 and innovated the idea of an office of public defender. Foltz was active in the fight for suffrage in California. She served as a Trustee of the State Normal School in Los Angeles, ending her term in 1891. In 1892 she ran for the position of City Attorn...

Gordon, Laura DeForce

Laura deForce Gordon was a well known trial lawyer in California ("lady lawyer of San Joaquin County.") Gordon frequently appeared at the state legislature, lobbing various reform causes. In 1871 she was nominated by the Independent party as its candidate for state senator to represent a district of San Joaquin county. She received over 200 votes in the race. In June 1878, Gordon campaigned,...

Todd, Marion

In 1881, a year after she had been widowed, Marion Todd ran for the office of California attorney general as a candidate of the Greenback Labor Party. She lost but ran ahead of her ticket, having conducted an active campaign of speeches across the state. A political activist, Todd attended the first national anti-monopoly convention (Chicago) as a delegate in 1893 and, again, in 1894. In 189...

Lottie E. Granger's Campaign for County Superintendent of Schools, 1887

Cora Victoria Diehl's Campaign for Register of Deeds, 1892

Laura DeForce Gordon's Campaign for State Senate, 1871

Lillian Huff 's Campaign for County Superintendent of Public Schools, 1890

Mrs. M. E. Nichols's Campaign for County Superintendent of Public Instruction, 1878

Marion Todd's Campaign for State Attorney General, 1881

Mary S. Welch's Campaign for County Superintendent of Schools, 1881