Fighting for Women's Rights in Illinois

A NUMBER OF WOMEN OF THE REVOLUTIONARY generation understood the bold Enlightenment assertion of the Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal” to be gender-neutral. However, it would take concerted action on the part of many Illinois women to make this a reality in the state. The fight still continues.In 1818, when Illinois achieved statehood, women's legal status was still classified by the pre-Revolutionary concept of feme covert or coverture—an English common law term that stated a married woman had no legal stature independent of her husband. This included no title to property or wages; no right to sign contracts; and no right to vote at any level.In the 1850s, Susan B. Anthony's cousin—Susan Hoxie Richardson—organized the first women's suffrage group in Illinois. The Civil War, however, acted as the catalyst for a generation of women to fight for suffrage. Through their efforts mobilizing the home front through the US Sanitary Commission, women such as Mary Livermore confronted legal restrictions on their agency to carry out their work, particularly negotiating and signing contracts.Myra Bradwell (1831–1894) was key to challenging and overturning Illinois coverture law. She did so through the development of a new legal philosophy called sociological jurisprudence. Bradwell studied law in her husband James B. Bradwell's law office in Chicago. Coverture, however, prevented her from entering into contracts in her own name and even acting as a notary since she could not own property. Bradwell then initiated and help write the Married Women's Property Act of 1861. It allowed women to own land and other property in their own name.1In 1868, Bradwell founded Chicago Legal News, which served as a law review for Illinois and proved indispensable for attorneys and state legislators. Its success allowed Bradwell to regularly feature women's rights issues. In 1865, the Illinois supreme court had ruled that the 1861 Married Women's Property Act did not pertain to women's wages because they were not her separate property. Bradwell then utilized the Chicago Legal News to urge lawmakers to pass the 1869 Married Women's Property Act to secure women's control over their own wages.2In 1869, Bradwell applied for a law license to challenge gender discrimination. When her application was denied, she sued the state in Bradwell v. State of Illinois. It went to the Illinois supreme court. Although the court ruled that laws of coverture denied her the right to an independent legal identity, Bradwell's brief drew from the innovative legal thought of sociological jurisprudence that considered contemporary changes in women's status in society, such as better education and employment opportunities, that secured them greater independence. She also claimed that the Fourteenth Amendment's equal protection clause granted women citizenship and equality, and that the Civil Rights Act of 1866 also applied to women guaranteeing them full and equal benefits.3Bradwell's interpretation of the Fourteenth Amendment and Civil Rights Act influenced the subsequent fight for women's rights. In 1892, she received her law license.After 1870, the United States and Illinois developed an urban industrial economy and society. Demand for labor brought a diversity of immigrants as well as promoted the Great Migration of African Americans from the South. In response to these changes, a growing middle class of educated women formed women's clubs throughout the state. This also comprised a proliferation of African American women's clubs that included race and women activists such as Ida B. Wells-Barnett.4These clubs galvanized women throughout the state to fight not only for suffrage but also what came to be called “civic housekeeping.” The pre–Civil War era's emphasis on the Cult of Domesticity intended to keep women in the home. In the post–Civil War era, the public sphere—previously associated with men—was marked by political corruption and economic exploitation that affected the domestic and private lives of urban residents. Women argued that their unique nurturing abilities and moral compass were necessary to clean up the public sphere. Jane Addams, the founder of Chicago's Hull-House, was one of the most notable women in Progressive Era reform. Addams argued that the fate of democracy hinged on a more humane and inclusive urban society.5Other notable reformers were Florence Kelley, who championed the rights of women, children, and all races working for eight-hour days, minimum wage, and against sweatshop conditions. In 1893, Illinois passed its first factory act. Kelley became Illinois’ first woman to hold a statewide office as factory inspector. Her work influenced the New Deal's Frances Perkins and the Fair Labor Standards Act.6Margaret Haley, a Chicago school teacher, became an activist for the Chicago Teachers’ Federation in 1898. She fought for higher teacher wages and a more just property tax system to fund schools. Her work demonstrated the impact women could have on reshaping the city.7Frances Willard was also a notable reformer who promoted female education, suffrage, labor rights, and prison reform. Willard was a founding member of the Women's Christian Temperance League (1874) and its president from 1879 to her death in 1898. The league argued the root of urban social problems was alcohol abuse promoted by large distillers. Her temperance reform efforts culminated in the Eighteenth Amendment (1917), which prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol. It was repealed in 1933 by the Twenty-First Amendment.In 1891, the Illinois Supreme Court determined women could vote for school boards chartered by the state. In 1913, the Illinois General Assembly passed the Presidential and Municipal Women's Suffrage Act, which granted Illinois women the right to vote for presidential electors and vote in local elections not included in the state's constitution. In 1919, Illinois became the seventh state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment granting all women the right to vote.Two other Illinois women had an impact on women's rights. Betty Goldstein Friedan was born in Peoria, Illinois. She helped launch the second wave women's movement with the publication of The Feminine Mystique (1963). Friedan was also a supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment. Phyllis Stewert Schlafly founded the Eagle Forum (1975) in Alton, Illinois, and spearheaded the defeat of the Equal Rights Amendment. Illinois was one of fifteen states that did not ratify the amendment by the deadline of 1982. Nonetheless, Illinois has stood firm in guaranteeing a woman's right to reproductive freedom. Many Illinois women have served in public office at the local, state, and national level as well as have enjoyed educational and economic opportunity.Myra Bradwell, Jane Addams, Ida B. Wells, and Betty Friedan are in the National Women's Hall of Fame.