Victoria Claflin Woodhull (born Victoria California Claflin; September 23, 1838 – June 9, 1927), later Victoria Woodhull Martin, was an American leader of the women's suffrage movement who ran for president of the United States in the 1872 election. While many historians and authors agree that Woodhull was the first woman to run for the presidency,[2] some disagree with classifying it as a true candidacy because she was younger than the constitutionally mandated age of 35. (Woodhull's 35th birthday was in September 1873, six months after the March inauguration.)
An activist for women's rights and labor reforms, Woodhull was also an advocate of "free love", by which she meant the freedom to marry, divorce and bear children without social restriction or government interference.[3] "They cannot roll back the rising tide of reform," she often said. "The world moves."[4]
Woodhull twice went from rags to riches, her first fortune being made on the road as a magnetic healer[5] before she joined the spiritualist movement in the 1870s.[6] Authorship of many of her articles is disputed (many of her speeches on these topics were collaborations between Woodhull, her backers, and her second husband, Colonel James Blood[7]). Together with her sister, Tennessee Claflin, she was the first woman to operate a brokerage firm on Wall Street,[8] making a second, and more reputable fortune.[9] They were among the first women to found a newspaper in the United States, Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly, which began publication in 1870.[10]
Woodhull was politically active in the early 1870s when she was nominated as the first woman candidate for the United States presidency.[8] Woodhull was the candidate in 1872 from the Equal Rights Party, supporting women's suffrage and equal rights; her running mate (unbeknownst to him) was abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass. Her campaign inspired at least one other woman – apart from her sister – to run for Congress.[8] A check on her activities occurred when she was arrested on obscenity charges a few days before the election. Her paper had published an account of the alleged adulterous affair between the prominent minister Henry Ward Beecher and Elizabeth Richards Tilton which had rather more detail than was considered proper at the time. However, it all added to the sensational coverage of her candidacy.[11]
^"Victoria Woodhull Martin certified death certificate". victoria-woodhull.com. Obtained from the General Register Office, UK. June 17, 2015. Retrieved November 9, 2016.
^Finan, Christopher (2022). How Free Speech Saved Democracy. Lebanon, NH: Truth To Power. pp. 38–39. ISBN 9781586422981.
^Kemp, Bill (November 15, 2016). "'Free love' advocate Victoria Woodhull excited Bloomington". The Pantagraph. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
^"The Woman Who Ran for President – in 1872". The Attic. May 3, 2018. Retrieved July 9, 2018.
^Cite error: The named reference Johnson1956_46 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^Johnson 1956, pp. 46–47.
^Johnson 1956, pp. 86, 87.
^ abcCite error: The named reference Katz was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Before Hillary eyed presidency, there was Ohio's 'Mrs. Satan'.. Toronto Star, October 22, 2016. p. IN4. by Rick Hampson of USA Today.
^The Revolution, a weekly newspaper founded by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, had begun publication two years earlier in 1868.
^For an account of the arrest, see "The Claflin Family: Arrest of Victoria Woodhull, Tennie C. Claflin and Col. Blood – They are Charged with Publishing an Obscene Newspaper," The New York Times. November 3, 1872, page 1.
Victoria Claflin Woodhull (born Victoria California Claflin; September 23, 1838 – June 9, 1927), later VictoriaWoodhull Martin, was an American leader...
DC, and held every September 23, celebrates the birthday of VictoriaWoodhull. The Woodhull Freedom Foundation (WFF) has held the Sexual Freedom Summit...
American suffragist best known as the first woman, along with her sister VictoriaWoodhull, to open a Wall Street brokerage firm, which occurred in 1870. Tennessee...
Woodhull may refer to: Woodhull, Illinois Woodhull, New York Woodhull Lake (New York) Woodhull Township, Michigan Woodhull, Wisconsin Woodhull Sexual Freedom...
was elected city auditor of St. Louis. He was the second husband of VictoriaWoodhull, the 19th-century suffragist and activist who was the first woman...
2005. ISBN 1-56802-981-0. Shearer, Mary L. (2016). "Who is VictoriaWoodhull?". VictoriaWoodhull & Company. Retrieved June 18, 2022. United States Congress...
often shared a speaking spot with Murphy. VictoriaWoodhull was a prominent advocate of eugenics. Woodhull also had a husband that was abusive, alcoholic...
nominating two female presidential candidates: VictoriaWoodhull in 1872 and Belva Lockwood in 1884 and 1888. Woodhull and Lockwood are generally considered the...
love" by Saskia Poldervaart VictoriaWoodhull, Free Lover: Sex, Marriage And Eugenics in the Early Speeches of VictoriaWoodhull, Seattle: Inkling, 2005,...
limited series Woodhull. She is set to portray the first female candidate for the presidency of the United States, VictoriaWoodhull. In January 2021...
Barbara Holdridge Harriet Williams Russell Strong Emily Howell Warner VictoriaWoodhull 2002 Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis Ruth Bader Ginsburg Katharine Graham...
one in which Woodhull sang the praises of Beecher's physical endowment) intact, headed uptown the following year rechristened Onward Victoria. After twenty-three...
Barbara Holdridge Harriet Williams Russell Strong Emily Howell Warner VictoriaWoodhull 2002 Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis Ruth Bader Ginsburg Katharine Graham...
for additional runs. While many historians and authors agree that VictoriaWoodhull was the first woman to run for president, some have questioned the...
Cassavetes. Vicky – In the mid-1990s, Beatty was developing a biopic of VictoriaWoodhull from screenwriter Toback. Beatty was going to produce, possibly direct...
for the case provided by VictoriaWoodhull and Tennessee Claflin; writers for Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly. After Woodhull's acquittal, Comstock began...
Party and was the first woman to appear on official ballots. While VictoriaWoodhull is commonly cited as the first woman to run for president, she was...
nominated for vice president of the United States, as the running mate of VictoriaWoodhull on the Equal Rights Party ticket. Douglass believed in dialogue and...
Barbara Holdridge Harriet Williams Russell Strong Emily Howell Warner VictoriaWoodhull 2002 Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis Ruth Bader Ginsburg Katharine Graham...
Barbara Holdridge Harriet Williams Russell Strong Emily Howell Warner VictoriaWoodhull 2002 Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis Ruth Bader Ginsburg Katharine Graham...
Barbara Holdridge Harriet Williams Russell Strong Emily Howell Warner VictoriaWoodhull 2002 Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis Ruth Bader Ginsburg Katharine Graham...
advocate VictoriaWoodhull for president and Marietta Stow for vice president. Both had been nominated for these positions before, Woodhull in 1872 and...
on the development of a new musical about the life of suffragette VictoriaWoodhull. Gasparini's other full-length musicals include Crazy, Just Like Me...
year, he was jailed on obscenity charges while defending suffragist VictoriaWoodhull against charges regarding an article her newspaper had published on...
knowledge in November 1872 when VictoriaWoodhull published a special edition of The Woodhull and Claflin Weekly. In it, Woodhull sensationalized the relationship...
ISBN 978-1-58465-325-7. Gabriel, Mary (1998). Notorious Victoria: The Life of VictoriaWoodhull, Uncensored. Chapel Hill, NC: Algonquin Books. ISBN 978-1-56512-132-4...
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