In 1874, Lavinia Goodell (1839-1880) was the first woman admitted to practice law in Wisconsin and the first woman to be admitted to practice before the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Lavinia’s first petition for admission to the Supreme Court was denied in 1876. Chief Justice Edward Ryan wrote, “[I]t is public policy to provide for the sex, not for its superfluous members; and not to tempt women from the proper duties of their sex by opening to them duties peculiar to ours. There are many employments in life not unfit for female character. The profession of law is surely not one of these.” Lavinia persisted, persuading male legislators to pass a law making make bar admission gender neutral. She was admitted to practice before the Wisconsin Supreme Court in 1877 and won an appeal there in 1880, weeks before she died of cancer, just short of her 41st birthday. Lavinia was a lifelong proponent of temperance and women’s suffrage, advocated for women’s property rights, the right of women to obtain a divorce, and laws that would require men to support their wives and children. After a local judge appointed her to represent indigent criminal defendants, she began teaching classes at the jail, believing that no one was beyond redemption and that with education her “boys” would be able to find gainful employment rather than be reduced to a life of crime. She was a graceful, witty, and prolific writer, a prodigious reader, a sought-after public speaker, and possessed a bright and inquisitive mind. She left behind hundreds of letters, scores of published articles, and personal diaries. A new digital biography draws on the large cache of Lavinia-related materials – many of which have never been publicly seen – and offers an intimate view into the life of a fascinating woman who deserves far greater recognition. Lavinia Goodell, . Follow Lavinia on Instagram, .
