Notorious Victoria: The Life of Victoria Woodhull, Uncensored
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She was the first woman to address the U.S. Congress, the first to operate a brokerage firm on Wall Street, and the first to run for president. She's the woman Gloria Steinem called "the most controversial suffragist of them all." In this extensively researched biography, journalist Mary Gabriel has written a comprehensive account of one of American history's most unusual and fascinating women, who, in an era of Victorian morality, was the loudest and most radical voice for women's equality. "One of the most controversial American women of the late nineteenth century springs to life in this study that leaves no stone unturned."--Publishers Weekly; "Deftly written biography . . . of a hell-raising visionary."--Mirabella; "A meaty slice of feminist history peppered with Victorian drama."--Civilization; "Remarkable . . . warrants a spot on every serious American history student's bookshelf."--Kirkus Reviews, pointer. VOYA Everyone who has studied women's history knows about Susan B. Anthony, but Victoria Woodhull, a strident and important activist, has remained largely ignored-that is, until now. This year two new books have been published that examine her life and contributions to the women's suffrage movement and afford her the recognition she richly deserves. From her poverty-stricken childhood within a family largely unconcerned with the law (and frequently running from it), to her presidential campaign from behind bars, Woodhull rose up to become a force worth tremendous notice in a Victorian society riddled with crushing mores on women. Woodhull grew up in Homer, Ohio, but the family was run out of several towns by the time she was prepubescent. As a child, she raised a small fortune by taking advantage of the country's infatuation with spiritualism and working the crowds, along with her extraordinarily beautiful younger sister Tennessee, as a medium who could converse with the dead. Guided by their father, Buck Claflin (who claimed to be, among other avocations, a lawyer, a doctor, and a businessman), the two sisters were extremely successful and supported the large family until 1853, when Victoria married "Doctor" Canning Woodhull and shortly thereafter found herself legally bound to an alcoholic who drank away any earnings he managed to procure, and the mother of a severely mentally handicapped boy. This experience solidified her beliefs in the rights of women and thrust her onto the stormy path of fighting for women's suffrage once, of course, she was financially solvent again. That solvency came in the form of patronage by millionaire Cornelius Vanderbilt, by which time Victoria had divorced Woodhull, married progressive James Blood, and brought Tennessee to New York to set up a brokerage firm with her on Wall Street. Victoria also established Tennessee as editor of a weekly newspaper to promote Victoria's decision to run for the presidency of the United States. However, Victoria's platform of free love was too much for the nineteenth century men to bear, and she was jailed on trumped up charges and ruined financially. While she had always managed to land on her feet beforehand, this was the beginning of the end and culminated in a lawsuit by Henry Ward Beecher (brother to Harriet Beecher Stowe), which left Victoria a shadow of her former self. She died alone in England, ignored by those who had formerly avidly supported her. Gabriel relates this intriguing story of a woman ahead of her time in a highly readable fashion. High school and college students also will enjoy Other Powers: The Age of Suffrage, Spiritualism, and the Scandalous Victoria Woodhull by Barbara Goldsmith (Knopf, 1998), which analyzes the time period in greater detail and includes longer original documents. Index. Photos. Biblio. Source Notes. VOYA Codes: 5Q 2P S (Hard to imagine it being any better written, For the YA with a special interest in the subject, Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12).
Prologue1PART ONEHomer, 18507San Francisco, 185512St. Louis, 186518PART TWOPittsburgh, 186829New York City, 186832New York City, September 186937New York City, February 187042New York City, April 187054New York City, May 187058New York City, November 187068PART THREEWashington, D.C., January 187173Washington, D.C., February 187182New York City, April 187188New York City, Early May 187194New York City, Mid-May 187199New York City, Late May 1871110New York City, June 1871114New York City, July 1871123New York City, August 1871127Troy, September 1871130Hartford, October1871133New York City, Early November 1871136New York City, Late November 1871143New York City, December 1871151Washington, D.C., January 1872158New York City, May 9, 1872164New York City, May 10, 1872170Boston, September 1872175PART FOURNew York City, November 2, 1872183New York City, November 5, 1872192New York City, November 20, 1872194New York City, January 1873198New York City, June 1873204New York City, June 23, 1873210Chicago, September 1873214New York City, Late September 1873219New York City, March 1874225New York City, August 1874230New York City, April 1875235New York City, May 1875237New York City, October 1876240PART FIVELondon, August 1877245London, October 1883249London, October 1885256New York City, April 1886259London, January 1893264London, February 1894268London, January 1895278Las Palmas, March 1897281London, December 1901285Bredon's Norton, August 1914289Bredon's Norton, June 9, 1927297Cosmopolitical Party Platform303Notes309Bibliography347Acknowledgments355Index359
