Barbara Babcock, the first woman appointed to the regular faculty at Stanford Law School will speak about Clara Foltz, the first woman lawyer in California on Sunday February 5 at 2 pm at the Berkeley History Center, 1931 Center Street.
With the help of her fellow woman suffragists, Clara Foltz fought her way into the California Bar in 1878, the first woman to practice law in the state. She worked for women’s rights throughout her career and was one of the few pioneers who lived to cast a legal ballot in California in 1912. Though the achievement of suffrage is generally thought to be a result of the progressive movement, Foltz’s life reveals that the foundation for suffrage was laid much earlier. Professor Babcock’s recent book, Woman Lawyer: The Trials of Clara Foltz (Stanford University Press, 2011), shows the breadth of the woman’s movement in California through the life of this remarkable woman.
Barbara Babcock is the Judge John Crown Professor of Law, Emerita, Stanford Law School, and the founder of the Women’s Legal History website:http://wlh.law.stanford.edu.
Find out what's happening in Berkeleyfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
After the talk, attendees may tour the “Berkeley Women Vote: Celebrating California Suffrage 1911-2011” exhibit at the Center. Speaker and exhibit are free, open to the public, wheel-chair accessible. Info: lwvbae.org.
