 Woodhull, Victoria Claflin (1838-1927), was the first woman to run for
president of the United States. In 1872, she was the candidate of the new Equal Rights
Party. Women's voting rights groups admired her stand in favor of allowing women to vote.
However, they rejected Woodhull's candidacy because she also spoke for the right of women
to have love affairs, whether married or not.
In 1870, Woodhull and her sister Tennessee Claflin established the first stock brokerage
firm owned by women, near Wall Street in New York City. That same year, the two sisters
founded a weekly newspaper. Both ventures did very well for several years.
Victoria Woodhull was born in Homer, Ohio, near Utica. She received little formal
education. Woodhull and her sister moved to England in 1877.
Contributor: Miriam Schneir, Writer; editor, Feminism: The Essential Historical
Writings.
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