Victoria Woodhull Free Spirit for Women's Rights

At a time when women were regarded as second-class citizens, VictoriaWoodhull (1838-1927) led a life of many "firsts." She was the first womanstockbroker, the first woman to speak before Congress, and the first woman torun for President of the United States.Born into a poor family in rural Ohio, Woodhull took what she learned from eachparent-business know-how from her scheming father and an ear to the spirit worldfrom her religious mother-and marked out her destiny. She amassed a smallfortune on the New York Stock Exchange and opened a brokerage firm on WallStreet. With her profits she launched a newspaper, Woodhull and Claflin'sWeekly, and ran for the U.S. Presidency.In what proved to be her downfall, Woodhull accused Henry Ward Beecher, one ofthe most respected ministers of her time, of committing adultery with the wifeof one of his parishioners. After writing about the scandal in her newspaper,Woodhull was jailed several times and lost most of her money and supporters.Woodhull finally fled the United States for Britain, where she disassociatedherself from her radical past, remarried, and died the wealthy widow of aBritish banker. Victoria Woodhull was unorthodox because of her boldness,radical because of her ambition, notorious because of her reputation, yetadmired for her courage and her fight for women's rights.