Bradwell, Myra

Bradwell, Myra (b. Colby)

(1831–94) lawyer, editor; born in Manchester, Vt. After marrying a lawyer, James B. Bradwell, she studied the law, originally to help her husband; when she passed the bar exam in 1869, she was denied admission. Meanwhile, in 1868, she established the pioneer weekly Chicago Legal News. She got Illinois to grant everyone, irrespective of sex, access to professions (1882) and was finally admitted to the bar (1892). She promoted woman suffrage and women's rights in general and helped secure the World's Fair for Chicago in 1893.