Photo: Laura De Force Gordon in an undated portrait. Credit Library of Congress

Madison Kwiecinski

news editor

mvk5945@psu.edu

Laura de Force Gordon was born in Erie, Pennsylvania in 1838, and experienced first hand what it was like to have to fight harder for everything in life because she was born a female in a male dominant world. Despite the challenges she faced, She paved the path for so many women to follow in her footsteps, in a variety of career fields. 

Gordon spent many years establishing herself in fields that, at the time, were predominantly and historically limited to men. She was a suffragist, a journalist and a lawyer, as well as a pioneer in the newspaper industry. She was met with a variety of opposition along the way and often faced scorn and disapproval from colleagues. 

The workforce was an uphill battle for any woman at the time, especially one trying to establish herself in a male based field. 

“If she has succeeded at all in accomplishing anything outside the nursery, the kitchen or church work, it has been as a warrior battling for his rights against fearful odds,” said Gordon, when referring to the professional. 

Luckily, however, Gordon was one of those warriors and fought hard to not only make something of herself as a professional woman but also to make a statement about how, “society has sneered at learned women,”  She said in a speech in 1893. 

When Gordon was only fifteen, she left home and began touring the country giving speeches and lectures. In 1862, she married her husband Charles H. Gordon and the couple eventually moved and settled down in Los Angeles in 1870. 

In 1873, Gordon became an editor and reporter for the Stockton Narrow Gauge. One year later, she bought the Stockton Weekly Leader and converted it into a daily newspaper. She became the first female publisher of a daily paper in the United States, an incredible feat at the time that paved the way for hundreds of other women to follow. 

During that same time, Gordon gave more than 100 speeches across California and Nevada preaching for women’s equal rights. 

Gordon also has a passion for law and pursued it in a steadfast way. However, she was barred from attending law schools in 1878, she was told it was because the “rustling skirts” distract male students. She overcame this sexist obstacle by studying for the bar exam and passing it despite not being able to attend law school. She also managed to open her own law firm in San Francisco where she practiced general and criminal law. 

Perhaps Gordon’s most impressive accomplishment at the time was becoming the second woman ever admitted to the Supreme Court Bar, in 1855. It is a high honor and an extreme accomplishment, especially at the time, to be able to practice on the Supreme Court Bar and in front of the Supreme Court. 

Gordon was also instrumental in passing the Women’s Lawyer Bill. At the time of the bill only a “white male citizen” was able to be admitted officially to the state’s bar, therefore She worked alongside Clara Shortridge Foltz, a reformer and women’s rights advocate, to pursue the passage of the Woman Lawyer’s Bill in 1878, allowing women to practice law in California.

When challenging the court for a women’s right to attend law school, a judge said “An impartial jury would be impossible when a lovely lady pleaded the case of the criminal,” to Gordon and Foltz. 

Susan B. Anthony, a pioneer crusader for women’s suffrage, once said in regards to Gordon that, “You can’t imagine how it delights my soul to find such an earnest, noble young woman possessed of powers oratorical.” 

As Gordon’s reputation grew, so did her political influence. She helped to found the California Woman Suffrage Society in 1870 and later served as its president. In 1871, the Independent Party of San Joaquin County nominated her for state senator, Although the nomination was more of a symbolic gesture at the time. 

Gordon passed away in 1907, more than a decade before the 19th Amendment was established granting women the right to vote across the United States, and only four years before women were granted that same right in California. Despite all the challenges she faced on the basis of sex, she was always optimistic for the future of womens’ rights. 

“Woman suffrage is bound to come,” Gordon stated in 1896. 

Today recognize the women who came before, taking the first steps and paving the path. In March, these women who fought for their country in their own way are honored by Women’s History Month, recognizing everything they did for the betterment of equal rights nationwide.