First Woman on a U.S. Presidential Ballot Autograph Letter Signed Addressed to St. Louis World’s Fair Publicity Director, 1903

Belva Lockwood

Manuscripts & Autographs

Lockwood, Belva A. Autograph Letter Signed, April 30, 1903, documents the continued public presence of the first woman to appear on a United States presidential ballot and a central figure in nineteenth-century woman suffrage and legal reform. Written from Washington, D.C. to Mark Bennitt, publicity director of the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, the letter reflects Lockwood’s sustained engagement in national civic and reform networks nearly two decades after her historic presidential campaigns. Lockwood, one of the first women admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, was nominated by the National Equal Rights Party in 1884 and again in 1888, becoming the first woman to secure placement on presidential ballots in multiple states. Her candidacies challenged legal and constitutional exclusions at a time when women were barred from voting, underscoring the asymmetry between political participation and civil rights that defined the late nineteenth-century suffrage movement.

Lockwood, Belva A. Autograph Letter Signed. Washington, D.C., April 30, 1903. One page, 7 x 5¾ inches, in black ink, addressed to Mr. Mark Bennitt. The text reads: “Wash. D.C. Apr. 30. 1903 – Mr. Mark Bennitt, Dear Sir, Please to deliver letter addressed to me to bearer Mrs. Victoria Coukling Whitney and oblige. Yours Truly Belva A. Lockwood.” Signed boldly “Belva A. Lockwood.” The letter concerns the transfer of correspondence to Mrs. Victoria Coukling Whitney, situating Lockwood within social and professional networks connected to the forthcoming Louisiana Purchase Exposition. Though brief and administrative in nature, the document preserves Lockwood’s autograph during a period when she remained active in public advocacy, including peace initiatives and continued support for women’s legal and political equality.

By 1903, the national woman suffrage movement was consolidating under the National American Woman Suffrage Association while expanding state-level campaigns. Lockwood’s earlier presidential runs had established a precedent for women’s direct claims to executive authority, reframing constitutional eligibility and public discourse surrounding female citizenship. Her legal career and reform activism linked suffrage with broader anti-discrimination and international arbitration efforts, reinforcing the interconnection between women’s rights and peace advocacy in the Progressive Era. Letter mounted to a second page; heavy creasing and small tears along left edge; pencil annotations on both pages; ink strong and fully legible; overall good condition. A manuscript artifact from a foundational figure in American women’s political history, preserving the hand of the first female presidential candidate to secure ballot access in the United States.

Item #16238

Price: $1,250.00