author
Marilla M. (Marilla Marks) Ricker
1840–1920
A bold New Hampshire reformer, she pushed for women's rights long before the vote was won and built a career in law when very few women were allowed into the profession. Her life joined activism, public speaking, and a fearless streak that kept her challenging the rules around her.
1 Audiobook
I don't know, do you?
by Marilla M. (Marilla Marks) Ricker
About the author
Born in New Durham, New Hampshire, in 1840, Marilla Marks Ricker became one of the state's best-known advocates for women's rights. She was educated at Colby Academy, married John Ricker in 1863, and was widowed a few years later. After spending time in Washington, D.C., she studied law and went on to break barriers as New Hampshire's first female lawyer.
Ricker was deeply involved in the suffrage movement and became known for testing unjust laws in public, practical ways. She famously tried to vote in New Hampshire on the argument that women taxpayers deserved representation, and she later became the first woman to run for governor of the state. She also applied for diplomatic posts and used the publicity around those efforts to press the case for women's equality.
Alongside her legal and political work, she was known as a philanthropist and a freethinker who spoke openly about religion, reform, and independent thought. She died in 1920, the same year the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified, after spending decades helping prepare the ground for that victory.