Victoria C. (Victoria Claflin) Woodhull

Born in Ohio in 1838, Victoria C. Woodhull became one of the most striking public figures of 19th-century America. She is widely remembered as an advocate for women's rights and as the first woman to run for president of the United States, a candidacy associated with the Equal Rights Party in 1872.

With her sister Tennessee Claflin, she built a surprising career in New York, including the brokerage firm Woodhull, Claflin & Co. The sisters also founded Woodhull and Claflin's Weekly, a newspaper that argued for women's suffrage, labor reform, and a more equal moral standard for men and women.

Woodhull's public life drew enormous attention because she mixed political ambition with outspoken social criticism. Later in life she moved to England, where she lived for many years before her death in 1927. Today she is remembered as a pioneering and often controversial voice in the long fight over women's independence, political power, and personal freedom.