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A Presidential Candidate Fighting for Sexual Freedoms
Victorian Woodhull ran in 1872 during
the Victorian era. Today we need another Victoria Woodhull - at least the
Woodhull Foundation continues today fighting for consenting adult sexual
freedoms including decriminalizing of prostitution.
Her journal, Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly, advocated the legalization of
prostitution to combat hypocrisy and prevent venereal disease. Today those same
arguments are at least as strong as they were in 1872.
According to her contemporaries, Victoria Woodhull was a woman 100 years ahead
of her time. Although few have heard of her today, when she ran for President of
the United States in 1872, she was one of the most famous women in the country.
She advocated many things which we take for granted today: the 8-hour work day,
graduated income tax, social welfare programs, and profit sharing, for example.
She was only 15 years old when she was married for the first time to Canning
Woodhull. When she died on June 9, 1927, she had come a long way from her modest
surroundings in Homer. She died in a Manor House in Bredon's Norton,
Worcestershire, England, as the wealthy widow of a British banker.
She was no "respecter of persons." She offered her hospitality to prostitutes
and royalty alike. She was a bundle of contradictions. Although she was opposed
to the organized Christian religion, she lived its principles: She fed the
hungry, cared for the sick, and visited the prisoners. She believed that living
those principles was more important to saving souls than preaching the
resurrection of Christ. She owned a newspaper which was the first to print the
Communist Manifesto in English; and yet, she was also the first female
stockbroker on Wall Street. Her life was unique, to say the least.
Victoria was nominated for the U.S. Presidency by the Equal Rights Party. Her
candidacy attracted an unusual coalition of people, which included laborers,
female suffragists, Spiritualists, and communists, among others. The members of
the coalition represented diverse--and often conflicting--opinions. The one
thing that they all agreed upon was that the government needed reform. They
wanted a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people." They
wanted a government with principles. Not only did the Equal Rights Party
nominate the first female presidential candidate, they were also the first to
nominate a black man, Frederick Douglass, for Vice President.
Although few seriously thought Victoria Woodhull would win, they knew her
campaign would send a message to Washington.
Victoria faced many obstacles to election besides the obvious one of running
when most women couldn't even vote. One obstacle was campaign fund-raising and
organization. She formed "Victoria Leagues." She held "Congresses" of her
followers in her own home. She attempted to raise money by selling bonds that
would be redeemable during her administration. Still, she couldn't get the
support she needed to launch a formidable campaign. When she began her run, she
had personal funds to draw from like Steve Forbes. She was the publisher of a
New York journal, "Woodhull & Claflin's Weekly." She owned a stock brokerage, "Woodhull,
Claflin & Company." Eventually, though, her funds ran out. She remarked of her
own campaign, "The press suddenly divided between the other two great parties,
refused all notice of the new reformatory movement; a series of pecuniary
disasters stripped us, for the time being, of the means of continuing our weekly
publication, and forced us into a desperate struggle for mere existence. . . .
The inauguration of the new party, and my nomination, seemed to fall dead upon
the country; and . . . a new batch of slanders and injurious innuendoes
permeated the community in respect to my condition and character."
Instead of debating Victoria on the issues, her opponents attacked her
personally. They called her everything from a witch to a prostitute. They
accused her of having affairs with married men. At first, Victoria responded to
the slanders by taking the high road and ignoring the abuse. She believed that
the private matters of public figures were just that, "private." Still, the
rumors didn't subside, and she found she had to justify her private behavior in
public. The rumors eventually led Victoria and her family to be evicted from
their home. They literally spent one night homeless on the streets of New York
because landlords were afraid to rent to the "Wicked Woodhull." Victoria
believed certain members of the Beecher family--Catherine Beecher and Harriet
Beecher Stowe--were responsible for the insidious rumors. In desperation,
Victoria and her second husband Col. Blood wrote to Rev. Henry Ward Beecher.
They asked him to help put an end to the persecution. Rev. Beecher turned a cold
shoulder to them.
Because Henry Ward Beecher refused to listen to her pleas, Victoria felt there
was no choice but to fight back and reveal the hypocrisy of her attackers. She
published the story of Rev. Beecher's affair with a married woman, hoping that
his family would stop the personal attacks. Instead, they enlisted the help of
the United States marshals.
The first female presidential candidate spent election day in jail. The U.S.
government arrested her under the Comstock Act for sending "obscene" literature
through the mail. (As late as 1996, this act was still in effect as a part of
the Internet Communications Decency Act.) The alleged obscenity wasn't
pornography. The obscenity was an article about Rev. Beecher's affair with Lib
Tilton, the wife of Beecher's best friend, Theodore Tilton.
The Beecher-Tilton trial was the biggest news since President Lincoln had been
assassinated. It received more coverage than the impeachment of President
Johnson. It was as widely covered as the O.J. Simpson trial. It created
thousands of pages of testimony and numerous books like the Clinton-Lewinsky
scandal. The country was sharply divided. Some believed Beecher was guilty.
Others believed Woodhull made the whole thing up. They thought she published the
article because she wanted fame or increased circulation.
Victoria, Tennie C., and Colonel were eventually acquitted of any crimes, but
the lawsuits ruined them. They spent a fortune in legal bills and bail. They
lost their stock brokerage. The government confiscated their printing press,
their personal papers, and their brokerage accounts, which were a major source
of their income. They had received death threats and blackmail letters. They
estimated their losses at half a million dollars and told the government they
would be satisfied if they received $50,000 in restitution. They never received
anything. With its malicious prosecution, the federal government bankrupted its
first female presidential candidate-- financially and emotionally.
But after another divorce she moved to England. In London a lecture by Woodhull
charmed a wealthy English banker, John Biddulph Martin, who proposed to her.
Objections by his family, however, prevented their marriage until 1883. Woodhull
and her sister became widely known for their philanthropy and were largely
accepted in high British social circles.
The Woodhull Foundation Today - http://www.woodhullfoundation.org
Mission Statement
The Woodhull Freedom Foundation is devoted to education and public advocacy in
support of the proposition that safe and consensual sexual expression is a
fundamental human right.
"To those who denounce me, I reply: Yes I am a free lover. I have an
inalienable, constitutional and natural right to love whom I may, to love as
long or as short a period as I can; to change that love every day if I please."
- Victoria Woodhull
What We Do
The Woodhull Freedom Foundation brings together experienced, successful sexual
freedom activists who seek to eliminate the barriers governmental and private to
expressions of human sexuality in the United States and around the world.
Our agenda includes:
Freedom of speech and artistic expression on sexual subjects Empowering women to
take control of their bodies and sexuality
Educating citizens and elected officials about the dangers of repressive sex
laws and advocating passage of model legislation
Recognizing the right to bodily integrity, including reproductive rights and
freedom from nonconsensual circumcision and genital mutilation
Advocating that the U.S. contribute its fair share for the United Nations Global
Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Decriminalization of safe and
consensual alternative sexual expression, including public sex and sex work
Eliminating abstinence-only education, and support of age appropriate sex
education for all
Working with health providers and public health educators to advocate explicit
safer sex education to the public
Support of civil liberties emphasizing issues of sexual expression, sexual
orientation, gender and racial discrimination
Advocating for scientific research on sexual expression, race and gender
Links for more information
http://www.victoria-woodhull.com/whoisvw.htm
http://search.eb.com/women/articles/Woodhull_Victoria_Claflin.html
http://www.woodhullfoundation.org