{"id":2077,"date":"2009-11-22T10:41:06","date_gmt":"2009-11-22T15:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/archives\/2077"},"modified":"2009-11-22T10:41:06","modified_gmt":"2009-11-22T15:41:06","slug":"teaching-us-history-with-childrens-literature-ballots-for-belva-the-true-store-of-a-womans-race-for-the-presidency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/openwidelookinside\/2009\/11\/22\/teaching-us-history-with-childrens-literature-ballots-for-belva-the-true-store-of-a-womans-race-for-the-presidency\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching History with Children’s Literature: Ballots for Belva"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"302_ballotsforbelva.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

How many men in 1884 do you think would vote for a woman for president? Keep in mind that women didn’t even have the right to vote at this time.\u00a0 None? Maybe a few? Meet Belva Lockwood – the very first woman to run for President.\u00a0 Not only did Belva run for president against Grover Cleveland and James Blaine, she got votes!!! Belva received 4,711 votes from men<\/strong> who thought she should be president and these were only the votes that were actually tallied.\u00a0 Many of the votes cast for Belva were simply thrown out, or given to another candidate as was the case in New York.\u00a0 Belva received 1,336 votes in New York, all of which were given to Grover Cleveland who won the state of New York by only 1,149 votes.<\/p>\n

Belva didn’t win the presidency, but she commanded the attention of so many people who, in turn, heard her important message about the importance of equal rights for women.\u00a0 Ballots for Belva, The True Story of a Woman’s Race for the Presidency<\/u><\/a>, by Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen, describes Belva briefly as a little girl with the dream and conviction that she could and would move mountains in her life.\u00a0 She was 1 of only 2 women to complete the coursework at the law school The National University Law School and she personally demanded the diploma to which she was entitled from Ulysses S. Grant.<\/p>\n

Belva Lockwood is an excellent female figure to incorporate into classroom curriculum and can also help students begin to understand that big changes in social-norm and politics can often take a very long time.\u00a0 Belva was fighting for women’s rights in the 1880’s yet women didn’t even receive the right to vote until the 1920’s, almost 40 years later.<\/p>\n

Curriculum Connections<\/strong>
\nBallots for Belva would be a great way to introduce the beginnings of the women’s suffrage movement mentioned in the SOL USII.4.<\/p>\n

Additional Resources<\/strong><\/p>\n