ISABELLA BEECHER HOOKER

Isabella Beecher Hooker, 1852. Portrait by Jared Flagg. Courtesy of The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center, Hartford, Connecticut. See larger image.

Isabella Beecher Hooker was born in 1822, and attended her sister's school. She was exposed early to the Beecher enthusiasm for theology and public affairs. Isabella married in 1841 and her husband John Hooker became prominent in Hartford legal circles where he was sympathetic to her reform views. Isabella was interested in the status of women and she eventually became one of the most prominent advocates of women's suffrage in the United States. She organized the first convention held in Connecticut to discuss women in government, and formed the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association. In 1871 she organized the suffragist convention in Washington D.C. For seven years until its passage she submitted to the Connecticut legislature a bill to guarantee women the same property rights as their husbands. She frequently presented lectures in Boston, New York and Washington. She died in 1907.

The Constitutional Rights of the Women of the United States. An Address before the International Council of Women, Washington, D.C., March 30, 1888. By Isabella Beecher Hooker. See larger image. Go to original.

This speech deals with the fact that nothing in the Constitution denies women the right to vote, and actually advocates that women should exercise that right when they can.

Hearing of the Woman Suffrage Association before the Committee on the Judiciary, Monday, January 18, 1892. See larger image. Go to original.

There were addresses by Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mrs. Lucy Stone and Isabella Beecher Hooker at this hearing.

Broadside announcing Declaration and Protest of the Women of the United States by the National Woman Suffrage Association, July 4th, 1876. See larger image. Go to original.

Isabella Beecher Hooker was very active in the National Woman Suffrage Association, and often made speeches on their behalf.