Catherine Waugh McCulloch
Encyclopedia
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and noted suffragist.
She was a pioneer for American women in the legal profession. She was active in campaigning for women's suffrage
Women's suffrage
Women's suffrage or woman suffrage is the right of women to vote and to run for office. The expression is also used for the economic and political reform movement aimed at extending these rights to women and without any restrictions or qualifications such as property ownership, payment of tax, or...
and legislation granting equal rights
Women's rights
Women's rights are entitlements and freedoms claimed for women and girls of all ages in many societies.In some places these rights are institutionalized or supported by law, local custom, and behaviour, whereas in others they may be ignored or suppressed...
to women. She also served as legal advisor (1904–1911) and vice-president (1910–1911) of the National American Woman Suffrage Association
National American Woman Suffrage Association
The National American Woman Suffrage Association was an American women's rights organization formed in May 1890 as a unification of the National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association...
. Additionally, she was an active member of the National Association of Women Lawyers.
Life
Raised in Illinois, Catherine Waugh graduated from Rockford College, and later would serve on its board of trustees ("Mrs. M'Culloch," 13). She came to ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
to study law, and received her degree from what is today Northwestern University
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
in 1886 (http://www.library.northwestern.edu/archives/exhibits/alumni/mcculloch.html). In November of that year, she became the 18th woman admitted to the bar
Bar association
A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both...
in Illinois.
While studying for her law degree, she began dating a fellow student, Frank McCulloch. He was not in favor of her having a career, but he ultimately changed his mind. They married on 30 May 1890, and became partners in the law firm of McCulloch and McCulloch ("Pioneer Woman", N5). In 1929 they jointly authored and published A Manual of the Law of Will Contests in Illinois.
Catherine Waugh McCulloch drafted and successfully lobbied for the passage of a law in 1901 that gave women equal guardianship with their husbands over their children, and in 1905 to raise the age of consent
Age of consent
While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes, when used in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. The European Union calls it the legal age for sexual...
for girls from 14 to 16 years. In 1907 she was elected Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
in Evanston, Illinois
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
(and re-elected in 1909), making her the first woman elected to that office in Illinois. While a Justice of the Peace, she made national headlines by agreeing to conduct egalitarian marriage ceremonies in which she omitted the word "obey" from the ritualized words the woman was supposed to say; at that time, the man pledged to "love, honor and cherish" while the woman pledged to "love, honor and obey." ("She Will Omit," 1)
In 1917 she was appointed as a master in chancery
Court of equity
A chancery court, equity court or court of equity is a court that is authorized to apply principles of equity, as opposed to law, to cases brought before it.These courts began with petitions to the Lord Chancellor of England...
of the Cook County Superior Court. She became known for her advocacy in working to eliminate or modify marriage and divorce laws that discriminated against women, and she worked to create uniformity of such laws in all states ("Women's League," 3)
With Esther Dunshee Bower she fought for the Illinois Women's Jury
Jury
A jury is a sworn body of people convened to render an impartial verdict officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Modern juries tend to be found in courts to ascertain the guilt, or lack thereof, in a crime. In Anglophone jurisdictions, the verdict may be guilty,...
Bill, finally signed into law in 1939. She was the legal adviser for the National American Woman Suffrage Association
National American Woman Suffrage Association
The National American Woman Suffrage Association was an American women's rights organization formed in May 1890 as a unification of the National Woman Suffrage Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association...
(which became the League of Women Voters
League of Women Voters
The League of Women Voters is an American political organization founded in 1920 by Carrie Chapman Catt during the last meeting of the National American Woman Suffrage Association approximately six months before the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution gave women the right to vote...
in 1920 after passage of the 19th Amendment
Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits any United States citizen to be denied the right to vote based on sex. It was ratified on August 18, 1920....
) and was its first vice president. She also served as the legal adviser for the National Women's Christian Temperance Union ("Drys of Illinois," 2)
The McCullochs had four children: Hugh Waugh, Hathorn Waugh, Catharine Waugh, and Frank Waugh. All of her sons became attorneys, and her daughter was married to one ("Pioneer Woman," N5). Catherine W. McCulloch Park in Evanston is named for her.
Publications
All available through the Harvard University Library Open Collections Program, a fully searchable online database.- Bittenbender, Ada M. "Women in Law," in Farmer, Lydia Hoyt. The national exposition souvenir: what America owes to women Buffalo: C.W. Moulton, 1893. Pages 390–408.
- Drysdale, William. "The Woman Lawyer," in Helps for ambitious girls New York: T.Y. Crowell & Co., c1900. Pages 180–208.
- "Law," in Training for the professions and allied occupations: facilities available to women in the United States. New York: Bureau of Vocational Information, 1924. Pages 427–450.
- McCulloch, Catharine Waugh. "Women as Law Clerks" manuscript. c1887. (12 pages).
- Bureau of Vocational Information (New York, N.Y.). Records, 1908–1932: A Finding Aid
Works Cited
"Drys of Illinois Urge Safeguards About Beer Sales." Christian Science Monitor, 20 April 1933, p. 2."Mrs. M'Culloch, 82, Legal Figure, Dies." New York Times, 21 April 1945, p. 13.
"She Will Omit 'Obey'." Washington Post, 6 April 1907, p. 1.
"Pioneer Woman Lawyer, Mate in Golden Jubilee." Chicago Tribune, 2 June 1940, p. N5.
"Women's League Heads Plan Work of Future." Baltimore Sun, 15 November 1920, p. 3.
External links
- Harvard University Library Open Collections Program. Women Working, 1870–1930, Catharine Gouger Waugh McCulloch (1862-1945). A full-text searchable online database with complete access to publications written by Catharine McCulloch.
- Women's Legal History Biography Project, Robert Crown Library, Stanford Law School. McCulloch, Catharine Gouger Waugh. Biographical articles, collected papers and archival materials.