Catharine Gouger Waugh McCulloch (1862-1945)
Suffragette and lawyer, Catharine Gouger Waugh McCulloch was born near Ransomville, N.Y.
The family later moved to a farm near New Milford, Ill.; she attended the village school and
nearby Rockford Female Seminary, graduating in 1882. In 1885 she enrolled in the Union College
of Law in Chicago, precursor to Northwestern University Law School, and upon completion of the
course (1886) was admitted to the Illinois bar. After further study at Rockford Seminary, McCulloch
was awarded a B.A. and then an M.A. in 1888. Her master's thesis, Women's Wages would be
published and widely reviewed. In 1890 she married Frank Hathorn McCulloch, a fellow law
student with whom she then practiced law. They had four children.
Before her marriage however, she struggled to gain a foothold in the legal profession. In a document thought to have been written in 1887 titled "Women as Law Clerks," she writes about her struggle to obtain a clerkship after her graduation from law school.
As legislative superintendent of the Illinois Equal Suffrage Association (1890-1912), McCulloch was active in the movement for women's rights, seeking state legislation permitting woman suffrage in presidential and local elections not constitutionally limited to male voters, a bill that was passed in 1913. She was also instrumental in the passage of Illinois legislation granting women equal rights in the guardianship of their children (1901), and raising the legal age of consent for women from fourteen to sixteen (1905). She served as legal adviser (1904-ca.1911) and as first vice-president (1910-1911) of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. McCulloch died of cancer on April 20, 1945. For further biographical information, see Notable American Women, 1607-1950 (1971).
OCP Resources
Books
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.
McCulloch, Catharine Waugh. Mr. Lex, or, The legal status of mother and child. Chicago: F.H. Revell, 1899.
Drysdale, William. "The Woman Lawyer," in Helps for ambitious girls New York: T.Y. Crowell & Co., c1900. Pages 180-208.
McCulloch, Catharine Waugh. Bridget's sisters, or, The legal status of Illinois women in 1868. Chicago: For sale by Illinois Equal Suffrage Association, c1911.
"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.
Manuscripts
Papers of Catherine Waugh McCulloch and the Records of the Bureau of Vocational Information are
housed by the Schlesinger
Library of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
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
ALL FOLDERS of digitized materials from the Records of the Bureau of Vocational Information:
-
Folders #141-144: Correspondence with women lawyers regarding opportunities for women in the legal profession. 1914-1920. Including:
- Folder #141: January 1914-May 1918. (18 letters).
- Folder #142: February 1920-April 1920. (66 letters).
- Folder #143: April 1920-February 1921. (31 letters).
- Folder #144: February 1918-April 1920. (30 letters and interviews).
Web Resources
Women's Legal History Biography Project
At the time of McCulloch's admittance to the Illinois Bar in 1886, there were only 100 women
lawyers in the United States. The
Women's Legal History Biography Project
at the Robert Crown Law Library, Stanford Law School, has identified more than 380 pioneer women lawyers
and is an essential source on the history and biography of women lawyers in the United States.