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Cora Agnes Benneson

Cora Agnes Benneson(June 10, 1851 – June 8, 1919) was an American attorney, lecturer, and writer. She was one of the first women to practice law inNew England.Benneson was raised inQuincy, Illinois,to parents involved in local politics, religious organizing, and philanthropy; her parents regularly invited prominent guests to their home, including the writers and philosophersAmos Bronson AlcottandRalph Waldo Emerson.Benneson began her university studies in 1875 at theUniversity of Michigan,where she earned aBachelor of Artsin 1878, aBachelor of Lawsin 1880, and aMaster of Artsin 1883. After earning her master's degree, she was admitted to the bars of Illinois and Michigan.

A black and white photograph of a white woman with dark, medium length hair, in profile, wearing a dark dress with a white cross on her lapel.
Cora Agnes Benneson, pictured inJulia Ward Howe'sSketches of Women of New England(1904)

From 1883 to 1885, Benneson traveled the world to learn about legal cultures, and in particular how they affected women; however, she often took anativistand racist or stereotypical view of those cultures. When she returned to the United States, Benneson undertook a nationwide lecture tour to speak about her travels and observations. In 1886, she briefly worked as an editor ofWest Publishing's law reports before taking up a history fellowship atBryn Mawr Collegeunder then-professorWoodrow Wilson.

In 1888, Benneson moved to Boston, where she opened a law practice and continued to write and lecture. She was licensed to practice law in Massachusetts in 1894 and was appointed a special commissioner to theCouncil Chamberby the Massachusetts GovernorFrederic T. Greenhalgein 1895. A member of various organizations, Benneson was made a fellow of theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Sciencein 1899 and elected secretary of its Social and Economic Science Section in 1900. She turned her attention to opening a school for the "Americanizationof Foreigners "in 1918. She died in Boston on June 8, 1919, at the age of 67, the day before her diploma to open the school arrived.

Early life

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Cora Agnes Benneson was born on(1851-06-10)June 10, 1851, inQuincy, Illinois,to Electa Ann (néePark) and Robert Smith Benneson. Robert was born inNewark, Delawareto the Rev. Thomas Benneson; he moved to Philadelphia and then Quincy, where he became a successful local businessman and a politician. He served as analderman,mayor during theCivil War(during which time he prevented the city from going insolvent by paying its debts from his own pocket), and president of the city's board of education for 14 years. Electa, who descended from Richard Park—one of the originalproprietorsofCambridge, Massachusettsin 1635—was an educator andphilanthropist.Electa and Robert were both religious and helped to establish theUnitarian Churchin Illinois.[1]

Benneson, at the far right, with the Quincy Female Seminary class of 1869

According to her biographer, the mathematician and sociologistMary Esther Trueblood,Benneson was raised in "a large mansion situated above a series of terraces, surrounded by trees and shrubs, and commanding a magnificent view of fourteen miles of theMississippi".[2]The youngest of four sisters (and a cousin whom her parents raised), Benneson "was a sturdy child, orderly, accurate, self-reliant, ambitious, and persevering".[3]By the age of 8, Benneson was writing and editing a magazine with her sisters and cousin calledThe Experiment.[4]She was proficient in reading Latin at 12 and "[able] to get at thepithof an argument "and hold her own in conversation.[5]

During her adolescence, Benneson's parents entertained famous personages at their home, including the writers and philosophersAmos Bronson AlcottandRalph Waldo Emerson;the latter inspired Benneson's further study of philosophy and law. Benneson completed the equivalent of high school studies at the Quincy Academy at 15.[6]That same year, she joined the Friends in Council, a reading group in philosophy composed of prominent Quincy women.[7]When she was 18 years old, Benneson graduated as the valedictorian of theQuincy Female Seminary.[8]She then taught English and composition at the school from 1869 to 1872.[6]

Higher education

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In 1875, Benneson began her studies at theUniversity of Michigan(then called Michigan University) inAnn Arbor,which had only begun accepting women as students in 1870. As an undergraduate student, Benneson was part of a community of women who would go on to have successful careers, including her friendAlice Freeman Palmer.She was a successful public speaker—defending, in her first year, the proposition thatHomerwasthe authorof theIliad—and served as the first female editor on the editorial board ofThe Chronicle,which was at the time the university's leading newspaper. Benneson completed her degree in three years, graduating with aBachelor of Artsin 1878.[9]

Upon graduation, Benneson applied toHarvard Law Schoolwith the written recommendations of five alumni. Harvard rejected her application, asserting that "the equipments were too limited to make suitable provision for receiving women".[10][a]In 1880, she returned to her alma mater to study at itslaw school,where she was one of two women in her class. While there, Benneson studied under theMichigan Supreme CourtJusticesThomas M. CooleyandJames V. Campbell.She was elected class secretary and was an officer of the debate society; she also served as a judge for the IllinoisMoot Court.She obtained herBachelor of Lawsin 1880 and aMaster of Artsin 1883. After earning her master's degree, she was admitted to the bars of Illinois and Michigan.[12]

World travels

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Announcement of Benneson's world tour, in theDaily Quincy Herald,June 10, 1883, p. 3

In 1883, Benneson—who was interested in foreign legal cultures and the status of women—began a two-year and four-month world tour, alongside an unknown young woman from Massachusetts.[13]From San Francisco, "she traveled continually westward, visiting Hawaii, Japan, China,Burma,India, Arabia,Abyssinia,Egypt, Palestine, Turkey, and all of the principal countries of Europe ".[14]According to Trueblood, Benneson's tour was "an extended study of the customs, manners, and laws of many nations", and "doors", "both... to the home and to the heart", "opened easily" to her.[15]In seeking to observe foreign legal cultures, Benneson visited the courts and "governing assemblies" of "the principal civilized countries".[16]Benneson's journey also brought "thrilling incidents", including:

a camping expedition in theYosemite;horseback rides over the lava tracts to the Burning Lakes and down and up the steep walls of the gulches of Hawaii; the tour of Canton under English escort at the time of theTonquin War;the elephant anddromedaryrides in India and Egypt; the sight of the famous Highland regiment, theBlack Watch,marching out to battle, and the sound of the artillery fire of the British squares; a journey with pilgrims returning after Easter from Jerusalem to Damascus; an adventure with brigands in Greece; the coming unawares upon the breathingHermes of Praxitelesjust unearthed; the mountain climbing in Switzerland; the exploration of the Norwegian fjords.[17]

Benneson described her travels in letters, notes, and diary entries, which were published in 1890 inThe Unitarianmagazine as part of a series called "Palestine To-day".[18]The historian James Ross-Nazzal stated that Benneson's descriptions of people of different races reflected hernativistbeliefs. For example, Benneson, writing about her arrival in Greece, stated "how happy she was to leave 'the half-civilized races behind and enter Europe'".[19]Like other contemporary women who traveled to Palestine, Benneson also "forwarded racist or stereotypical views ofBedouins",despite having and writing about positive experiences with individual Bedouins.[20]She "treated Palestine's Catholic and Muslim-Arab populations as if they were a monolithic entity", and "she saw Biblical personalities" when interacting with individual Arab people.[21]

Career

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After returning from her world tour in 1885, Benneson undertook a series of lectures on her travels in cities across the United States.[22]Starting in Quincy, where she gave 17 talks, Trueblood wrote that "[h]er lectures, everywhere well attended, were found instructive by those who had traveled as well as by those who had not, for with her trained mind and keen perception she was able to give an interpretation as well as a narration of facts."[17]Benneson also briefly worked as an editor ofWest Publishing's law reports in 1886. She moved toBryn Mawr Collegein 1887 for a history fellowship under then-professorWoodrow Wilson,who described her as "a pleasant small person of mind which it will be very hard, but I trust not impossible, to impress".[23]

In 1888, Benneson moved to Boston, living in a house surrounded by "historic and literary associations,... midway between theWashington Elmand theLongfellow house,within a stone's throw ofRadcliffe Collegeand in sight of Harvard ".[17]Benneson opened her own legal practice—one of the first women inNew Englandto do so—and she was admitted to theMassachusetts barin 1894. In 1895 she was appointed as a special commissioner to theCouncil Chamberby the Massachusetts GovernorFrederic T. Greenhalge.[24]From 1897 to 1902, Benneson studied at Radcliffe College, receiving her second master's degree.[25]Benneson's appointment as a special commissioner was renewed in 1905 and she held the position until her death.[26]

In Boston, Benneson became friends with theabolitionistandsuffragistLucy Stone.Although not a self-proclaimed suffragist, Benneson frequented gatherings at Stone's home.[27]She was a founder of theUnity Clubsof Ann Arbor and Quincy, a member of the College Club, and incorporating counsel for the Woman's Club House Corporation of Boston.[17]In 1899, she was elected a fellow of theAmerican Association for the Advancement of Science.She was elected secretary of the Association's Social and Economic Science Section in 1900.[28]Benneson was also a member of theLeague for Progressive Democracy,and theAuthors' League of America;she was made an honorary member of theIllinois State Historical Society.[29]

Benneson lectured and published throughout her life, writing papers and delivering talks on constitutional law, education, government, and culture.[30]Benneson focused in particular on women's issues. According to Ross-Nazzal, who called her afirst-wave feminist,she believed that women should strive to better humanity through volunteerism, but that women should continue to raise children in the home asmoral educators.Ross-Nazzal has stated that although Benneson was a reformer, she believed that reform must come through individual betterment, rather than social imposition.[31]

Final year and death

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Benneson closed her law practice in 1918 and devoted herself to opening a school for the "Americanizationof Foreigners ". She died in Boston on(1919-06-08)June 8, 1919, at the age of 67, the day before authorization to operate the school arrived. According to her obituary writer, her death was reportedly caused by overworking. Benneson never married and had no children, and she was buried inMount Auburn Cemetery.[32]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^Harvard Law School did not begin accepting women as students until 1950.[11]

References

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  1. ^Nazzal 2000,pp. 273–274;Trueblood 1904,pp. 326–327;Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society1919,p. 307;The National Cyclopedia of American Biography1920,p. 399.
  2. ^Trueblood 1904,pp. 327–328.
  3. ^Trueblood 1904,p. 327.
  4. ^Trueblood 1904,p. 327;Nazzal 2000,p. 274.
  5. ^Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society1919,p. 307;The National Cyclopedia of American Biography1920,p. 399.
  6. ^abNazzal 2000,p. 274;Trueblood 1904,pp. 327–328;Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society1919,pp. 307–308;The National Cyclopedia of American Biography1920,p. 399.
  7. ^Anderson 1941,p. 59.
  8. ^The Quincy Whig1869,p. 4.
  9. ^Nazzal 2000,pp. 274–275;Trueblood 1904,p. 328;Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society1919,pp. 307–308;The National Cyclopedia of American Biography1920,p. 399.
  10. ^Trueblood 1904,p. 328;Nazzal 2000,p. 275.
  11. ^Drachman 1998,p. 138.
  12. ^Drachman 1998,p. 57;Nazzal 2000,pp. 274–275;Trueblood 1904,p. 328;Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society1919,p. 308;Robinson 1890,p. 16;The National Cyclopedia of American Biography1920,p. 399.
  13. ^Nazzal 2000,p. 277;Trueblood 1904,p. 328;Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society1919,p. 308;The National Cyclopedia of American Biography1920,p. 399.
  14. ^Trueblood 1904,p. 328;Nazzal 2000,p. 277.
  15. ^Trueblood 1904,pp. 328–329.
  16. ^Trueblood 1904,p. 329;Nazzal 2000,p. 277;Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society1919,p. 308;The National Cyclopedia of American Biography1920,p. 399.
  17. ^abcdTrueblood 1904,p. 329.
  18. ^Nazzal 2000n. 27
  19. ^Nazzal 2000,p. 278.
  20. ^Ross-Nazzal 2003,p. 53;Ross-Nazzal 2011,pp. 213–214.
  21. ^Nazzal 2000,pp. 278–279.
  22. ^Nazzal 2000,p. 279;Trueblood 1904,p. 329;Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society1919,p. 308;Robinson 1890,p. 16;The National Cyclopedia of American Biography1920,p. 399.
  23. ^Bohan 2004,p. 20;Nazzal 2000,p. 280;Trueblood 1904,p. 329;Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society1919,p. 308;The National Cyclopedia of American Biography1920,p. 399.
  24. ^Jordan 2019,p. 228n. 70;Trueblood 1904,p. 329;The National Cyclopedia of American Biography1920,p. 399.
  25. ^Nazzal 2000,p. 280.
  26. ^Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society1919,p. 308.
  27. ^Nazzal 2000,p. 280;Trueblood 1904,p. 329;Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society1919,p. 308;Robinson 1890,p. 16;The National Cyclopedia of American Biography1920,p. 399.
  28. ^Nazzal 2000,p. 281;Trueblood 1904,p. 329.
  29. ^The National Cyclopedia of American Biography1920,p. 399.
  30. ^Nazzal 2000,pp. 280–281;Trueblood 1904,p. 329;Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society1919,p. 308;The National Cyclopedia of American Biography1920,p. 399.
  31. ^Nazzal 2000,pp. 280–282, 284.
  32. ^Nazzal 2000,pp. 273, 283;The Quincy Daily Herald1919,p. 5.

Sources

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Books and encyclopedias

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  • Bohan, Chara Haeussler (2004).Go to the Sources: Lucy Maynard Salmon and the Teaching of History.History of Schools and Schooling. New York:Peter Lang.ISBN978-0-8204-5504-4.
  • Drachman, Virginia G. (1998).Sisters in Law: Women Lawyers in Modern American History.Cambridge, Massachusetts:Harvard University Press.ISBN978-0-674-80991-8.
  • "Benneson, Cora Agnes".The National Cyclopedia of American Biography.Vol. 17. New York:James T. White & Company.1920. pp. 398–399 – via theInternet Archive.
  • Ross-Nazzal, James (2011). "The Women of Palestine in American Women's Travel Writing". In Adam, Thomas; Roemer, Nils H. (eds.).Crossing the Atlantic: Travel and Travel Writing in Modern Times.TheWalter Prescott WebbMemorial Lectures. Vol. 42. College Station, Texas:Texas A&M University Press.pp. 210–247.ISBN978-1-60344-292-3.
  • Trueblood, Mary Esther(1904)."Cora Agnes Benneson".InHowe, Julia Ward(ed.).Representative Women of New England.New England Library of Popular Biographies. Boston: New England Historical Publishing Company. pp. 326–330 – viaHathiTrust.

Journal articles

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Newspaper articles

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