Milestones

A Timeline of Courage

Born in Manchester, Vermont

Myra Colby is born on February 12, 1831, into a family with strong abolitionist convictions.

1831

Myra marries James Bradwell, a lawyer and judge, who becomes her lifelong partner and legal ally.

1852

Bradwell launches the Chicago Legal News, the most widely circulated legal newspaper in the country.

1868

She passes the bar with high honors but is denied admission by the Illinois Supreme Court on the basis of her sex.

1869

In Bradwell v. Illinois, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds the denial, citing a woman's place in the domestic sphere.

1873

Illinois grants Bradwell admission to the bar — 21 years after she first applied.

1890

Myra Bradwell dies on February 14, 1894, leaving behind a transformed legal landscape for women.

1894