Victoria Woodhull Biography

Spiritualist, activist, businesswoman, politician, and author.  Born Victoria Claflin on September 23, 1838, in Homer, Ohio. A radical in many ways during her lifetime, Victoria Woodhull made history in 1872 as the first woman to run for president of the United States. She and her sister, Tennessee Celeste Claflin, became involved in the spiritualist movement of the 1800s. Victoria became a popular medium, traveling around with her sister to entertain audiences.

In 1868, the sisters traveled to New York City where they met Cornelius Vanderbilt. The wealthy Vanderbilt had recently become a widower, and he appreciated the solace Victoria Woodhull was able to provide him so much that he set the sisters up in business. The sisters started the first woman-run stock brokerage company.

A free thinker, Victoria Woodhull created Woodhull and Claflin’s Weekly, a radical publication, with her sister Tennessee in 1870. The publication gave them a place to express their ideas on social reforms, such as women’s suffrage, birth control, and free love. The journal also published the first English translation of Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto.

A strong supporter of women’s rights, Victoria Woodhull often spoke publicly on behalf of giving women the right to vote. She even addressed Congress on the issue. Woodhull sought to be more politically active, establishing the Equal Rights Party. She ran for president on her new political group’s ticket in 1872. There is some mention of abolitionist Frederick Douglass as her running mate, but it is unclear whether how involved he really was in the campaign. No matter the case, the election turned sour with Woodhull publicly fighting with her critics in her publication.

Woodhull became a target for public scrutiny because of her many relationships and radical ideas. She was first married at 15 to Canning Woodhull with whom she had two children. The couple later divorced, and Woodhull married twice more and was reported to have numerous relationships. Her public remarks about sexuality and social reforms were also held against her. And her support of socialism—a political and economic philosophy that was considered radical at the time—may have alienated some as well.

In 1877, Woodhull and her sister moved to England, perhaps to make a fresh start. She spent much of her time writing such works as Human Body: The Temple of God (1890). Woodhull also published a magazine with her daughter entitled The Humanitarian for nine years, beginning in 1892.

Victoria Woodhull died on June 10, 1927, in England. She stands as an example of a woman who chose to speak out for what she believed in.

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