Hulett was Illinois' first female Lawyer

By Tom Emery

Most women in nineteenth-century America struggled with oppression of many forms, including economic, social, and educational. One Illinois teenager found a way to break the mold.

The first woman to earn admission to the Illinois bar was Alta May Hulett, just two days past her nineteenth birthday in June 1873. The accomplishment remains a hallmark moment in women’s history in the state.

The previous year, Hulett played a pivotal role in writing the nation’s first law to prevent sex discrimination.

Hulett’s remarkable career was cut short, as she died of tuberculosis at 23. Over a century and a half later, she remains a beacon in the fight for gender equality.

Hulett displayed her iron will at an early age. Born on June 4, 1854 in the Winnebago County town of Rockton, she apparently mastered Morse code and telegraphy by the age of ten. Six years later, she graduated from high school in nearby Rockford.

She initially worked as a schoolteacher before embarking on the study of law, reading on her own every evening. Eventually, she landed a job as a clerk in the law office of William Lathrop, a leading Rockford attorney who was influenced by progressive women. Lathrop’s daughter, Julia, became the first woman to serve as a federal bureau chief.

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Hulett, though, faced an uphill struggle in an era that offered few professional opportunities for women. In Chicago, Myra Bradwell had passed the bar exam in 1869 and was qualified to become one of the first two female attorneys in the nation.

The Illinois Supreme Court, however, had other ideas. In a decision that reflected the sexism of the era, Bradwell’s application was denied in March 1870 as the court cited her “married condition” as a “disability” that prevented her from keeping the confidence of clients. The court haughtily concluded that “God designed the sexes to occupy different spheres of action.”

Bradwell appealed to the United States Supreme Court, which upheld the decision in 1873. By then, she had made the acquaintance of Hulett, who had passed the bar in 1871, only to be turned down by the Illinois high court based on her sex.

Like Bradwell, Hulett kept fighting. At the tender age of eighteen, she was instrumental in drafting the nation’s first bill to ban discrimination on the basis of sex. She was joined in her efforts by Bradwell as well as Ada Kepley of Effingham, who became the nation’s first female law school graduate when she earned a degree from Northwestern in 1870.

However, Hulett is credited with most of the work. She proceeded to lobby the General Assembly and drum up public support for the bill, which passed the legislature on March 22, 1872.

In part, the bill read that “no person shall be precluded or debarred from any occupation, profession, or employment (except military) on account of sex; provided that the act shall not be construed to affect the eligibility of any person to an elective office.”

In a time of oppressive sexism, Hulett had managed to write her own ticket. She subsequently continued her studies in Chicago, which had become a center for women fighting for a place in the legal field, a reflection of the city’s progressive bent.

In 1873, Hulett attempted the bar exam once again, this time before the Illinois Supreme Court at Mount Vernon. She was joined by 23 other candidates – all male – and she scored higher than any of them. That June 6, two days after turning nineteen, Hulett was admitted to the Illinois bar.

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Not surprisingly, Hulett left an immediate impression. Just days after earning her license, she won a high-profile case involving unpaid rent and possession. The Chicago Tribune lauded “the spunky, determined and successful fight made by the young lady in black, with the fine intellectual face and flashing eyes.”

Breaking with social norms, the Tribune also declared that Hulett had opened “a new field for the exercise of women's talents, and there is no reason why women should not succeed at the bar as well as at medicine, literature, or in the pulpit.”

Hulett reportedly never lost a jury trial in her career, which earned acclaim across the city. The Tribune noted the “hosts of friends and enviable practice” she had amassed with her “great ambition” and “indomitable energy.”

Sadly, Hulett’s time on earth proved all too brief. In September 1876, she fell ill with a severe cold, which exposed a deadly medical condition of the time – tuberculosis, which killed millions around the globe for decades.

By November, her condition was steadily growing worse and she left Illinois for San Francisco, hoping to regain her health. Soon, she moved again to San Diego, where she died on March 26, 1877. Hulett was two months shy of her birthday when she would have turned 23 years old.

Today, her name is largely forgotten in Illinois, save for a few in the legal profession. In 1994, the Chicago Bar Association created the Alta May Hulett Award, presented to young female lawyers who “have demonstrated a sustained, active commitment to the advancement of women throughout their careers,” just as Hulett did.

Tom Emery is a freelance writer and historical researcher from Carlinville, Ill. He may be reached at 217-710-8392 or [email protected].