Sophonisba Breckinridge

Sophonisba Preston Breckinridge (April 1, 1866-July 30, 1948), American activist. Born in Lexington, Kentucky, she was the daughter of William Breckinridge, a lawyer. Her grandfather was John Breckinridge.

Related Topics:
April 1 - 1866 - July 30 - 1948 - American - Lexington, Kentucky - John Breckinridge

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She graduated from Wellesley College in 1888 and worked as a school teacher in Washington, DC before studying law at her father's office. She later became the first woman to be admitted to the Kentucky bar. She was also the first woman to graduate from the law school of the University of Chicago. "My record there was not distinguished," she later wrote in her autobiography, "but the faculty and students were kind, and the fact that the law school, like the rest of the University...accepted men and women students on equal terms was publicly settled."http://magazine.uchicago.edu/0306/features/cause-timeline.shtml

Related Topics:
Wellesley College - 1888 - Washington, DC - University of Chicago

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She obtained an appointment as a part-time professor in the Department of Household Administration, and in 1907 became a resident of Hull House. As a resident of Hull House until 1920, she became active in several causes, including:

Related Topics:
1907 - Hull House - 1920

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• Women?s suffrage
• African-American civil rights (she helped establish the NAACP)
• Labor
• Progressive Party
• Pacifism

She wrote several books on family, public welfare, and children.

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