Hooker, Isabella Beecher (1822–1907)
Hooker, Isabella Beecher (1822–1907)
American suffragist. Name variations: Isabella Beecher. Born Isabella Beecher in Litchfield, Connecticut, Feb 22, 1822; died in Hartford, CT, Jan 25, 1907; dau. of Reverend Lyman Beecher and his 2nd wife Harriet (Porter) Beecher; half-sister of Catharine Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe; educated mainly in schools founded by half-sister Catharine; m. John Hooker (lawyer and real-estate entrepreneur), Aug 1841.
Influenced by hus-band's studies and the essays of John Stuart Mill, became interested in the law as it related to women; joined forces with Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Paulina Wright Davis to help found New England Woman Suffrage Association (1868); organized Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association (1869), remaining president until 1905; lobbied the state legislature for a married women's property act; was a main speaker at National Woman Suffrage Association convention in Washington, DC (1870); spent next few years lobbying in Washington, along with friend Victoria Woodhull.
See also Women in World History.