Running for president, long before Hillary

Victoria Woodhull by Mathew Brady circa 1870 (Courtesy Wikimedia Commons/Harvard Art Museum)

History turns a page this week when Hillary Clinton becomes the first female candidate for U.S. President to be nominated by a major political party. In the spirit of this blog’s weaving of historical and contemporary threads, you might enjoy The Guardian’s article on Victoria Woodhull, the first woman to run for President, or The Smithsonian’s article on the same topic.

Many of the foremothers of Title IX who have been profiled on this blog are contemporaries of Sen. Clinton and entered government service in some fashion in the 1960s and 1970s. See this earlier post for a fun photo of a poster released by President Jimmy Carter’s Administration touting his increase in the number of female government appointees. Right next to a young Hillary Rodham on the poster is Title IX “godmother” Bernice Sandler.

You too can be part of history in 2016 — regardless of which candidate you support — by voting in November. Please do!