Laura de Force Gordon | |
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Born | Laura de Force August 17, 1838 North East, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
Died | April 5, 1907 Lodi, California, U.S. | (aged 68)
Occupation(s) | Lawyer and women's-rights advocate |
Known for | Second female lawyer in California; first female publisher of a U.S. daily newspaper |
Laura de Force Gordon (née Laura de Force; August 17, 1838 – April 5, 1907) was a California lawyer, newspaper publisher, and a prominent suffragette. She was the first woman to run a daily newspaper in the United States (the Stockton Daily Leader, 1874), and the second female lawyer admitted to practice in California.
As an activist, Gordon was a key proponent of the Woman Lawyer's Bill, which allowed women to practice law in California. She also pushed for the inclusion of a section in the California Constitution that prohibited the state from barring women from practicing any profession.