Alta May Hulett (1854 - 1877)

Born 4 Jun 1854 in Rockton, Winnebago County, Illinois, United States

Ancestors

Died 27 Mar 1877 at age 22 in San Diego, San Diego County, California, United States

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Biography

Alta Hulett is Notable.

Alta Hulett was the first woman to be admitted to the Bar in the United States.

Alta was born in 1854. She was the daughter of Dr. Guy Hulett and Mary Blake. ^[1]

When she was ten years old Alta was a telegrapher during the Civil War. ^[2]

Alta's father died when she was young and her mother married William Snook and moved to Rockford. ^[3]

Alta graduated from Rockford High School in 1870 at the age of 16. ^[4]

She taught school for awhile, then decided she wanted to study law. While she was teaching school she would read law books every night. She then became an apprentice to William Lathrop an attorney who was also a champion of women's rights. In 1871 she took the Illinois Bar Exam and scored higher than anyone else. Nevertheless she was denied admission to the bar because of her gender.

She organized a campaign to change the law. Along with Myra Bradwell and Ada Miser Kepley’, Alta drafted legislation which would prohibit sex discrimination in employment and give women access to the legal profession. The law passed eight months later, making Illinois the first state to admit women to the bar. It was also the first legislation in the country which prohibited sex discrimination in the workplace.

Alta was required to take the bar exam again and again passed with the highest scores. At the age of 19, Alta Hulett became the first woman admitted to the bar in the United States.

She opened a practice in Chicago and won her first case and never lost a jury trial after that.

A local paper wrote:

Miss Alta M. Hulett. A young lady of Rockford, Ill., nineteen years of age, who was admitted to practice law by the Supreme Court of this State a few days ago, has won her first court case in a Chicago Justice Court. She argues womanly and well, and gained many friends. It should be remembered she passed the examinations by the Supreme Court at the head of her class.

Her hometown paper wrote:

Miss Alta M. Hulett has made her debut in Chicago as a practicing lawyer. Her first appearance before the court as an advocate was in successfully prosecuting a case for a poor landlady vs. a non-paying tenant. The reports of the trial show that the lady practitioner is well posted in her chosen profession and will probably win success and fame. This event marks an epoch in legal annals in the state of Illinois because for the first time a woman conducted suit in a court, and conducted by her own right, under the law.

Unfortunately, what could have been a brilliant career was cut short when she was diagnosed with pulmonary consumption in 1876. Reluctantly she closed her practice and moved to California, hoping the climate would improve her health. She died 1877 just before her 23rd birthday. ^[7]

1870 US Census

Rockford, Illinois ^[8]

Name: Alta Hulett

Age in 1870: 16

Birth Year: abt 1854

Home in 1870: Rockford Ward 2, Winnebago, Illinois

Attended School: Y

• Charles Woolsey 27 England
• Mary Woolsey 25 Illinois
• William Snook 39 New York
• Mary Snook 42 Tennessee
• Alta Hulett 16 Illinois
• Hattie Hulett 12 Illinois

1875 Chicago Business Directory

Law

Name: Alta M Hulett

Residence Year: 1875

Street address: LaSalle

Residence Place: Chicago, Illinois, USA

Publication Title: Chicago, Illinois, City Directory, 1875^[9]

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Census, 1860", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M667-FQ7 : 13 December 2017), Alta M Hulett in entry for G J Hulett, 1860.
2. ↑ Hughs, Tim. Fight for women’s job rights began here RRSTAR, May 30, 2009.
3. ↑ "United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M64M-QJS : 8 June 2019), Alta Hulett in entry for Charles Woolsey, 1870.
4. ↑ East Rockford High School, commencement program, 1870 - p.01

   Decription: Program for the Anniversary Exercises of the East Rockford High School, June 30, 1870. One graduate was Alta M. Hulett. Born in 1854, she studied law with William Lathrop in Rockford after graduation and, after some difficulties, became the first woman admitted to the bar in Illinois in 1873. She practiced in Chicago for three years;in failing health, she moved to California in 1876, where she died March 27, 1877, aged just 22 years.

5. ↑ The Pantagrah. Bloomington, Illinois. Thursday, June 26, 1873. Newspapers.com
6. ↑ Rockford Journal (Rockford, IL) 28 June 1873, page 2 : GenealogyBank accessed 19 September 2019
7. ↑ Ancestry Record 61460 #1300522 California, County Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1830-1980. California Department of Public Health, courtesy of www.vitalsearch-worldwide.com. Digital Images. California Department of Public Health, courtesy of www.vitalsearch-worldwide.com. Digital Images.

   Name: Alta M Hulett

   Gender: Female

   Race: White

   Death Age: 22

   Event Type: Death

   Birth Date: abt 1855

   Birth Place: Illinois

   Death Date: 26 Mar 1877

   Death Place: San Diego, California, USA

8. ↑ United States Census, 1870", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M64M-QJS : 8 June 2019), Alta Hulett in entry for Charles Woolsey, 1870.
9. ↑ Ancestry Record 2469 #1229718404

See also:

• Wikipedia:Alta M. Hulett
• Find A Grave: Memorial #9735025: accessed 19 September 2019), memorial page for Alta M. Hulett (4 Jun 1854–26 Mar 1877), citing Mount Hope Cemetery, San Diego, San Diego County, California, USA ; Maintained by John "J-Cat" Griffith (contributor 46568383) .
• Grayson, ELynn. The remarkable life and times of Alta May Hulett The Catalyst, Feb. 2004.
• First 100 Years Women’s Bar Association of Illinois