Clara Shortridge Foltz (1849-1934)

Why you would want to have known her: Clara Shortridge Foltz was one of the original suffragettes to vote in 1911. Her trailblazing career began when, minutes before it was to expire on April 1, 1878, the young divorced mother of five who studied law in her father’s San Jose office pushed her way into Gov. William Irwin’s office to convince him to sign a bill allowing women to practice law in California. As the first female lawyer on the West Coast, she also was the first woman prosecutor to try a murder case. She led the movement to provide public defenders to indigent clients, fought for state constitutional changes guaranteeing women access to jobs and education.

What is said about her: “She really was very present to history, and very involved in everything that went on,” says Foltz’ biographer, Barbara Babcock, an emerita Stanford University professor law.