Background on Victoria Woodhull
In 1872, outraged by the hypocrisy she found in church pulpits, Woodhull became a principal actor in one of the greatest 19th-century scandals. She published details of a love-affair between one of the most prominent religious figures in the country, The Rev. Henry Ward Beecher and a member of his congregation. Because she had sent obscene materials through the mail, her effort resulted in financial ruin. Her outspokenness earned her the respect of many of her fellow reformers, but others called her “Mrs. Satan,” the standard bearer of morally pernicious ideas. She left the U.S. in 1877 to live in England for the rest of her life.Her years in Britain saw a continuation of her humanitarian work. She established schools for local children, started a kindergarten on her estate, and continued to speak on women’s sexual education and rights.
Born in poverty in 1838 in nearby Homer, Ohio, Woodhull received very little formal education. Still, during her lifetime, her accomplishments were wide-ranging and impressive. At the forefront of the woman’s suffrage movement, she was a charismatic social reformer, fearless in her challenge to the status quo. In childhood, she developed a flair for public speaking, often on behalf of her father’s charlatan medicinal schemes or her mother’s devotion to Spiritualism.
Victoria Claflin Woodhull’s life was one of passion and intrigue, always driven by an unshakable desire to bring about equality for all. Her meteoric rise in the public arena, subsequent decline from favor, and her phoenix-like return to fame form an astonishing and inspiring story.
Her remarkable life and resulting consequences will be the basis of a series of roundtables, designed to further discussions about causes and reforms that Woodhull thought important and that continue to be relevant today.