McCulloch, Catharine Waugh, 1862-1945

McCulloch was a lawyer and suffragist. For biographical information, see Notable American Women, 1607-1950 (1971).

Suffragist and lawyer, Catharine Gouger Waugh McCulloch (1862-1945) served as legal advisor and first vice-president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. For additional biographical information, see Notable American Women, 1607-1950 (1971).

Catherine Waugh McCulloch (1862-1945) was a lawyer, suffragist, and political activist. Catherine Waugh was educated at Rockford Female Seminary where she met Jane Addams and the two women became lifelong friends. From there she studied law in Chicago and was admitted to the bar in 1886. As a practicing lawyer, Waugh defended women beset by such problems as wage discrimination, divorce, child custody, and abuse. The cases propelled Catherine Waugh into a leading role in the women's movement and made her a prominent advocate of women's suffrage in Illinois. She served on the National Woman Suffrage Association, the Illinois Equal Suffrage Association, the League of Women Voters, and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. In 1913, she was appointed Dean of Law at the Illinois College of Law, and in 1917, she became the first woman Master in Chancery of the Cook County Supreme Court.

Suffragist and lawyer, Catharine Gouger Waugh McCulloch was born near Ransomville, N.Y. The family later moved to a farm near New Milford, Ill.; she attended the village school and nearby Rockford Female Seminary, graduating in 1882. In 1885 she enrolled in the Union College of Law in Chicago, and upon completion of the course was admitted to the Illinois bar. After further study at Rockford Seminary where her thesis was entitled "Woman's Wages," McCulloch was awarded a B.A. and an M.A. in 1888. In 1890 she married Frank Hathorn McCulloch, a fellow law student with whom she then practiced law. They had four children.

As legislative superintendent of the Illinois Equal Suffrage Association (1890-1912), McCulloch was active in the movement for women's rights, seeking state legislation permitting woman suffrage in presidential and local elections not constitutionally limited to male voters, a bill that passed in 1913. She was also instrumental in the passage of Illinois legislation granting women equal rights in the guardianship of their children (1901), and raising the legal age of consent for women from fourteen to sixteen (1905). She served as legal adviser (1904-ca.1911) and as first vice-president (1910-1911) of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. McCulloch died of cancer on April 20, 1945. For further biographical information, see Notable American Women, 1607-1950 (1971).

The only daughter of Susan (Gouger) and Abraham Miller Waugh, Catharine Gouger (Waugh) McCulloch was born near Ransomville, New York, on June 4, 1862. Five years later, the family moved to a farm near New Milford, Illinois, where she attended the village school and nearby Rockford Female Seminary, graduating in 1882. In 1885 she enrolled in the Union College of Law in Chicago, and upon completion of the course was admitted to the Illinois bar. CGWM took further study at Rockford Seminary and in 1888, having written a thesis entitled "Woman's Wages," was awarded both a B.A. and an M.A. In 1890 she married Frank Hathorn McCulloch, a fellow law student with whom she then practiced law. They had four children.

As legislative superintendent of the Illinois Equal Suffrage Association (1890-1912), CGWM was extremely active in the movement for women's rights, seeking state legislation permitting woman suffrage in presidential and local elections not constitutionally limited to male voters, a bill which passed in 1913. She was also instrumental in the passage of Illinois legislation granting women equal rights in the guardianship of their children (1901), and raising the legal age of consent for women from fourteen to sixteen (1905). She served as legal adviser (1904-ca.1911) and as first vice-president (1910-1911) of the National American Woman Suffrage Association.

CGWM died of cancer on April 20, 1945. For further biographical information, see Notable American Women, 1607-1950 (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1971).

Catharine Waugh McCulloch, lawyer and suffragist, was the first woman in the United States to be elected to a judicial office: Justice of the Peace in Evanston, Illinois (1907).

For additional biographical information refer to the inventory of the Schlesinger Library's Catharine W. McCulloch papers (MC 378), elsewhere in the University Publications of America printed guide.