Belle Case LaFollette

Belle Case LaFollette, Attorney and Woman’s Suffrage Activist, was born on April 21, 1859, in a log cabin in Summit, Wisconsin.  Upon graduation from the University of Wisconsin, she taught for two years and then married a former classmate, Robert LaFollette.  The ceremony was performed by a Unitarian minister and by mutual agreement, the word “obey” was omitted from the marriage vows. 

In 1883 Belle entered the University of Wisconsin Law School, becoming the first woman to receive a law degree from that university.  She was admitted to the bar but never actually practiced.  Her legal training was of great help to her husband’s career though. She was an active participant during Robert’s three terms in Congress, serving as his secretary and administrative assistant.

Robert was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1906. Three years later Belle created LaFollette’s Magazine, which later became The Progressive. In 1911 and 1912 she wrote a syndicated column for the North American Press Syndicate. She edited the “Women and Education Department” writing articles on health, child care, political news and the social life in Washington. 

In 1913 Belle spoke before her husband’s colleagues in the Senate Committee on Suffrage, in favor of suffrage. In 1914 Belle addressed the colored Young Men's Christian Association, raising an argument that segregation of colored people on street cars. public conveyances and government departments was wrong. She added there would be no constitution of peace until the question is "settled right". In 1915 she helped found the Woman’s Peace Party, which later became the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom. After World War I, she was active in the Women’s Committee for World Disarmament, and helped found the National Council for the Prevention of War in 1921. She and other women influenced governments to convene the Naval Arms Limitation Conference in 1922.