Belva Lockwood: The “Nerviest Woman in the United States,” Who Became the Latter-day Saints’ Irrepressible Advocate and Friend

BYU Studies

Volume 59:3 (2020) - In August 1889, a number of newspapers ran an article that began with this sentence: “Belva Lockwood has long been considered the nerviest woman in the United States.” At the time, Belva Lockwood had been a household name in the U.S. for many years. By 1889, she had also established herself as an outspoken advocate who unabashedly defended the legal rights of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

A well-known Washington, D.C., lawyer and activist for various causes (such as women’s suffrage, gender and racial equality, Native American rights, temperance, and international peace) and the first woman ever admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court bar, Belva described herself as having a mind of “extreme practicality.” Belva’s biographer describes her as a woman who “exuded ego,” who “reveled in public notice, and offered herself as a model of female accomplishment and independence.” And Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg describes Belva as “principal among way pavers,” a person whose life and work reveals that “resilience, wit, and good humor . . . can turn put-downs and slights into opportunities.”