Victoria Woodhull, Equal Rights Party, 1872 & 1892

In September of 1838, little Victoria was born into the Claflin family in Homer, OH. Shortly thereafter, the family's traveling medicine show was back on the road. Establishing herself as a spiritualist at an early age, it was apparent that charismatic Victoria would lead no average life. Married at fifteen, she began to earn a living as a clairvoyant. Later, she established a newspaper with her sister Tennessee Claflin in New York. Woodhull and Claflin's Weekly was the first periodical to print the Communist Manifesto in English. The sisters' stock brokerage was the first woman-owned firm on Wall Street. Known for being flamboyant, Woodhull claimed that being a spiritualist gave her an edge in the stock market. Victoria Claflin Woodhull became the first female presidential candidate in 1872, representing the Equal Rights Party. A social activist who promoted free love and open marriage, an 8 hour work day, and social welfare programs, she was shunned by more mainstream suffragists on the grounds that her views alienated the general public. Victoria Woodhull’s running mate was Frederick Douglass, a former slave, abolitionist, and activist for racial equality and justice, who was the first Black man to run for Vice President.