Catharine Waugh McCulloch

Catharine Waugh McCulloch (1862-1945) was an attorney, activist and suffragist. McCulloch was the first female Justice of the Peace in Illinois and the first woman to serve as a presidential elector. Deeply concerned about the family and women’s legal rights, McCulloch helped push the age of consent law in Illinois from 14 to 16 and lobbied for passage of a bill granting wives equal guardianship, with their husbands, of their children. McCulloch was a key force in getting women the right to vote in Illinois in 1913 and was active in the national women’s suffrage movement as well. She served as legal counsel for the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union and the National Woman’s Suffrage Association, and was partner with her husband in their Chicago law firm.