Myra Blackwell, pioneering Republican Attorney

Grand Old Partisan celebrates more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. Today, I honor Myra Blackwell, born in Vermont, February 12th 1831. She relocated to Illinois with her family at age twelve and received a good education. During the Civil War, she fundraised for the Union cause. Peace restored, her husband, a Republican judge, won two terms in the state house.

Blackwell studied law while apprenticing at her husband's office. She also published the Chicago Legal News. In 1869, she passed the bar exam. A federal judge and a state's attorney asked the state supreme court to issue her a law license, but were refused. In an unsuccessful appeal of that decision, a Republican U.S. Senator argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that her 14th Amendment rights had been abridged.

Despite this setback, Blackwell remained active. She was a leader of the suffrage movement, and a Republican Governor named her to represent Illinois at the Centennial Exposition. Finally, in 1890, the state supreme court granted her a law license, followed two years later by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Back to Basics for the Republican Party is my civil rights history of the GOP. To quote the book: "The more we Republicans know about the history of our party, the more Democrats will worry about the future of theirs. For more information, see www.grandoldpartisan.com. 

Here is a YouTube Video about this article.

Here is a TikTok Video about this article.

Here is an Instagram Video about this article.

Here is my Substack about this article.

Michael Zak is author of Back to Basics for the Republican Party, a history of GOP civil rights achievement.


Each day, his YouTube videos and TikTok videos and Rumble videos and Grand Old Partisan blog celebrate more than seventeen decades of Republican heroes and heroics. And, see Speech Raves for audience feedback from his presentations in thirty-one states.

Clarence Thomas cited Back to Basics for the Republican Party in a Supreme Court decision.

"This is the most amazing book about politics that I have ever read. The Overview should be required reading for anyone with even a minor interest in government. The remainder is an enthralling history lesson that I will never forget. For years, we have all been misled about the true nature of the GOP. This is the real deal! Read it and be proud!"

"Your book is a national treasure. I'm always recommending it."

"Michael Zak wrote the definitive history of the GOP."

"Back to Basics for the Republican Party is the most significant contribution to the Republican Party in the last twenty years apart from Ronald Reagan."

"Back to Basics for the Republican Party is more important to our party now than ever before."

and

"one of the best books I ever read"

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