Scholarly Commons @ IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law
Abstract
Women were an important part of the great public meetings held in connection with the Chicago World\u27s Fair. One of these Congresses, as they were called, was devoted to the achievements of nineteenth century women, and brought together suffragists, club women, society ladies, and activists of all stripes from around the world. The Congress of Jurisprudence and Law Reform featured two American women lawyers holding their own on a platform with leading professors, judges and advocates. With an extraordinary speech based largely on her own experience in the courts, Clara Foltz launched the public defender movement