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Footnotes
* J. D., 1949, Boston University;
LLM., 1950, M.S. 1951, Columbia University. Professor of Law and
Law Librarian, University of California, Davis; Member of the
California Bar.
** A.B., 1973, San Diego State University.
Member Second Year Class, School of Law, University of California,
Davis.
*** A.B., 1973, University of California,
Davis. Member, Second Year Class, School of Law, University of
California, Davis.
1. Foltz, Struggles and Triumphs
of a Woman Lawyer, New Am. Woman, Jan. 1918, at 4, 10 [hereinafter
cited as Struggles].
2. Id. at 15-16.
3. Id., Feb. 1918, at 9.
For the entire argument in this case, see id. Jan. 1918,
at 4.
4. C. Gilb, 1 Notable American Women
641 (E. James ed. 1971) [hereinafter cited as Notable American
Women].
5. Although we have done extensive
research into Foltz's life and accomplishments, we have found
little written about her. Her contributions have been incompletely
cataloged in a few biographical encyclopedias, but her pioneering
achievements have been overlooked in most California histories.
6. Struggles, supra note
1, Jan. 1918, at 4, 10.
7. Clara Virginia, Samuel Courtland,
David Milton, Bertha May, Trella Evelyn. Notable American Women,
supra note 4, at 642.
8. S.F. Evening Post, Aug. 12, 1882,
at 2, col. 1.
9. In a conversation with Theresa
Viscoli, a personal acquaintance of Foltz in the 1930s, we learned
that Foltz divorced her husband. Telephone interview with Theresa
Viscoli, Aug. 11, 1975. This report is borne out by an article
in the San Francisco Evening Post. S.F. Evening Post, Aug. 12,
1882, at 2, col. 1. Nevertheless, Foltz herself in her writings
and correspondence always referred to herself as a widow.
10. Foltz was born on July 16, 1849
to Elias and Talitha Shortridge in Lafayette, Indiana. National
Cyclopedia of American Biography 308 (Current Vol. C 1930) [hereinafter
cited as National Cyclopedia]. According to her Los Angeles death
certificate, she died on September 2, 1934.
11. Struggles, supra note
1, May 1916, at 16.
12. San Jose Pioneer, Nov. 8, 1879,
at 3, col. 1.
13. Id., Oct. 6, 1877, at
3, col. 2. Some attributed Foltz's oratorical style to the influence
of her lawyer-minister father, who had stumped the state of Indiana
campaigning for Abraham Lincoln. N.Y. Times, Sept. 3, 1934, at
13, col. 3.
14. At the age of fifteen, Foltz
(then Shortridge) took a job as a teacher near Keithsburg, Illinois.
She left this job, however, to elope with Jeremiah Foltz. Notable
American Women, supra note 4, at 642. Soon after, she and
her husband moved to Portland, Oregon, where they lived for about
a year before moving to San Jose, California. In Portland, she
was a dressmaker, according to the recollections of newspaperman
Wills Drury in a letter recommending her for a notary public commission
in 1891. Letter from Wills Drury to H. H. Markham, April 10, 1891,
on file in California State Archives, Sacramento, California.
15. Struggles, supra note
1, Apr. 1916, at 10-11.
16. Id., June 1916, at 5.
17. The Shortridge family had also
moved to San Jose, where Foltz's brother Charles later published
and edited the San Jose Mercury newspaper. R. Davis, California
Women: A Guide To Their Politics 151 (1967).
18. Struggles, supra note
1, June 1916, at 5.
19. Id.
20. She obtained a place in the
offices of C. C. Stephens of San Jose. 1 The Bay of San Francisco
670 (1892). Law schools were not to become major training grounds
for lawyers until almost two decades later. At this time, would-be
attorneys studied in the offices of those already admitted to
practice until they themselves could pass the bar examinations.
21. 2 Appleton's Cyclopedia of American
Biography 493 (J. Wilson & J. Fiske eds. 1898).
22. Cal. Stat. 1878, ch. 600, §§
1-3, at 99.
23. Barney Murphy, Democrat, Santa
Clara.
24. 3 History of Woman Suffrage
757-58 (E. C. Stanton, S. B. Anthony & M. J. Gage eds. 1969).
25. Struggles, supra note
1, Aug. 1916, at 11.
26. Sacramento Union, Jan. 11, 1878,
at 1, col. 5.
27. William F. Anderson, Democrat,
San Francisco.
28. W. M. DeWitt, Democrat, Yolo.
29. Byron Waters, Democrat, San
Bernardino.
30. Struggles, supra note
1, July 1916, at 14, quoting Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, a prominent
minister and suffragist.
31. Grove Johnson, Republican, Sacramento.
32. R. W. Murphy, Republican, San
Francisco.
33. At this time women had been
practicing medicine in California for over twenty years; the California
Board of Medical Examiners began issuing licenses to physicians
under the Medical Practice of 1867. Cal. Stat. 1867, ch. 68, §§
1-14, at 792. Women were among the first certified. H. Harris,
California's Medical Story 209 (1932).
34. Sacramento Union, Mar. 30, 1878,
at 8, col. 2-3.
35. "On the day succeeding
that on which a final vote on any bill or resolution has been
taken, said vote may be reconsidered on the motion of any member,
provided, notice of intention to move such reconsideration
shall have been given on the day on which such final vote was
taken, by a member voting with the majority." Legislature
of The State of California, Journal of The Assembly, 22d Sess.,
1877-78, at 150. (Standing Rule 60) (emphasis added).
36. Sacramento Union, Jan. 11, 1878,
at 1, col. 4.
37. History of The Bench and Bar
of California 831 (O. Shuck ed. 1901).
38. Struggles, supra note
1, Aug. 1916, at 11.
39. Sacramento Union, Jan. 11, 1878,
at 1, col. 4.
40. Struggles, supra note
I, Sept. 1916, at 10.
41. Id.
42. Id.
43. Id., Oct. 1916, at 11.
According to the California Code of Civil Procedure in effect
at that time, an attorney could be admitted to practice in all
courts of the state by showing proof of good moral character and
passing an oral examination in open court before the justices
of the supreme court. An attorney could gain admission to practice
before a particular district or county court by showing proof
of good moral character and passing an oral exam in that court.
Cal. Stat. 1861, ch. 1, §§ 275-77 at 64 (repealed 1931).
44. Struggles, supra note
1, Oct. 1916, at 11.
45. 1 The Bay of San Francisco 670
(1892).
46. Struggles, supra note
1, Feb. 1917, at 10, 11.
47. Id., June 1917, at 12,
13.
48. Foltz applied to Hastings College
of the Law in October, 1878. Minutes of the Meetings of the
Board of Directors of Hastings College of the Law, Oct. 18,
1878, in 1 Record, Hastings College of Law 31 (on file at Hastings
College of the Law) [hereinafter cited as Hastings Directors'
Minutes].
49. See Transcript on Appeal
at 2, Foltz v. Hoge, 54 Cal. 28 (1879).
50. Struggles, supra note
1, July 1917, at 18.
51. Id., Nov. 1916, at 12.
52. Hastings Directors' Minutes,
Jan. 10, 1879, supra note 48, at 31-32.
53. 2 National Cyclopedia, supra
note 10, at 235.
54. Id.
55. 3 History of Woman Suffrage
757-58 (E. C. Stanton, S. B. Anthony & M. J. Gage eds. 1969).
56. Hastings Directors' Minutes,
Feb. 13, 1879, supra note 48, at 32.
57. See id.
58. Transcript on Appeal at 3, Foltz
v. Hoge, 54 Cal. 28 (1879).
59. Id. at 6.
60. Id. at 10. Foltz later
wrote that the reason given her to justify excluding women from
the college was that "The rustle of the ladies' garments
would distract the attention of the young gentlemen." Foltz
"was hardly able to appreciate their argument as a legal
proposition." Struggles, supra note 1, Nov. 1916,
at 12.
61. Transcript on Appeal at 7, Foltz
v. Hoge, 54 Cal. 28 (1879).
62. S.F. Chronicle, Feb. 25, 1879,
at 1, col. 1.
63. Id.
64. Id.
65. Struggles, supra note
1, Aug. 1917, at 22.
66. Daily Alta California, Feb.
25, 1879, at 1, col. 5.
67. An Act to Create and Organize
the University of California, Cal. Stat. 1868, ch. 244, §
8, at 250-51.
68. An Act to Create Hastings College
of the Law in the University of the State of California, Cal.
Stat. 1878, ch. 351, §§ 1-15, at 533.
69. S.F. Chronicle, Feb. 25, 1879,
at 1, col. 1.
70. Struggles, supra note
1, Aug. 1917, at 22.
71. S.F. Chronicle, Feb. 25, 1879,
at 1, col. 1.
72. Id.
73. Matter of Goodell, 39
Wis. 232, 245-46 (1875).
74. Daily Alta California, Feb.
25, 1879, at 1, col. 2.
75. Id.
76. Transcript on Appeal at 12,
Foltz v. Hoge, 54 Cal. 28 (1879).
77. S.F. Chronicle, Mar. 6, 1879,
at 3, col. 2.
78. Id.
79. See Notable American
Women, supra note 4, at 643; S.F. Evening Post,
Aug. 12, 1882, at 2, col. 1.
80. Foltz v. Hoge, 54 Cal.
28 (1879).
81. Estcourt, Ladies of Law:
Victors Over Custom, S.F. Chronicle, July 2, 1939, §
S. at 5, col. 1.
82. Id.
83. See Woman's Herald of
Industry, Oct. 1882, at 4, col. 4. In this advertisement,
Foltz described herself as "Clara S. Foltz, Attorney and
Counselor at Law... Probate and Divorce Matters a Specialty."
The Rules of Professional Conduct, which forbid advertising by
attorneys, were not adopted by the California Supreme Court until
May 24, 1928, forty- six years after this advertisement.
See Cal. R. Professional Conduct 2-101.
84. Struggles, supra note
1, May 1918, at 9.
85. Cal. Stat. 1921, ch. 245, §§
1-8, at 354.
86. See Sacramento Bee, Feb.
15, 1879, at 2, col. 2.
87. Foltz, Public Defenders--Rights
of Persons Accused of Crime--Abuses Now Existing, 48 Albany
L. J. 248, 249 (1893) [hereinafter cited as Foltz, Rights of
Persons Accused].
88. See Foltz, Public
Defenders, 31 Am. L. Rev. 393, 399 (1897) thereinafter cited
as Foltz, Public Defenders].
89. Foltz, Rights of Persons
Accused, supra note 86, at 249.
90. Id. at 248.
91. Foltz, Public Defenders,
supra note 87, at 396.
92. Foltz, Rights of Persons
Accused, supra note 86, at 248.
93. See Foltz, Rights
of Persons Accused, supra note 86, at 248.
94. Cal. Stat. 1921, Ch. 245, §
5, at 354.
95. See, e.g., Foltz, Rights
of Persons Accused, supra note 86, at 248; Foltz, Public
Defenders, supra note 87, at 393; Foltz, Public Defenders,
25 Chicago Legal News 431 (1893). Foltz wrote several of the
articles in New York between 1896 and 1898, while she was practicing
in that state.
96. R. Davis, California Women:
A Guide To Their Politics 151 (1967).
97. 13 W. Coast Magazine, 43, 44
(1912).
98. Cal. Stat. 1921, ch. 245, §
5, at 354.
99. Foltz, Duties of District
Attorneys in Prosecutions, 18 Crim. L. Magazine 415 (1896).
100. Id. at 417.
101. Foltz, Public Defenders,
supra note 87, at 402.
102. Foltz, Duties of District
Attorneys in Prosecutions, 18 Crim. L. Magazine 415 (1896).
103. S.F. Call, Jan. 3, 1911, at
2, col. 2.
104. In recognition of her activity
and expertise in the area of penal reform, Foltz was appointed
to the California State Board of Charities and Corrections at
the age of sixty. She was the first woman to serve on the board,
where she was active for two years. Notable American Women, supra
note 4, at 643.
105. Foltz, Struggles, supra
note 1, June 1918 at 9, 10.
106. Notable American Women, supra
note 4, at 643.
107. S.F. Call, Mar. 13, 1910, at
27, col. 4.
108. Cal. Stat. 1893, ch. 153, §
1, at 183. The statute restricted parole to defendants who had
had no prior felony convictions and who had not otherwise served
tinge in a penal institution. Id.
109. Foltz, What We Stand For,
New Am. Woman, Feb. 1916, at 3.
110. Struggles, supra
note 1, Jan. 1917, at 26.
111. S.F. Call, Jan. 3, 1911, at
2, col. 2.
112. National Cyclopedia, supra
note 10, at 308.
113. Notable American Women, supra
note 4, at 642.
114. 7 San Francisco Wasp, Sept.
16, 1881, at 183.
115. Letter from Clara Foltz to
Clara Colby, June 26, 1908, at 4, on file in the Huntington Library,
San Marino, California.
116. She moved her practice to Los
Angeles in 1906. Notable American Women supra note 4, at
642.
117. Letter from Clara Foltz to
Clara Colby, Apr. 8, 1909, at 4, on file in the Huntington Library,
San Marino, California.
118. Notable American Women, supra
note 4, at 642.
119. S.F. Call, Jan. 3, 1911, at
2, col. 2.
120. Letter from Clara Foltz to
Clara Colby, June 26, 1908, at 4, on file in the Huntington Library,
San Marino, California.
121. Id. at 6.
122. S.F. Call, Jan. 3, 1911 at
2, cot 2.
123. 13 W. Coast Magazine 43, 44
(1912).
124. Id.
125. National Cyclopedia, supra
note 10, at 308.
126. Foltz, Votes for Women Not
an Issue, New Am. Woman, May 1917, at 14.
127. Foltz, What We Stand For,
New Am. Woman, Feb. 1916, at 3.
128. She campaigned across California
for the Republican party in 1880, 1882, and 1884. In 1886, she
supported a Democrat, Washington Bartlett, when his Republican
opponent for governor, John F. Swift, expressed the opinion that
a woman had no right to be a lawyer. Bartlett won, and he appointed
Foltz to a State Normal School trusteeship, the only state office
then open to women. S.F. Call, Nov. S. 1911, at 45, col. 4. With
her active support, her brother Samuel M. Shortridge ran for the
United States Senate, winning a seat which he occupied from 1921
to 1932. Id.
129. Statement of the Vote at
Primary Election Held on August 4, 1930, at 4, in California
Secretary of State, Statement of The Vote 1929-1939.
130. Letter from Clara Foltz to
Alice Park, Mar. 20, 1930, at 1, on file in the Huntington Library,
San Marino, California.
131. Foltz, Law of the Case,
New Am. Woman, Feb. 1916, at 10.
132. Id. The periodical also
included a section called "Law Briefs," which was a
collection of one-line legal aphorisms such as: "A city or
town cannot pass an ordinance punishing people for getting on
and off moving trains;" and "A wife is liable on a note
to which her husband attached her name by her authority."
Foltz, Law Briefs, New Am. Woman, Mar. 1916, at 12.
133. Struggles, supra note
1, July 1916, at 14.
134. Notable American Women, supra
note 4, at 642.
135. Struggles, supra note
1, Apr. 1916, at 10.
136. National Cyclopedia, supra
note 10, at 308.
137. Struggles, supra note
1, June 1917, at 12.
138. Matter of Goodell, 39 Wis.
232, 240-41 (1875).
139. Foltz felt, however, that the
"gentlemen of the press" generally treated her very
well. Struggles, supra note 1, June 1917, at 12.
140. S.F. Chronicle, Mar. 6, 1879,
at 7, col. 2.
141. 6 San Francisco Wasp, Feb.
19, 1881, at 120-21.
142. Foltz, Certain Kinds of
Labor For Women Wrong and Unnatural, New Am. Woman, Dec. 1916,
at 19.
143. Id. Yet Foltz supported
herself very well. Along with her legal practice, she developed
extensive business interests. In 1905 she organized a women's
department for the United Bank and Trust Company in San Francisco
and began to publish a monthly magazine, Oil Fields and Furnaces,
in the same city. She headed Foltz Oil Producers Syndicate
from 1921 to 1922. This venture came to an end in August of 1922
when State Corporations Commissioner E. M. Daugherty suspended
sales of shares in the corporation, for reasons he did not disclose.
The San Francisco Examiner speculated that Foltz's venture may
not have complied with the corporations commission regulation
that 80% of money invested in oil drilling companies must be spent
on development. S.F. Examiner, Aug. 12, 1922, at 3, col. 1. Foltz
also apparently operated a Los Angeles real estate agency, the
American Woman's Little Farms Company. See New Am. Woman,
June 1916, at back cover (advertisement).
144. Notable American Women, supra
note 4, at 642.
145. San Diego Bee, May 16, 1887,
at 2, col. 1. She continued: "and no better field for the
exercise of her influence can be found than is offered in the
publication of a daily paper." Id. Many early issues
of the Bee were filled with diatribes against a shady Mexican
land sale scheme, over which her newspaper fought a bitter journalistic
duel with its chief rival, the San Diego Union. Foltz frequently
editorialized on the themes of women's rights and sexual politics:
"[W]hen a wronged sister applied to her for the privilege
of obtaining a hearing before the public, she readily consented
to throw open the columns of the Bee for that purpose." Id.,
July 17, 1887, at 2, col. 1.
146. Id., May 25, 1887, at
2, col. 1.
147. Struggles, supra note
1, Mar. 1918, at 9.
148. Letter from Clara Foltz to
Clara Colby, June 26, 1908, at 2, on file in the Huntington Library,
San Marino, California.
149. Letter from Clara Colby to
Alice Park, Dec. 18, 1923, at 1, on file in the Huntington Library,
San Marino, California.
150. Theresa Viscoli asserted that
after Foltz's death, Virginia Foltz Gatron, the only surviving
child, sold all of her mother's furniture and destroyed her papers.
Viscoli said, "Virginia was never a saver." Telephone
interview with Theresa Viscoli, Aug. 11, 1975.
151. Struggles, supra note
1, Mar. 1918, at 9.
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