Editing Julia Ward Howe (section)

=== Politics ===
In the early 1870s, Howe was nominated by Massachusetts governor [[William Claflin]] as justice of the peace. However, there were uncertainties surrounding her appointment, as many believed women were not fit to hold office. In 1871, the [[Massachusetts Supreme Court]] made the decision that women could not hold any judicial offices without explicit authorization from the legislature, thereby nullifying Howe's appointment to justice of the peace. This led to activists petitioning for legislation allowing women to hold office, separate from legislating women's suffrage. Women's supporters believed that petitioning for officeholding before petitioning for a women's suffrage amendment would expedite women's involvement in politics.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal|last=Katz|first=Elizabeth D.|date=July 30, 2021|title=Sex, Suffrage, and State Constitutional Law: Women's Legal Right to Hold Public Office |journal=Yale Journal of Law & Feminism |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=3896499|language=en|location=Rochester, NY|ssrn=3896499}}</ref>