A fierce advocate of women’s rights

Caroline “Carrie” Burnham Kilgore (1838-1909), who would spend her last years living near Swarthmore, was one such woman. Born in Craftsbury, Vt., Kilgore had an extensive career as an educator before moving to the Philadelphia area and setting her sights on the legal profession. Although she was rejected from the University of Pennsylvania Law School upon applying in 1871, Kilgore would spend the next 10 years lobbying for the right to attend lectures, becoming the first woman to be admitted to the law school in 1881.

It was during this time that she married Damon Kilgore, who became one of her most ardent supporters. Their two daughters would later attend the College. Kilgore’s and Damon’s marriage contract, in which Kilgore asserts her rights and autonomy as a “feme sole,” can be found in the Friends Historical Library, along with drafts of Kilgore’s autobiography about her legal career. Outlining her many accomplishments after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1883, Kilgore would go on to become the first woman accepted to the Pennsylvania Bar Association, working her way up from a legal advocate in the Orphan’s Court of Philadelphia and becoming one of the first women to argue before the Supreme Court in 1890.

For her impressive legal career and role as a fierce advocate of women’s rights, acting as vice president of the National Woman Suffrage Association, and appealing to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for a woman’s right to vote, Kilgore was honored with a historical marker in October. It is located at 1301 Baltimore Pike, Springfield, Pa., bordering the town of Swarthmore.

— CATHERINE SOSTOWSKI HERBES ’27