Judith Ellen Foster

Who was Judith Ellen Foster?

Judith Ellen Foster was an American lecturer, born in Lowell, Massachusetts. She moved to Clinton, Iowa in 1869 with her small son and second husband, studied law, and was admitted to the State bar in 1872. She was the first woman to practice law in Iowa, and was one of the first women to be admitted to practice in the Iowa Supreme Court. She also became superintendent of the Legislative Department of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, and when that organization was affiliated with the Prohibition Party, identified herself with the Non-Partisan Woman's Christian Temperance Union, of which she became president. She was a popular lecturer on various topics and published a Constitutional Amendment Manual. In 1907 she was appointed a special agent of the Federal Department of Justice.