Laura DeForce Gordon Day will be ‘a great day for Lodi’
© Alane K. Dashner
Imagine it’s July 1884. You’re sitting in your little kitchen in Harrisonville, Missouri, smoothing open the pages of your Cass County Democrat newspaper.
Hmm, on the front page there’s a roundup of Memorial Day and July 4th celebrations, most of them featuring parades of “weather-beaten veterans of the Mexican and Civil Wars” and “the usual enthusiasm, picnics, orations, music, fireworks, etc.” Then you read:
“But the grandest celebration I have ever heard of was at Lodi, California, the home of Laura DeForce Gordon, one of California’s talented lawyers. The women of that place celebrated Foremothers Day. It was conducted solely by the ladies. The procession was composed of ladies on horseback, in tableau, cars and carriages, all under the command of a handsome grand marshal in petticoats.”
People in Missouri were reading about Lodi?
Yes, people from Honolulu to Boston were fascinated by our most famous resident, Laura DeForce Gordon. A séance mystic, eloquent lecturer, passionate fighter for women’s rights, newspaper publisher, and California’s second female attorney, Laura lived on Lockeford Street between Sacramento and School Streets.
She achieved great things. She was a lightning rod for controversy.
Love her, or love to hate her
It seemed everyone had an opinion about Laura DeForce Gordon.
The San Francisco Figaro wrote “Of all the woman orators that have ever been here, the ‘divine Laura’ is the most logical and convincing. She is worth far more than her weight in gold to the Society, and, if not a woman, would be heard with attention and consideration in the British House of Lords.”
The Seymour Times of Indiana reported that “Two dried-up old vixenish maneaters, Susan B. Anthony and Mrs. Laura DeForce Gordon, squeezed their way in to the Democratic Convention…” (Laura was 33 at the time and her beauty was often remarked on.)
The Pulaski Citizen of Tennessee wrote that when Laura – the first female lawyer to address a California jury – entered the courtroom, her appearance caused a sensation “which she endeavored to ignore, and she was several times applauded, to the disgust of the court.”
Susan B. Anthony described Laura this way: “You can’t imagine how it delights my soul to find such an earnest, noble young woman possessed of powers oratorical.”
Looks Mattered
Laura’s personal appearance was scrutinized, especially after she became a lawyer. In Illinois, subscribers read that she “swept in, breathless, in a fur-trimmed satin cloak and a Gainsborough hat with an immense brim and imposing feather.” On another occasion, Nebraskans learned that she “shook her radiant curls and leveled an intimidating forefinger and lead pencil at the complainant.”
Who was Laura DeForce Gordon?
Laura had a compelling life story – born poor back east in Pennsylvania in 1838, as a teenager she gave skillful séances on the lecture circuit. She impressed suffragists Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Soon Laura was shaking her fist at crowds across the country, working to get US women the right to vote.
Laura settled in Lodi in 1870 and quickly set California on its ear: In 1871 she ran for State Senate and made headlines nationwide. In 1874 she bought the Stockton Leader and became the first woman in the US to publish a daily newspaper. In 1879 she and her friend Clara Foltz convinced Sacramento lawmakers (all male, of course) to start allowing women to go to college and get good jobs. After Laura and Clara became California’s first two female attorneys, Laura kept studying and became the second woman qualified to argue in front of the US Supreme Court in Washington DC.
What did Lodi’s men think about Laura?
You’re sitting in your little Missouri kitchen, reading about Foremothers Day on July 4th in Lodi. You learn that “The male portion of the community turned out strongly in the role of ‘interested spectators’ and enjoyed themselves hugely, it being the unanimous opinion that it was a great day for Lodi, and that women who could so successfully celebrate the day of independence should have a voice in the affairs of the government. This affair, and the fact that one of this city’s leading papers proposes women for school directors, shows that women’s claims are gaining ground, even in California.”
Warts and all
Laura was far from perfect. During the anti-Chinese fever that swept through the West Coast in the late 1800s, she urged boycotts of local Chinese businesses in hopes that Chinese laborers would leave. (There was no pathway to US citizenship for people from Asia then.)
Unfortunately, her actions were legal, even mild for her time. In 1871 a Los Angeles mob killed 19 Chinese people. In 1882 President Chester Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act into law. That has been the only federal law barring an entire ethnic group from entering the US and it wasn’t repealed until 1943.
Why celebrate Laura DeForce Gordon Day?
Have you heard about the troubles in Lodi’s grape industry lately? More than 8,000 acres of vineyard have been torn up since October 2024. We earnestly wish our vineyardists a speedy recovery, and in the meantime, we look for more ways to fill Lodi’s coffers.
Forbes magazine valued global heritage tourism at US$607.35 billion in 2024. With Lodi’s Wild West history and a nationally famous suffragist, why shouldn’t we get a chunk of that money? (If you doubt Lodi’s qualifications as a cultural heritage destination, just look at what Calaveras County is doing with a frog.)
Let’s get together to celebrate Laura DeForce Gordon Day at the Woman’s Club on August 15th, the Saturday closest to Laura’s August 17th birthday. Let’s have fun as we roll out the red carpet for tourists from Stockton, Sacramento, San Francisco, and beyond.
City Council has proclaimed every August 17th as Lodi’s Laura DeForce Gordon Day. Next month the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors will do the same. CBS Sacramento has mentioned Laura DeForce Gordon Day, and the social media wheels are turning.
What will happen at LDG Day 2026?
Come and see! Tickets are only $10 in advance with 12-and-under free. Local Girl Scouts will lead the flag ceremony. You’ll experience creative games that celebrate Laura’s spirit. You’ll get a free A&W root beer float. You can visit the history display and color in a Laura DeForce Gordon coloring book sponsored by F&M Bank. You can wear a costume if you choose and even buy a fancy hat. You can enjoy Lodi’s past as we build Lodi’s future.
Details and tickets are at ExploreLodi.org.