Marilla Ricker Biography

A suffragist, philanthropist, lawyer, and freethinker, Marilla Marks (Young) Ricker (1840-1920) accomplished a remarkable number of firsts during her lifetime. She became the first woman to be accepted into the bar in New Hampshire, the first woman to run for governor in that state, and the first woman to apply for a federal foreign ambassadorship post. She made significant and lasting contributions to the issues of women's rights and irreligion through her actions and her writings.