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Myra Colby Bradwell (February 12, 1831 – February 14, 1894) was an American publisher and political activist. She attempted in 1869 to become the first woman to be admitted to the Illinois
bar to practice law, but was denied admission by the Illinois Supreme Court in 1870 and the United States Supreme Court in 1873, in rulings upholding a separate women's sphere. Bradwell had founded and published Chicago Legal News from 1868, reporting on the law and continued that work. Meanwhile, influenced by her case, in 1872 the Illinois legislature passed a state law prohibiting gender discrimination in admission to any occupation or profession (with the exception of the military).
Shortly before her death in 1894, the Illinois Supreme Court on its own motion, in a gesture to honor her, granted Bradwell admission to the Illinois bar in 1890, and the United States Supreme Court followed suit two years later. In 1994, Myra Bradwell was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame.