Beulah Wheeler (February 13, 1896 – May 15, 1971) was an American attorney who, in 1924, became the first African-American woman to graduate from the University of Iowa College of Law.
Early life Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on February 13, 1896,"United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6KQM-48PR : Sat Apr 26 04:16:29 UTC 2025), Entry for Beulah Wheeler and Calvin Wheeler. Wheeler—birth name either unknown or simply not recorded—was brought to Marshalltown, Iowa at the age of one by her adoptive parents, John Calvin and Mary Jennie Wheeler."Iowa, State Census, 1915", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q24G-RN4Y : Sun Mar 10 00:28:30 UTC 2024), Entry for Beaulah Wheeler, 1915. She graduated from Marshalltown High School in 1915, then attended Iowa State University and the University of Iowa College of Law.
University of Iowa's College of Law In May 1921, her story "Soapsud Dreams"—described by the author as a study in realism—won second place in a university-held short story contest. Her speech "Uniform Marriage and Divorce Law" won first place in the Women's Extemporaneous Speech Contest hosted by the women's Forensic League with a prize money award of $10. Her photo was featured in the 1922 Hawkeye for winning first place. She also won athletic awards for playing basketball and volleyball. Though she graduated in 1924,Breaux, Richard M. "'Maintaining a Home for Girls': The Iowa Federation of Colored Women's Clubs at the University of Iowa, 1919–1950", in Franklin, V.P., ed. (2004). Cultural Capital and Black Education: African American Communities and the Funding of Black Schooling, 1865 to the Present. Greenwich, CN: Information Age Publishing. p. 130. . "The various African American women who lived in the Federation House in the early years blazed many trails as University of Iowa students. For example, in 1924, Beulah Wheeler became the first African American woman to graduate from the College of Law. Wheeler, a Marshalltown resident who lived at the Federation Home as a student, helped pay for her education by selling handmade art. She was one of many Arican American women who attended meetings of the IFCWC to express her appreciation for their continued support. During her senior year, Wheeler played on the clas basketball and volleyball teams, where she was one of 'the chief score makers for the seniors.' [...] In 1921, Wheeler won the Women's Extemporaneous Speech Contest with a speech entitled 'Uniform Marriage and Divorce Law.'" she reportedly did not receive her law degree until forty-one years later.
The Iowa Bystander, a four-page weekly to serve as the voice of Iowa's African American community, featured Wheeler in an article in 1920. When she was a student at Iowa State College, she was noted to have "quadrupled" the subscriptions to the periodical for Topeka, Kansas.
The Daily Iowan reported that she was one of two women taking the bar examinations, reported on June 11, 1924.
After school, she moved to Leavenworth, Kansas, for three years and then to Chicago, where she practiced law.
Later life In March 1956, Wheeler, then 60 years old and residing in Chicago's 21st Congressional district, made what would prove an unsuccessful bid to unseat one of that District's incumbent Democratic Representatives, campaigning on the promise to "take the profit out of narcotics".
Following that failed bid, Wheeler remained out of the public eye and, it appears, utterly forgotten. And thus it is, purely by virtue of the claim made for Social Security benefits in April 1966 (at which time Wheeler definitely still resided in Chicago), that we know of her death, aged 75, on May 15, 1971.
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