Ladd became the first American woman to formally receive graduate instruction in both mathematics and symbolic logic. Since women were not allowed to graduate from Johns Hopkins University at that time, Ladd was refused a PhD in mathematics and logic, although she was the first woman to complete all the university's requirements for a PhD. Completing the work for a PhD in mathematics and logic at Johns Hoplkins University gave her the tools and the legitimacy she needed, as a woman taking up scientific work. The university eventually officially awarded her a PhD during its 50th-anniversary celebrations in 1926 (44 years after she had earned it) when she was seventy-eight. In 1893 she sought a teaching position at Johns Hopkins University but was denied. Despite this setback, she remained persistent and determined. Laurel Furumoto, in his work discussing the sociopolitical environment of the time, notes that Ladd's "inability to secure a regular academic position was a predictable consequence, in that time period, of her decision to marry." Eleven years later, in 1904, she was at last given permission to teach one class per year. For the next five years her position at Johns Hopkins University had to be approved and renewed on a yearly basis. Women who were able to obtain academic positions in universities at this time often chose these positions despite their lack of compensation. Ladd was no different. Many of the teaching positions that she held were on a volunteer basis, creating substantial financial strain on her and her family. Yet, it is evident that Ladd placed a high value on her ability to earn the academic affiliations necessary to become a successful contributor to her field. Personal life and philosophy After marriage to Fabian Franklin on August 24, 1882, she adopted the name Christine Ladd-Franklin. The couple had two children, one of whom died in infancy. The other, Margaret Ladd-Franklin, became a prominent member in the women's suffrage movement. Ladd-Franklin often wrote of the injustice she observed in the oppression of the female sex. In one such journal entry while at Vassar College she describes her disappointment with the views in society about and among women, stating, "I so despise the idea that woman are not as competent to take care of themselves as men, that they cannot decide for themselves when to go to bed and when to get up, how much exercise to take,