Suffragists of the Month, February

Susan B. Anthony

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February 15, 1820 marks the birthday of one of the founders of the woman suffrage movement, Susan B. Anthony, and what better place to celebrate it than at the Susan B. Anthony Birthplace and Museum in Adams, Massachusetts. I was privileged to speak there last spring, and was gratified to find that the museum is run by dedicated professionals, all committed to the preservation of this important place in Susan B. Anthony’s life.

Susan was born in this house and lived there for her first seven years. Even after moving to neighboring New York State she returned to visit throughout her lifetime. The house is brimming with wonderful tributes to Susan and the woman suffrage movement.

For more information click on the link to the left for the Susan B. Anthony Birthplace and Museum.

 

 

01v/27/arve/G1832/086Anna Howard Shaw

Suffrage leader Anna Howard Shaw not only helped break barriers for women politically, but entered two professions that discouraged women members; she became both a minister and a physician. Born in Northumberland, England February 14, 1847, she moved with her family to the United States in 1851. She attended school in Michigan, graduating from Big Rapids High School, and went on to study, first at Albion College and later at Boston University, graduating from Boston University Theological School in 1878 and Boston University Medical School in 1886.

But her close friendship with Susan B. Anthony encouraged her to leave the medical and religious fields and concentrate on working for woman suffrage. She served as vice president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association from 1892 to 1904, and as president from 1904 to 1915. She was a masterful orator, and lectured in the United States and Europe in support of world peace and the League of Nations. Unfortunately, she died in 1919, before the 19th amendment was passed.

 

 

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