Susan B. AnthonyWe offer this sampling of suffrage leaders and supporters to give a flavor of the remarkable depth and variety which marked the nationwide movement and to encourage your further interest.
Most of the information here comes directly from the wonderful 4-volume set, Notable American Women. If your interest is stirred by any of these profiles, check out the fuller biographies in this library mainstay available from the National Women's History Project.
Direct quotes are usually from Notable American Women, but we also consulted Notable Black American Women and other sources. Husband's names have been included when appropriate to help researchers.
JANE ADDAMS (Cedarville, IL) Sept. 6, 1860 - May 21, 1935, progressive social reformer, had a "vein of iron" (Anne Firor Scott, Notable American Women), founded Hull House settlement in Chicago, helped "over-privileged young people" connect with real life, defined a settlement house as "an institution attempting to learn from life itself," called "the most influential woman in Chicago history," internationally respected social reformer, author, peace and suffrage leader, National American Woman Suffrage Association first vice-president 1911-1914, pacifist, opposed World War I, awarded Nobel Peace Prize 1931.
Susan B. Anthony
SUSAN BROWNELL ANTHONY (Adams, MA) Feb. 15, 1820 - March 13, 1906, Quaker, teacher temperance and abolition organizer, outstanding women's rights leader with sharp political instincts, met Elizabeth Cady Stanton 1850, took suffrage petitions door-to-door 1854, worked for emancipation but felt black men should not be given vote ahead of women, published The Revolution 1868-70, lectured for 6 years to pay off its $10,000 debt, advocated equal pay for equal work, encouraged women to form unions, "more than any other woman suffrage leader, she was the victim of masculine ridicule" including satirical cartoons and newspaper attacks, driving force behind National Woman Suffrage Association 1869-90, National American Woman Suffrage Association head 1892-1900, single-minded champion of federal amendment, called "The Invincible" and "The Napoleon of the woman's rights movement," active in state campaigns from Kansas 1867 to California 1896, spoke across country form 30 years, voted in 1872 election, arrested and convicted but won popular support, led Centennial protest 1876, recruited Carrie Catt and Anna Shaw to suffrage, lived with sister Mary in Rochester, NY, became internationally respected symbol of woman's movement, "She has a broad and generous nature, and a depth of tenderness that few women possess"(Elizabeth Cady Stanton).
ALVA ERSKINE SMITH VANDERBILT BELMONT (Mobile, AL) Jan. 17, 1853 - Jan. 26, 1933, socialite and multimillionaire, philanthropist, educated in France, married Wm. Vanderbilt, 3 children, divorced and married OHP Belmont, her divorce controversial because she "had dared to criticize openly an influential man's behavior," drawn to suffrage by Anna Shaw 1908, wrote articles and spoke publicly, founded Political Equality League 1909, helped finance militant activities, supported Alice Paul and Congressional Union, socially prominent New York Suffrage speaker and organizer, National Woman's Party head 1921, donated Sewall-Belmont House in D.C. to National Woman's Party.
Lucy Stone with Alice Stone Blackwell
ALICE STONE BLACKWELL (Orange, NJ) Sept. 14, 1857 - March 15, 1950, daughter of Lucy Stone and Henry Blackwell, "the child of the regiment," Boston U., leading suffrage writer and journalist, edited The Woman's Journal for 35 years, helped merge rival suffrage groups into National American Woman Suffrage Association 1890, became recording secretary, lectured, wrote mother's biography, translated Russian, Armenian, Yiddish and other oppressed peoples' poetry, supported LaFollette 1924 and Sacco and Vanzetti in her 60s, went blind, cheated by business agent, supported by friends, died at 98, "urged women to remain an autonomous moral force in politics."
LILLIE DEVEREUX BLAKE (Raleigh, NC) Aug. 12, 1833 - Dec. 30, 1913, married lawyer Frank Umstead, 2 children, survived by writing articles, stories and novels, remarried, witty and graceful lecturer, popular suffrage convention speaker, active in New York associations and campaigns 1879 - 1900, contender with Carrie Catt for head of National American Woman Suffrage Association 1900, organized National Legislative League to correct legal abuses.
HARRIOT STANTON BLATCH (Seneca Falls, NY) Jan. 20, 1856 - Nov. 20, 1940, daughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Vassar, married Englishman and lost citizenship, 2 children, lived for 20 years in England, militant leader and fiery speaker, lobbyist, New York organizer, brought new life to suffrage movement, founded Equality League of Self Supporting Women 1907, later the Women's Political Union, recruited working women to suffrage, organized first large U.S. suffrage parades, marched on Albany.
AMELIA BLOOMER (Homer, NY) May 27, 1818 - Dec. 30, 1894, edited early Seneca Falls women's rights paper The Lily, married lawyer, 2 adopted children, introduced Elizabeth Cady Stanton to Susan B. Anthony 1850, dress reform pioneer, propagandist, lectured on temperance and woman's rights in Midwest, worked for suffrage legislation in Nebraska 1856 and Iowa.
INEZ MILHOLLAND BOISSEVAIN (Brooklyn, NY) August 6, 1886 - Nov. 25, 1916, Vassar and NYU, organized suffrage meeting in cemetery when Vassar outlawed it, beautiful, dynamic lecturer and lobbyist, labor lawyer and organizer, model of the "new woman," led 1913 D.C. parade on white horse, Socialist, pacifist, on Ford Peace Ship, was correspondent in Italy 1915, married, became suffrage martyr when she died at 30 urging women in western states to defeat Wilson for not endorsing suffrage, mountain in NY named Mt. Inez in her honor.
LOUISE de KOVEN BOWEN (Chicago) Feb. 26, 1859 - Nov. 9, 1953, Chicago philanthropist and prominent community leader, child welfare advocate, established first juvenile court in Chicago, married banker, 4 children, led Chicago suffrage parade of 5,000 in 1916, Hull House mainstay and treasurer, led settlement after Jane Addams died, encouraged women to become a force in Chicago politics, briefly considered as Chicago mayoral candidate 1922, "She represents the highest type of womanhood and has a business ability that is needed in the mayor's office." (Chicago Daily News). "It was amusing to see how much the men resented the possibility of having a woman for mayor," she noted.
OLYMPIA BROWN (Michigan) Jan. 5, 1835 - Oct. 23, 1926, married John Willis, kept own name, 2 children, Antioch College, first ordained woman minister by full denominational authority (Unitarian), spoke nearly 300 times in Kansas suffrage campaign of 1867, Wisconsin suffrage leader, preacher, editor, tireless campaigner in South Dakota, Kansas, Iowa and Maryland 1896-1916, helped form Federal Suffrage Association to push for federal amendment 1892, over 80 years old when she burned Woodrow Wilson's speeches during a Congressional Union protest, lifelong suffragist, lived to vote.
LUCY BURNS (Brooklyn, NY) July 28, 1879 - Dec. 22, 1966, red-headed Irish Catholic, Vassar, Yale Grad. School, organizer in England, arrested, founded Congressional Union with political partner Alice Paul, militant suffrage organizer and widely respected leader, lobbyist, speaker, teacher, editor, hunger striker. "Lucy Burns brought a fierceness and resoluteness to the American woman suffrage movement that was rarely equaled. Praised by Alice Paul as 'a thousand times more valiant than I,' Burns in her poise and strength of character was a rallying symbol for the more faint hearted...when the militant phase of the National Woman's Party ended, she had spent more time in jail than any other American suffragist." (Sidney R. Bland in Notable American Women)
MARY ANN SHADD CARY (Wilmington, DE) Oct. 9, 1823 - June 5, 1893, oldest of 13, moved to Canada after Fugitive Slave Act 1851, helped black refugees, edited weekly anti-slavery newspaper Provincial Freeman, married, 1 daughter, widowed, teacher in Washington D.C., grammar school principal, spoke at National Woman Suffrage Association convention 1878, Howard U. law degree at 60.
CARRIE LANE CHAPMAN CATT (Ripon, WI) Jan. 9, 1859 - March 9, 1947, Iowa State College, teacher, school superintendent, journalist, lecturer, widowed at 26 after 1 year, married to civil engineer George Catt 1890, left financially independent when he died 1905, field organizer with Susan B. Anthony, reorganized National American Woman Suffrage Association to be more political 1890, fundraiser, planner, administrator, led New York campaigns, national and international organizations, her secret "Winning Plan" combined state and federal work and unified mainline movement 1916, pacifist, lobbied Woodrow Wilson, opposed militants, organized successful 14-month campaign for ratification, founded League of Women Voters, worked for world peace. "It is to Mrs. Catt more than to any single figure besides Susan B. Anthony that American women owe their right to vote." (Eleanor Flexner, Notable American Women)
LAURA CLAY (White Hall, KY) Feb. 9, 1849 - June 29, 1941, with three sisters organized woman's rights rally in Frankfort, KY 1884, formidable lecturer and lobbyist, National American Woman Suffrage Association auditor 1895, managed 245-acre farm, promoted states' rights and segregation, opposed federal amendment.
PHOEBE WILSON COUZINS (St. Louis, MO) Sept. 8, 1839? - Dec. 6, 1913, Washington U., first woman in law 1871, served briefly as US Marshall 1887, elegant and popular lecturer, helped found National Woman Suffrage Association 1869, traveled and spoke with Susan B. Anthony, active in Missouri, grew ill and disappointed, renounced suffrage 1897 and lobbied for the Brewers Association, died in poverty.
PAULINA KELLOGG WRIGHT DAVIS (Bloomfield, NY) Aug. 7, 1813 - Aug. 24, 1876, parents died at age 7, married Frances Wright, Utica, NY house attacked by mob after anti-slavery convention they organized, widowed after 12 years, married Thomas Davis, adopted 2 daughters, main organizer of the first National Woman's Rights Convention in Worcester, MA 1850, published one of the first woman's rights periodicals, The Una, at own expense 1853-55, contributed to The Revolution, helped recruit the first woman doctors.
MARY COFFIN WARE DENNETT (Worcester, MA) April 4, 1872 - July 25, 1947, Massachusetts field secretary and national suffrage corresponding secretary who blanketed the country with millions of pamphlets annually 1910-1914, married, 3 children, helped found radical People's Council opposing World War I, birth control & sex education pioneer, fought restrictive legislation, pacifist, World Federalist.
ANNA ELIZABETH DICKINSON (Philadelphia) Oct. 28, 1842 - Oct. 22, 1932, Quaker-born, poor childhood, copyist, teacher, worked at US Mint, early influential woman orator and nationally prominent lyceum lecturer, averaged 150 lectures a season in the late 1860s, championed Black rights and emancipation of women, warm and admired friend of Susan B. Anthony & Elizabeth Cady Stanton, aloof from yet supportive of suffrage movement, later an actress and playwright, played a female Hamlet 1882, committed to Danville Hospital for the Insane 1891, released and won damages, died in obscurity.
LAVINIA LLOYD DOCK (Harrisburg, PA) Feb. 26, 1858 - April 17, 1956, Bellevue Hospital grad., New York settlement house nurse, pioneer who helped professionalize nursing, married, arrested for attempting to vote in NY 1896 (police commissioner T. Roosevelt refused to jail her), hiked 13 days to Albany for suffrage in Dec. 1912 at 54, was "Surgeon General" on Pilgrim's Hike to Washington D.C. 1913, on Alice Paul's Advisory Council, led first group of pickets to White House, jailed three times, campaigned against venereal disease and prostitution, lived with four sisters, wrote A History of Nursing.
RHETA CHILDE DORR (Omaha, NE) Nov. 2, 1866 - Aug 8, 1948, heard Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton speak at age 12, joined National Woman Suffrage Association, U. of Neb., married, 1 child, divorced, worked in the post office and as an insurance underwriter, wrote series of articles for NY newspapers portraying conditions of working girls, worked in sweatshops to get firsthand data on women's trades, first editor of the The Suffragist 1914, held press conferences and confronted Pres. Wilson with awkward questions about suffrage, injured by a motorcycle 1919, traveled in Europe, wrote bio of Susan B. Anthony.
ABIGAIL SCOTT DUNIWAY (IL) Oct. 22, 1834 - Oct. 11, 1915, remembered her mother saying, "Poor baby...a woman's lot is so hard!," wrote journal of her family's 2,400-mile journey to Oregon in 1852, married farmer, 6 children, taught, kept shop, for 16 years published The New Northwest, a weekly newspaper dedicated to the cause of woman's rights, managed Susan B. Anthony's Pacific Northwest visit 1871, lectured throughout Oregon, Washington and Idaho for suffrage and womans right's, barraged by rotten eggs in Jacksonville, led the Oregon Equal Suffrage Association 1873, led several state drives for suffrage, opposed prohibition, helped win suffrage in Washington territory 1883 - and again in 1910 when the earlier legislation had been invalidated - and in Idaho 1896, honored as Oregon's first woman voter.
CRYSTAL EASTMAN (Marlborough, MA) June 25, 1881 - July 8, 1928, Vassar, Columbia, NYU law degree, helped win worker's compensation law, married Wallace Benedict, divorced, married Walter Fuller, 2 children, managed for Wisconsin suffrage campaign 1912, researched industrial accidents, led movement for worker's compensation laws, helped found Congressional Union, dynamic leader of Woman's Peace Party NY branch, opposed "the wave of jingoism and preparedness" during World War I, helped organize Civil Liberties Bureau (forerunner of ACLU), edited anti-war journal Liberator, organized a NY Feminist Congress demanding equality 1919, active in England, died at 47. "She was for thousands a symbol of what the free woman might be." (Nation, 1928)
SARA BARD FIELD (Cincinnati) Sept. 1, 1882 - June 15, 1974, married Ehrgott, 2 children, divorced, teenage son killed 1918, paid state organizer for winning Oregon campaign 1912, active in Nevada and California, drove across country on treacherous transcontinental highway collecting signatures on suffrage petition 1915, poet, orator, pacifist, married poet Charles Erskine Scott Wood.
ABIGAIL KELLEY FOSTER (Pelham, MA) Jan. 15, 1810 - Jan. 14, 1887, Quaker-born teacher, abolitionist and woman's rights pioneer, called Abby, sought to "improve mankind," married abolitionist Stephen Foster, 1 daughter, helped found the New England Non-Resistant Society with William Lloyd Garrison 1838, circulated petitions, distributed literature, raised funds, first addressed "mixed" audience at woman's anti-slavery convention 1838 (whose hall was burned down the next day by a pro-slavery mob), prominent abolitionist leader, tireless lecturer, she had lungs "which would put some of our Naval Boatswains to the blush," influenced Paulina Wright Davis, Lucy Stone, Susan B. Anthony and others as model debater and public speaker, helped publish Anti-Slavery Bugle, refused to pay taxes on her farm arguing that she was taxed without representation. "She hewed out the path over which women are now walking toward their equal political rights." (Lucy Stone).
MARGARET FULLER (Cambridgeport, MA) May 23, 1810 - July 19, 1850, early feminist author, teacher, literary critic, journalist, organized and led Conversations of Transcendentalists on popular topics including woman's rights 1840s, an editor of the influential liberal journal Dial, her writings helped influence the Seneca Falls convention 1848, set an early standard of literary criticism as New York Tribune critic, called "the most remarkable and in some respects the greatest woman whom America has yet known" by editor Horace Greeley, war correspondent, married Italian freedom fighter Ossoli, 1 son, directed emergency hospital in Italy during uprising, fled to Florence, died in a shipwreck while sailing to America, Emerson praised her for "the most entertaining conversation in America."
MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE (Cicero, NY) March 25, 1826 - March 18, 1989, married at 18, 5 children, spoke "trembling in every limb" at National Woman's Rights Convention in Syracuse 1852, contributed to The Revolution, leader of state and national suffrage associations, lobbied Congress and political parties, co-authored "Women's Declaration of Rights" with Elizabeth Cady Stanton for Centennial, organizer, editor of National Citizen and Ballot Box monthly suffrage newspaper, wrote Woman as Inventor and edited with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony The History of Woman Suffrage Vol. 1-3, "With her feeble health she accomplished wonders" (Susan B. Anthony), opposed church for the "belief in woman's inferiority," lifelong motto carved on gravestone: "There is a word sweeter than Mother, Home, or Heaven; that word is Liberty."
SARAH J. SMITH THOMPSON GARNET (Long Island, NY) July 31, 1831 - Sept. 17, 1911, married, widowed with 2 young children who died young, remarried, widowed after 3 years, led PS 80 for 37 years, first Black principal in NYC 1863, founded Equal Suffrage Club for Black women in Brooklyn, superintendent of suffrage for National Association of Colored Woman.
CHARLOTTE ANNA PERKINS STETSON GILMAN (Hartford, CT) July 3, 1860 - Aug. 17, 1935, leading intellectual of women's movement, poor childhood, married, 1 daughter, wrote The Yellow Wall-Paper after nervous breakdown, divorced, moved to California, wrote short stories, traveled and lectured on women's, labor and social issues, wrote Women and Economics 1898, an enormously influential "feminist manifesto," advocated financial independence for women, married first cousin 1900, edited monthly progressive magazine The Forerunner 1909 - 1916, wrote utopian fantasy Herland, a founder of Woman's Peace Party, laid away chloroform when she learned she had breast cancer to avoid being a burden or incapacitated, took it and died in Pasadena, CA.
KATE M. GORDON (New Orleans, LA) July 14 1861 - Aug. 24, 1932, with sister Jean founded the Era Club (Equal Rights Association) 1896, headed Women's League for Sewage and Drainage 1899, led fight against tuberculosis, state and national suffrage leader, advocate of states' rights to maintain segregation, edited the New Southern Citizen, worked with anti's to defeat ratification of federal amendment.
HELEN MAR JACKSON GOUGAR (Michigan) July 18, 1843 - June 6, 1907, married lawyer, campaigned for suffrage and prohibition in Indiana in 1800s, lectured nationally, revitalized Kansas suffrage movement, admitted to bar, edited Our Herald reform weekly, called "a born agitator, leader and reformer."
ANGELINA EMILY GRIMKÉ (Charleston, SC) Feb. 20, 1805 - Oct. 26, 1879, teacher, woman's rights pioneer, 1 of 14 children of slave-owning father who fought in American Revolution, left Episcopal church for Quakers, moved to Philadelphia then New Jersey, wrote abolitionist pamphlet "An Appeal to the Christian Women of the South" (many destroyed by Southern postmasters), married abolitionist Theodore Weld, 3 children, led anti-slavery meetings in NYC.
SARAH MOORE GRIMKÉ (Charleston, SC) Nov. 26 1792 - Dec. 23, 1873, like her sister Angelina, a member of a leading Southern family, became influential lecturer, writer, outspoken advocate of abolition, and early champion of women's rights, rebuked and silenced by Quaker meeting for views against slavery 1836, moved to NYC with sister, spoke widely and led anti-slavery meetings in New England in the late 1830s, defended women's right to speak when it was challenged.
Francis E. W. Harper
FRANCIS ELLEN WATKINS HARPER (Baltimore, MD) Sept. 24, 1825 - Feb. 22, 1911, orphaned at 3, married, widowed after 4 years, daughter died young, early poet and well-known Black author, spoke out for abolition and women's rights, aided fugitive slaves, lectured for Maine Anti-Slavery Society, toured eastern states 1850s, after war lectured in South on temperance, Black morality, and against white racial violence, attended 1875 & 1887 suffrage conventions.
LOUISINE WALDRON ELDER HAVEMEYER (New York City) July 28, 1855 - Jan. 6, 1929, wealthy childhood, married, 3 children, socially prominent art collector and philanthropist, helped Alice Paul found Congressional Union and National Woman's Party, suffrage speaker, created popular symbols including "Torch of Liberty" and electric "Ship of State" to wear in night parades 1915, tried to burn effigy of Woodrow Wilson 1919, arrested, traveled on "Prison Special" train across country, first American patron of Degas, advised by Mary Cassatt, donated great Impressionist art collection to the Met.
MARRY GARRETT HAY (Charlestown, IN) Aug. 29, 1857 - Aug. 29, 1928, suffrage organizer and temperance reformer, traveled 13,000 miles to visit 20 states in 1890 with new organizer Carrie Catt, organized precincts in 1896 California campaign, became Carrie Catt's lieutenant, raised money, directed NYC suffrage campaigns 1915 & 1917, lobbied for federal amendment, active in women's clubs, League of Women Voters, and Republican party.
ISABELLA BEECHER HOOKER (Litchfield, CT) Feb. 22, 1822 - Jan. 25, 1907, married lawyer, 4 children, a founder of the New England Woman Suffrage Association 1869, defended Victoria Woodhull, sponsored 1871 suffrage convention in Washington DC, testified before Senate committee with Susan B. Anthony and at Congressional hearings, early supporter of federal amendment, socially prominent.
JESSIE ANNETTE JACK HOOPER (Iowa) Nov. 8, 1865 - May 8, 1935, established kindergarten visiting nurse program and tuberculosis sanatorium, married lawyer, 1 daughter, worked in 1912 Wisconsin and 1916 Iowa campaigns, lobbied, helped make Wisconsin first state to ratify, toured western states urging quick ratification, US Senate nominee in 1920, lost to Robert M. LaFollette but carried Milwaukee, advocate for world disarmament. "Her suffrage convictions were shared by her husband, who from the time of their marriage had regularly, in alternate election years, voted for the candidates of her choice." (Notable American Women)
JULIA WARD HOWE (New York City) May 27, 1819 - Oct. 17, 1910, author of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" 1861, married, 6 children, named home outside Boston "Green Peace," called for a women's peace movement 1870, a founder and leader with Lucy Stone of American Woman Suffrage Association, for 20 years edited and contributed to the great weekly The Woman's Journal, popular lecturer, poet and playwright, leader in woman's club movement, "wherever she went she founded clubs" including Wisconsin 1876 and San Francisco 1888, became "The Dearest Old Lady in America," first woman elected to American Academy of Arts and Letters.
ADDIE D. WAITES HUNTON (Norfolk, VA) June 11, 1875 - June 21, 1943, married, lost 2 of 4 children as infants, Atlanta and Brooklyn, NY, YMCA worker with Black troops in France during WWI, organizer with National Association of Colored Women, NAACP field secretary, challenged National Woman's Party to support Black women, "No women are free until all women are free."
ABIGAIL JEMIMA HUTCHINSON (Milford, NH) Aug. 29, 1829 - Nov. 24, 1892, called Abby, singer, feminist, reformer, toured country with 3 brothers as widely popular singing troupe The Hutchinson Family, shy, attractive, with rich and melodious voice, "the sweet canary of New Hampshire," sang against slavery and for peace, temperance and women's rights, married Ludlow Patton, lived in New Jersey, organized with Lucy Stone Vermont Woman Suffrage Association, sang at national women's rights conventions in 1850s, "I have seen but few men who are thoroughly just to women."
FLORENCE KELLEY (Philadelphia) Sept. 12, 1859 - Feb. 17, 1932, late Quaker, Cornell U., translated Karl Marx, married Lazare Wischnewetzky, 3 children, divorced, Hull House, risked smallpox surveying city slums and sweatshops, inspected factories, led reforms, was shot at, evening law degree Northwestern, fought for minimum wage and end to child labor, led National Consumer's League in NYC, National American Woman Suffrage Association vice-president, spike widely, helped organize NAACP, pacifist, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, opposed Equal Rights Amendment for endangering protective legislation, forceful, bright, witty, "explosive, hot-tempered, determined, she was no gentle saint." (Frances Perkins)
BELLE CASE LaFOLLETTE (Wisconsin) April 21, 1859 - Aug. 18, 1931, Wisconsin progressive leader, political partner and wife of Senator Robert Marion LaFollette, 4 children, U. of Wisc., and law school as a young mother, lectured, wrote, worked for peace and racial equality, established LaFollette's Weekly Magazine, active in Wisconsin, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Oregon campaigns, Washington hostess, turned down late husband's Senate seat - and chance to be first woman Senator (her son won), Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, known for sound judgment.
DAISY ADAMS LAMPKIN (Washington DC) Aug. 9, 1833? - March 10, 1965, civil rights reformer, community leader, promoted interest in suffrage among Black women in Pittsburgh, married, president of Negro Women's Franchise League 1915, active organizer with NAACP and National Association of Colored Women.
MIRIAM FLORENCE FOLLINE [SQUIER] LESLIE, MRS. FRANK LESLIE (New Orleans, LA) June 3, 1836 - Sept. 18, 1914, magazine editor and publisher, married British-born publisher Frank Leslie 1874 after two marriages, upon his death had her name legally changed to Frank Leslie and restored life to his nearly bankrupt publishing empire, led it for 15 years, became "the Empress of Journalism," left to Carrie Catt nearly $1 million for "the furtherance of the cause of woman suffrage" 1914 which provided critical funding for the final New York campaign, national publications and final "Winning Plan."
MARY ASHTON RICE LIVERMORE (Boston) Dec. 19, 1820 - May 23, 1905, read entire Bible every year until 23, married, 3 daughters, Civil War worker with Chicago Sanitary Comm., organized over 300 aid societies in Midwest, organized Chicago Woman Suffrage Convention 1868, started newspaper The Agitator, merged with The Woman's Journal which she edited 1870-72, writer and teacher, lectured for 23 years, "The Queen of the Platform," chief Women's Christian Temperance Union speaker, president of American Woman Suffrage Association 1875-78.
BELVA ANN BENNETT McNALL LOCKWOOD (Royalton, NY) Oct. 24, 1830 - May 19, 1917, forced to leave school at 15, married at 18, widowed at 23 with 1 daughter, Genesee College, taught, married 1868, child died in infancy, widowed after 9 years, law degree National U. 1873, successfully lobbied Congress to allow women lawyers to practice before US Supreme Court, sponsored first Southern Black admitted to practice before Supreme Court, founded Washington DC's first suffrage group 1867, circulated petitions, drew up bills, addressed Congressional committees, ran for President 1884 and 1888 on National Equal Rights Party ticket, leader of Universal Peace Union, "moved US Congress to open highest court to women lawyers singlehandedly."
MARY ELIZA MAHONEY (Roxbury MA) April 16, 1845 - Jan. 4, 1926, first Black woman to become a trained nurse 1879, New England Hospital for Women and Children, strong supporter of suffrage, one of first women to register and vote in Boston.
ANNE HENRIETTA MARTIN (Nevada) Sept. 30, 1875 - April 15, 1951, (Nevada), U. of Nevada, Stanford, tennis champion and athlete, arrested in English suffrage demonstration, led campaign which won Nevada in 1914, National Woman's Party leader, first woman to run for Senate 1918 & 1920, encouraged women to seek direct political power and put women's issues first, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Carmel, CA, "Equality for women is a passion with me."
KATHARINE DEXTER McCORMICK (Dexter, MI) Aug. 27, 1875 - Dec. 28, 1967, philanthropist, promoted higher education for women, MIT, married, husband mentally ill, led outdoor rallies in Massachusetts 1909, National American Woman Suffrage Association officer and supporter, smuggled diaphragms into US for Margaret Sanger's clinical research, helped develop and fund research for "the pill".
CATHARINE GOUGAR WAUGH McCULLOCH (Ransomville, NY) June 4, 1862 - April 20, 1945, lawyer, Union College of Law, Chicago, met prejudice against women lawyers, married lawyer, 4 children, wrote key bill providing for woman suffrage in presidential elections, submitted for 20 years before passed in Illinois 1913, important strategic breakthrough, copied in other states, National American Woman Suffrage Association adviser and officer, spoke widely, started suffrage auto tours, organized midwestern suffrage conventions, elected Evanston Justice of the Peace.
ESTHER HOBART McQUIGG SLACK MORRIS (New York) Aug. 8, 1814 - April 2, 1902, orphaned at 11, married, 1 son, widowed after 3 years, married Morris, 3 children, moved to Wyoming 1869, encouraged new territory's leaders to pass woman suffrage and property rights legislation, Wyoming the first territory in western world to grant woman suffrage 1869, elected first female Justice of the Peace, celebrated as "The Mother of Woman Suffrage."
LUCRETIA COFFIN MOTT (Nantucket, MA) Jan. 3, 1793 - Nov. 11, 1880, Quaker minister, leading women's rights pioneer, called a "spitfire" for her tart tongue, married James Mott, 6 children, leading Philadelphia abolitionist, boycotted products of slave labor, accosted by mobs, excluded from World's Anti-Slavery Convention, London 1840, met Elizabeth Cady Stanton, called first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, NY 1848, opened and closed it as one of few women used to public speaking, president of American Equal Rights Association 1866.
MAUD WOOD PARK (Boston) Jan 25, 1871 - May 8, 1955, organizer, civic leader, speaker, Radcliffe, organized College Equal Suffrage League, married at 26, widowed, marriage to Robert Hunter kept secret, active in Washington DC, Boston and Maine, powerful National American Woman Suffrage Association lobbyist for 19th Amendment, widely respected for honest "Front Door" lobby, tact and ability, first president of League of Women Voters, donated nucleus of Schlesinger Library's Women's Rights Collection.
Alice Paul
ALICE STOKES PAUL (Moorestown, NJ) Jan. 11, 1885 - July 9, 1977, Quaker, Swarthmore, U. of Penn. PhD., chief strategist for the militant suffrage wing, founder of the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage and the National Woman's Party, author of the Equal Rights Amendment, organizer of the 1913 parade in Washington DC, jailed 3 times in England and 3 times in the US, waged hunger strike in prison, hospitalized, force-fed and treated as insane, law degree in 1922, international organizer, influenced charter of the United Nations.
JEANNETTE PICKERING RANKIN (Missoula MT) June 11, 1880 - May 18, 1973, U. of Montana, U. of Wash., suffrage organizer, helped win Montana 1914, National American Woman Suffrage Association field secretary, lobbied 15 states 1913-15, elected first US Congresswoman 1917, pacifist, voted against both world wars, ran for Senate, lived in Athens, Georgia, lobbied for peace.
ERNESTINE LOUISE SIISMONDI POTOWSKI ROSE (Russian Poland) Jan. 13, 1810 - Aug. 4, 1892, rabbi's daughter, secured own inheritance at 16, moved to England then New York, founded the Association of All Classes of All Nations with Robert Owen 1835, married, supported married women's property bill 1840, called for "political, legal, and social equality with man" at 1850 national convention, popular lecturer for over 20 years, friend of Susan B. Anthony who called her a pioneer of the suffrage movement along with Mary Wollstonecraft and Frances Wright, died in England.
ROSE SCHNEIDERMAN (Russian Poland) April 6, 1882 - Aug. 11, 1972, red-headed Polish Jew, moved to lower east side NY 1890, labor organizer and fiery speaker with the Women's Trade Union League and International Ladies Garment Workers Union, reformer, National American Woman Suffrage Association organizer 1913, active in NY campaigns 1915-17, Labor candidate for Senate 1920.
CAROLINA MARIA SEYMOUR SEVERANCE (New York) Jan. 12, 1820 - Nov. 10, 1914, married, 5 children, attended women's rights conventions 1851, worked in Ohio with Frances Gage, abolitionist, active in Boston, president of pioneer New England Woman's Club 1868, founded short-lived Women's International Peace Association with Julia Ward Howe 1871, friend of Stanton, Anthony and Stone, helped found American Woman Suffrage Association 1869, reform leader in California, founded Friday Morning Club, president of Los Angeles County Woman Suffrage League 1900.
ANNA HOWARD SHAW (Newcastle-on-Tyne, England) Feb. 14, 1847 - July 2, 1919, sailed for America 1851, pioneer homesteader at 12, taught, first ordained Methodist woman minister 1880, began by preaching sermons to the trees in the Michigan forest, Boston U. medical school 1886, Women's Christian Temperance Union organizer and speaker, outstanding suffrage orator for 30 years, known for her compelling eloquence, "She spoke in every state in the union," close associate of Susan B. Anthony, warm and devoted, stocky, lived for 30 years with friend and secretary Lucy Anthony, Susan B. Anthony's niece, National American Woman Suffrage Association president 1904-1915, chaired Woman's Committee of the US Council of National Defense during WWI, had battleship named for her, died speaking out for League of Nations at 73.
ELIZABETH CADY STANTON (Johnstonw, NY) Nov. 12, 1815 - Oct. 26, 1902, brilliant woman's rights leader, influenced by father's law office, married abolitionist, omitted word "obey" from ceremony, felt a woman should not submerge her identity in marriage, 7 children, with Lucretia Mott, Mary McClintock, Jane Hunt and Martha Wright issued call to first woman's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York 1848, wrote "Declaration of Sentiments" declaring that "men and women are created equal," proposed that women should vote, suffered ridicule and criticism, intellectual, free thinker, used pseudonym "Sun Flower," political partner for 50 years with Susan B. Anthony, popular speaker and forceful writer, drafted resolutions, wrote speeches, ran for Congress 1866, edited The Revolution, president of National Woman Suffrage Association for 21 years, agitated for constitutional amendment from 1887 onward, author of The Woman's Bible disputing the Bible's derogatory treatment of women, honored by 6,000 at the Metropolitan Opera House on 80th birthday, called "The Grand Old Woman of America."
LUCY STONE (Massachusetts) Aug. 13, 1818 - Oct. 18, 1893, first Massachusetts woman to earn a college degree, taught and did housework while at Oberlin, William Lloyd Garrison wrote, "She is a very superior young woman, and has a soul as free as the air," married Henry Blackwell, became known for keeping own name to protest restrictive marriage laws, 2 children, son died after birth, spoke for abolition and women's rights, organized own lectures, eloquent and sincere, led in calling the first national woman's rights convention at Worcester, Massachusetts 1850, converted Susan B. Anthony and Julia Ward Howe to suffrage, refused to pay taxes to protest lack of representation, pressed for both Black and woman suffrage, founder of American Woman Suffrage Association 1869 and leading spirit in New England, published and edited influential weekly The Woman's Journal with husband and later daughter for 47 years, first person to be cremated in New England, dying words to daughter were "Make the world better."
JANE GREY CANNON SWISSHELM (Pittsburgh) Dec. 6, 1815 - July 22, 1884, passionate anti-slavery journalist, married, 1 child, taught, painted, made corsets, lively with quick wit, edited Minnesota newspapers, served as nurse during Civil War, lectured and wrote articles on women's rights, toured Illinois for suffrage 1872.
MARY ELIZA CHURCH TERRELL (Memphis, TN) Sept. 23, 1863 - July 24, 1954, called Mollie, mother a former slave, father first Black millionaire in the South, Oberlin, athletic, married, lost 3 children, blamed segregated hospitals, 2 more children, Washington DC community leader, social reformer, lecturer, spoke French, German and Italian, head of National Association of Colored Women, picketed White House with National Woman's Party.
AUGUSTA LEWIS TROUP (New York City) c.1848 - Sept. 14, 1920, orphaned in infancy, called "Gussie" Lewis, adopted by broker Isaac Gager, Manhattanville, became reporter and typesetter, labor organizer and journalist, joined Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in forming the New York Working Women's Association in The Revolution's offices 1868, felt demand for suffrage should not get in the way of women organizing for equal working rights, organized and led the Women's Typographical Union No. 1 1868-1878, married New Haven Union publisher 1874, 7 children, community leader, called "the Little Mother of the Italian Colony."
SOJOURNER TRUTH (New York) c.1797 - Nov. 26, 1883, born a slave named Isabella, bore at least 5 children, 2 girls sold from her, won son back form Alabama slaveholder, worked as a cook, maid and laundress in New York City, illiterate, preached against prostitution 1830, a mystic, chose name 1843, preached throughout Long Island and Connecticut, encouraged brotherly love, crowds disrupted her abolitionist meetings, spoke at women's rights meetings in 1850s, remembered for dramatic "Ain't I a Woman?" speech, Harriet Beecher Stowe called her "The Libyan Sibyl," settled in Battle Creek, Michigan, solicited food and clothing for Black volunteers during Civil War, wrote Narrative 1850, sold it and her photos to raise money.
Harriot Stanton Blatch recalled how as a 10-year-old, she once read the morning papers to visiting Sojourner Truth as she smoked her pipe. Young Blatch asked, "Sojourner, *can't* you read?" to which she answered, "Oh no, honey, I can't read little things like letters. I read big things like men."
HARRIET TAYLOR UPTON (Ohio) Dec. 17, 1853 - Nov. 2, 1945, Women's Christian Temperance Union local secretary, converted to suffrage while researching anti-suffrage article, National American Woman Suffrage Association treasurer, managed group from Warre, Ohio headquarters, editor of The Progress 1902-1910, skilled press agent and fundraiser, married Washington DC lawyer, traveled, testified, organized, directed two Ohio campaigns 1912 and 1914, wrote articles emphasizing role played by women in development of nation, appointed vice-chair of Republican National Executive Committee 1920, helped win government appointments for women, called "fat and jolly and motherly," good humored and easy going, sat beside Carrie Catt in 1920 NYC victory parade.
LILA HARDAWAY MEADE VALENTINE (Richmond, VA) Feb. 4, 1865 - July 14, 1921, educational reformer, married, helped introduce kindergartens and vocational training into Richmond schools, led anti-tuberculosis campaign, never fully recovered from stillborn child 1888, chosen head of Equal Suffrage League of Virginia for her "requisite courage and intelligence" 1909, made over 100 speeches throughout Virginia in 1913, lectured in eastern states, supported federal amendment and worked unsuccessfully for Virginia's ratification.
MABEL VERNON (Wilmington, DE) Sept. 19, 1883 - Sept. 2, 1975, Quaker/Presbyterian, Swarthmore, Columbia, Congressional Union's first organizer, fundraiser, speaker, active in Nevada 1914, organized Sara Bard Field's cross-country trip 1915, interrupted Wilson's speech 1916, arrested, executive secretary of National Woman's Party, pacifist, supported Equal Rights Amendment and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.
Fanny Garrison Villard and
William Lloyd Garrison
FANNY GARRISON VILLARD (Boston) Dec. 16, 1844 - July 5, 1928, only daughter of abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison and Helen Villard, taught piano, married owner of The Nation and New York Evening Post, 4 children, NYC philanthropist, adviser and fundraiser for interracial and humanitarian causes, joined suffrage movement 1906, chaired New York legislative committees, spoke on street corners at 66, felt fundamental changes needed and that women could redeem politics, uncompromising pacifist, led 1914 Peace Parade down 5th Ave. and helped organize the Woman's Peace Party.
Ida B. Wells-Barnett
IDA BELL WELLS-BARNETT (Holy Springs, Mississippi) July 16, 1862 - March 25, 1931, slave parents, lost parent and 3 siblings to yellow fever at 14, Rust U. and Fisk U., became teacher, refused to give up her seat for the colored section and sued railroad 1880s, wrote articles, pen name "Iola", led national campaign against lynching, her Memphis newspaper office was mobbed and destroyed 1892, lectured and organized clubs, protested exclusion of Blacks from World's Columbian Exposition 1894, married lawyer, 4 children, founded Alpha Suffrage Club of Chicago with Black suffragists, marched in Washington DC 1913 and Chicago 1916 suffrage parades, Chicago probation officer 1913-1916, ally of W.E.B. DuBois, felt NAACP not outspoken enough.
SUE SHELTON WHITE (Henderson, TN) May 25, 1887 - May 6, 1943, teacher, court reporter, set up local suffrage groups, bridge between militants and mainstream suffrage groups in South, editor of The Suffragist 1919, imprisoned for burning effigy of President Wilson, toured country on Prison Special train, law degree 1923, active in New Deal, helped lay foundation of Social Security program.
FRANCES ELIZABETH CAROLINE WILLARD (New York) Sept. 28, 1839 - Feb. 17, 1898, frontier childhood, called Frank, taught school, president of Evanston College for Ladies, Illinois temperance leader, presented "Home Protection" petition of over 100,000 women to legislature 1879, served for 20 years organizing its members into strong women's movement sympathetic to suffrage, member of American Woman Suffrage Association and a leader in the International Council of Women 1888.
VICTORIA CLAFLIN WOODHULL (Ohio) Sept. 23, 1838 - June 10, 1927, part of a traveling medicine show when young, married at 15, 2 children, financial speculator with her sister Tennessee Claflin, broker, declared herself candidate for President of the US 1870, first woman to address Congressional committee urging woman suffrage 1871, battled Susan B. Anthony for suffrage leadership 1872, called "The Terrible Siren" and "Mrs. Satan" for advocating free love, published Woodhull and Claflin's Weekly which first published Communist Manifesto in America, exposed Beecher-Tilton affair and triggered reaction, jailed for obscenity, acquitted, married wealthy British banker and died in England.
FANNY BULLOCK WORKMAN (Worcester, MA) Jan. 8, 1859 - Jan. 22, 1925, mountain climber, spoke 4 languages, married, 1 daughter, often bicycled 50 miles a day, biked through Ceylon, Algeria, and India 1890s, carried a "Votes for Women" banner into the Himalayas where she was an explorer, traded expedition duties with her husband each year.
MARTHA COFFIN PELHAM WRIGHT (Boston) Dec. 25, 1806 - Jan. 4, 1875, Quaker-born sister Lucretia Mott, married army captain, 1 daughter, widowed after 2 years, taught, married lawyer, 6 children, daughters Eliza and Ellen became suffragists, helped plan Seneca Falls meeting 1848, widely respected, noted for "incisive wit, shrewd practicality, impatience with unnecessary flamboyance, and commitment to results," elected president of women's rights conventions in Cincinnati, Saratoga and Albany 1855, consulted by Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, helped found Equal Rights Association 1866 and National Woman Suffrage Association, saw strategy as working for marriage and property rights at state level, then suffrage legislation at national level, "Her home was my home" (Susan B. Anthony).
MAUD YOUNGER (San Francisco, CA) Jan. 10, 1870 - June 25, 1936, inherited fortune but lived in NYC College Settlement for 5 years, took job as waitress to understand lives of working women, helped form and lead union, called "the millionaire waitress," lobbied and organized, helped win 8-hour-day labor law for California women, spoke all over California in 1911 campaign, drove a team of six horses pulling a suffrage float down San Francisco's Market Street in Labor Day Parade, organized Wage Earners Equal Suffrage League, became Alice Paul's lieutenant and chief lobbyist, headed National Woman's Party Congressional Committee which emphasized local pressure on Congressmen rather than cordial relations, compelling speaker, toured country defending suffrage hunger strikers, helped initiate and fought for Equal Rights Amendment.