16/02/2017
A succinct statement for gender equality.
Today in Mighty Girl history, Susan B. Anthony -- one of the most prominent leaders of the fight for women’s suffrage in the U.S. -- was born in 1820. Although she did not live long enough to legally exercise her right to vote, she was tireless in her dedication to the cause for over fifty years.
Raised in a Quaker family in Massachusetts, Anthony was the second of seven children. All seven were raised to value equality and justice, and Anthony was no exception. She encountered many injustices as a young social activist, all of which paved the way for her work on women’s rights. As a young adult, she worked as a teacher, earning one-quarter what her male counterparts were earning. Like most Quakers, Anthony and her family were against slavery and worked diligently against it. With the end of the Civil War and slavery, her dedication to women’s rights became her central focus.
In 1852, at the third annual National Women's Rights Convention, Anthony made her first public speech for women's rights and soon became a prominent voice of the Women's Rights Movement. In 1866, along with fellow anti-slavery and women’s rights advocate Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Anthony established the American Equal Rights Association. The duo also created and published "The Revolution," a weekly newspaper whose motto was “Men their rights, and nothing more; women their rights, and nothing less.” In 1869, Anthony, again in collaboration with Stanton, founded the National Woman Suffrage Association.
In 1872, Anthony voted in the presidential election and was arrested two weeks later for "illegal voting." At her trial near Rochester, New York the following June, the judge refused to allow Anthony to testify on her own behalf and, after she was convicted, he read an opinion that he had written before the trial even started. The judge ordered Anthony to pay a $100 fine for her 'crime' of illegally voting to which she declared, "I shall never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty.” And, true to her words, she never paid the fine for the rest of her life.
Sadly, Susan B. Anthony passed away only 14 years before American women were finally granted the right to vote. But she never gave up fighting for that undeniable equal right. Just one year before she died, she met with then President Theodore Roosevelt to attempt to convince him to pass an amendment to give women the right to vote. In 1920, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed, finally giving women the right to vote. One cannot help but wonder how much longer it would have taken to reach that point without the dedication and passion of one of America’s most important heroines, Susan B. Anthony.
The inspiring picture book, "Heart on Fire: Susan B. Anthony Votes for President," tells the story of Anthony's illegal vote and subsequent arrest and trial for readers 5 to 8 at http://www.amightygirl.com/heart-on-fire
For more books for young readers about her inspiring story, we recommend "Susan B. Anthony" for ages 5 to 8 (http://www.amightygirl.com/susan-b-anthony), "Who Was Susan B. Anthony?" for ages 8 to 12 (http://www.amightygirl.com/who-was-susan-b-anthony), "Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony: A Friendship That Changed the World" for ages 12 and up (http://www.amightygirl.com/elizabeth-cady-stanton-and-susan-b-anthony)
There is also a great recent release, "The Feminist Revolution -- A Story of the Three Most Inspiring and Empowering Women in American History: Susan B. Anthony, Margaret Sanger, and Betty Friedan," for ages 12 and up, at http://www.amightygirl.com/the-feminist-revolution
To introduce children and teens to more of the amazing women of the U.S. Suffrage Movement, check out our blog post on “How Women Won the Vote: Teaching Kids About the U.S. Suffrage Movement” at http://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=11827
