Susan B. Anthony Handwritten Quotation and Photograph
Maker
Susan B. Anthony
(American, 1820 - 1906)
Date1879; 1890
ClassificationsHistory
DimensionsFrame: 27 1/2 x 23 1/2 x 2 in. (69.9 x 59.7 x 5.1 cm)
DescriptionA handwritten quotation and signature from Susan B. Anthony. The quote is on a small sheet of paper, and reads: "Disenfranchisement is not only / Political degradation, but ever and always / moral, social and industrial degradation / as well. / Susan B. Anthony / Lake Linden Mich. / Dec. 17. 1789 / Rochester / N. Y." The quotation has been framed with a photographic black and white side portrait of Anthony, signed and inscribed with her birth year and the date the photograph was taken on its verso, “1820 - Feb. 15, 1890,” her 70th birthday, Rochester, N.Y. J.H. Kent Photographer, 1890. The photograph also has the Kent studio back-stamp on the verso.Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) was an American political and social activist, who was a key figure in the women's suffrage movement of the United States. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton founded several women's rights organizations throughout the 19th century, campaigning for equal rights for women - and for African Americans. In 1869, they founded the National Woman Suffrage Association (later merged with the American Woman Suffrage Association to become the National American Woman Suffrage Association), which was led by Anthony.
In 1872, Anthony attempted to vote in Rochester, New York, and was arrested for illegally voting. Her widely publicized trial became a national spectacle, and served as a major turning point in the women's suffrage movement. Anthony was ordered to pay a fine, which she refused to do. Although the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution giving women the right to vote was not enacted until 1920, Anthony's activism helped lay the foundation for the new law.
Susan B. Anthony is remembered as an ardent fighter for women's right and her legacy lives on through the 19th Amendment and the International Council of Women, which continues to fight for human rights of women across the globe.
