Susan B. Anthony autograph letter signed
Maker
Susan B. Anthony
(American, 1820 - 1906)
Date1892
ClassificationsHistory
DimensionsFrame: 14 3/4 x 30 x 2 in. (37.5 x 76.2 x 5.1 cm)
DescriptionA handwritten letter from Susan B. Anthony to Elizabeth Wardall. The letter is five pages, octavo, on three leaves of National American Woman Suffrage Association stationery. Rochester, N.Y., November 22, 1892. The letter has been framed with the three sheets at proper left. At proper right is a signed and inscribed photograph of Anthony, with gold description plaque at bottom. Framed on a gray mat, with double-sided glass showing both sides of the two-page sheets. In a gilt frame with scroll motif.Susan B. Anthony wrote to Elizabeth Wardall, who was an important ally in Anthony's 1890 "South Dakota Campaign," and speaks of her meeting with Emma Cranmer, president of the South Dakota Equal Suffrage Association: "I was delighted to meet your president Mrs. Cranmer at the Mississippi Valley Conference ¦ She is a very excellent speaker and I was very proud of her and told her I hoped she could be at our Washington convention this winter. We need just such bright, eloquent young speakers from each of the states at the Capital of the nation."
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.
