Susan Anthony Biography

Women's rights activist, social reformer, editor, and writer. Born on February 15, 1820, in Adams, Massachusetts. For most of her life, Susan B. Anthony fought for women’s rights, especially the right to vote. Her family followed the Quaker religion and held many strong social and political beliefs. They were supporters of the abolitionist and temperance movements.

Early in her career, Susan B. Anthony worked as a schoolteacher. But she left education to continue her family’s tradition of activism. Anthony became involved in the antislavery and temperance movements. But as a woman she encountered many obstacles, including being denied the right to speak at a temperance conference in 1852 because of her gender. It was while she was in this movement that she met Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a social reformer. The two women became friends and allies in the fight for women’s rights, especially the right to vote.

Not only did Susan B. Anthony speak out on women’s issues, she established a weekly newspaper to promote awareness and provide information on women’s suffrage called Revolution, beginning in 1868. The next year she and Stanton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA). In 1872, Anthony made the news by trying to vote the presidential election. When she tried to cast a ballot, she was arrested. Anthony hoped that she would be able to fight for the right to vote in court, but she was unsuccessful. She was eventually just fined for her revolutionary act.

Not one to be deterred, Susan B. Anthony continued to fight for women’s suffrage. Besides giving speeches and lectures, she worked with Stanton to record the history of the suffrage movement. This resulted in the multivolume set called History of Woman Suffrage. The first volume was published in 1881. Anthony and Stanton worked on the next two volumes, and Anthony edited the fourth volume with assistance from Ida Husted Harper. The final two volumes were produced after Anthony’s death.

Susan B. Anthony died on March 13, 1906. All of her hard work paid off in 1920 when the U.S. Constitution was amended to give women the right to vote, which is known as the 19th Amendment. To this day, Anthony is remembered as one of the greatest activists on behalf of women.

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