Lucy Burns- (July 28, 1879-Dec. 22, 1966)

Having a father believing in equal education for men and women, Lucy attended Vassar College and Yale University before becoming an English teacher at Erasmus High in Brooklyn. She later graduated from Oxford University, in England. She was a member of the Women’s Social and Political Union in England. Burns received the Pankhurst  Award, from the Women’s Social and Political Union, for her bravery during many arrests and hunger strikes. While in Germany, in 1906, she joined the WSPU, whose main aim was to get working class women to join the suffrage movement. In 1913 she co-formed the Congressional Union for Women’s Suffrage. She started picketing in Washington D.C. in 1916 and helped form the National Women’s Party. As a member of the NWP she organized campaigns and was editor of the Suffragist. She worked as a congressional lobbyist for the NAWSA. Lucy Burns was arrested six times, and spent more time in jail than any other suffragist.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton- (Nov. 12, 1815-Oct. 26, 1902)

She was born in Johnstown, NY. She attended Johnstown Academy, graduating in 1830, and Emma Willard’s Troy Academy, graduating in 1833. ECS was an advocate of co-education. In 1840 she married Henry Stanton, who was an antislavery orator and attorney. After getting married she refused to be called Mrs. Henry B. Stanton. She became active in feminism after hearing a speech, by Lucretia Mott, at the International Anti-Slavery Convention in London. At this convention she became angered because she couldn’t "see" Mott speak because women had to sit in the back in a roped off section. As a leading figure in the Women’s Rights Movement and a social activist, she help form the Women’s State Temperance Society, believing that drunkenness should be

Susan B. Anthony- (Feb. 15, 1820-March 13, 1906)

Sojourner Truth- (1797-Nov. 1883)

Lucretia Mott- (Jan. 3, 1793-1880)

Lucretia Coffin Mott was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts. She was a leader in both the anti-slavery and women’s rights movements. In 1811 she married James Mott and in 1821 she became a Quaker minister. Mott founded two anti-slavery groups and spoke against slavery, such as at the Anti-Slavery Convention in London, England in 1840. Men at that convention refused to seat her and other women delegates; this prompted her to begin her fight for women’s rights. In 1848 she was one of the organizers for the first ever women’s right convention in the U.S. It was held in Seneca Falls, NY and resolutions were made to fight for better educational and employment opportunities for women, as well as the right to vote. In 1850 her book, Discourse on Women, was published. It discussed the educational, political, and economical restrictions that were placed on women in Western Europe and in the U.S. In 1865 slavery was abolished, and she continued to support the right to vote for black Americans.

Carrie Chapman Catt- (Jan. 9, 1859-March 9, 1947)

Julia Howe- (May 27, 1819-Oct. 17, 1910)

Julia Ward Howe was a reformer, poet, writer, and a member of many clubs. She is best known for writing the Battle Hymn of the Republic. Howe married Samuel Gridley Howe, who was an active reformer of many sorts. She published poetry, articles, travel books, and plays. Later in her life she became active in the fight for women’s rights, playing a prominent role in several suffrage organizations and women’s clubs.

Margaret Brent- (1601-1671)

She is distinguished as the first woman in the U.S. to demand the vote. Due to the fact she owned land in Maryland, she believed that she should be allowed to vote at assembly, the governor denied this request. In response to her denial she boycotted the assembly.

Sarah and Angelina Grimke- (Sarah- Nov. 26, 1792-Dec. 23, 1873) (Angelina- Feb. 20, 1806-Oct. 26, 1874)

Sarah became a member of the Society of Friends in 1821 and Angelina joined her in 1829. Angelina started a writing career when she wrote William Lloyd Garrison about the abolition of slavery. She also wrote, "An Appeal to the Christian Women of the South," in 1836, and "An Appeal to the Women in Nominally Free States," in 1837. In response to her first "appeal" someone said women need rights too, so the sisters began to fight for women’s rights, along side their fight for the abolition of slavery. In 1836, Sarah began her speaking career as an abolitionist and women’s rights advocate. Sarah wrote "Letters on Equality of the Sexes and Conditions of Woman", in 1838. That same year, Angelina married Theodore Dwight Weld, who was an abolitionist. Together, with Weld, the sisters wrote the book Slavery As It Is: Testimony of a Thousand Witnesses. This book, written in 1838, would mark the end of their abolition and women’s rights career. For the rest of their days they would work in Weld’s school. These sisters stood for gender equality and the rejection of domesticity.

Lucy Stone – (Aug. 13, 1818-Oct. 18, 1893)

She was born in West Brookefield, Massachusetts. Stone first attended Mount Holyoke College, in 1839, and then went on to Oberlin College, where she graduated in 1847, with the honor of being the first woman in Massachusetts to earn a B.A. She married Henry Brown Blackwell, an abolitionist. Lucy created much controversy when she refused to take her husbands last name. (Even today, in the U.S., women who keep their birth name after marriage are referred to as "Lucy Stoners".) She lectured extensively on abolition and suffrage and in 1870 founded the Woman’s Journal, which she edited, alongside her husband and daughter, for the rest of her life. In 1930 (and again in 1971) her biography, Lucy Stone: Pioneer of Woman’s Rights, was published. Her daughter, Alice Stone Blackwell, wrote the biography. (Alice was also a suffragette, journalist, and human rights activist.) The Lucy Stone League was founded in New York City in 1921 and revived again in 1997. Most recently, in 2000, Amy Ray, of the Indigo Girls, wrote a song entitled "Lucystoners" for her solo album.

Alice Paul- (Jan. 11, 1885-July 9, 1977)

Alice Stokes Paul grew up as a Hixsite Quaker, believing in gender equality, education for women, and working towards a better society. When she was a child, her mom would bring her to women’s suffrage meetings. In 1905 she got a B.S. in Biology, in 1907 she got a M.A. in Sociology, followed by a Ph. D. in Sociology in 1912, then a LL B in 1922, a LL M in 1927, and a Doctorate in Civil Law in 1928. While in England, she met Emmeline Pankhurst, the founder of the British suffrage movement. She participated in hunger strikes, was arrested 3 times, and worked for a few different social organizations. While there, she also met Lucy Burns. Alice brought attention getting British tactics to the U.S. In 1910, she returned to the U.S., and with Lucy, approached the NAWSA. They took over the NAWSA Congressional Committee in Washington, D.C. She organized the largest parade ever seen, in March 1913. Eight thousand women, dressed in white, marched with banners and floats down Pennsylvania Avenue. The crowd verbally harassed them, but the parade generated a lot of publicity. In the month of March she met with President Wilson, who said that this was not

the right time for women to receive the vote. In April she organized another demonstration on the opening day of Congress. She helped organize the Congressional Union for Women’s Suffrage (CUWS), in 1913. The CUWS was originally a branch of the NAWSA, but the broke off, partially due to a difference in approach. The CUWS was more militant and was fighting for national women’s suffrage. In 1915, she founded the Women’s Party, in the west, for those states where women already had the right to vote. CUWS and the Women’s Party merged in 1916, making the National Women’s Party (NWP). They published the Suffragist, a weekly paper, and held many different forms of demonstrations. On Jan. 10, 1917, the NWP began an eighteen month long campaign, picketing outside the White House gates. They were known as the "Silent Sentinels" because they stood at the gates silently holding banners. They did this night and day, every day, except on Sundays. After WWI started they began to use President Wilson’s quotes against him, such as "Democracy should begin at home". On Oct. 20, 1917, the police tried to break the spirit of the campaign by arresting Alice. She was sent to solitary confinement and began a hunger strike. They sent her to the "psychopathic" ward, deprived her of sleep, and threatened to send her to the insane asylum if she would not eat. Thirty-three women were arrested during that eighteen-month campaign. They were sent to Occquan Workhouse and this was the first time that women were subjected to actual violence. The women were released on November 27 and 28. On January 9, 1918, President Wilson announced his support for women’s suffrage. The senate passed the 19th Amendment, on June 4, 1919. This was after seventy-two years of fighting. Alice took the NWP international, in 1920, and in 1938 she founded the World Woman’s Party. From 1938-1953 Alice worked with the League of Nations (United Nations). WWP helped establish the UN Commission on the Status of Women, in 1946. When WWII began, the WWP help obtain passports for refugees. In the 1950s, she refocused on women’s issues in the U.S., pushing for the prohibition of gender discrimination to be added to the civil rights bill. Alice never married. She continued to attend rallies for women’s rights and to protest the Vietnam War when she was in her eighties. In 1974 she suffered a stroke and became disabled. She would die of heart failure, at the age of ninety-two, in Moorestown, NJ.

Rheta Childe-Dorr- (1866-1948)

Rheta was born in Omaha, Nebraska. After she graduated from the University of Nebraska she moved to New York City. She found work as a journalist, for the New York Evening Post. Dorr wrote extensively on the women’s movement, campaigning to end child labor and also to reform trade union rights. She became known as one of the leading muckrakers of her time. In 1910 a collection of her articles were published in a book, What Eight Million Women Want. The book sold 500,000 copies. In 1912, she traveled to Europe, where she met Emmeline Pankhurst. Dorr supported the direct action approach that the Women Social and Political

Union used. Once back in the U.S., she joined the Congressional Union for Women’s Suffrage and became the editor of The Suffragist. She was cofounder of the Women’s Trade Union League of N.Y. and she supported U.S. participation in WWI.

Leonora O’Reilly- (1870-1927)

O’Reilly was born to a poor Irish Immigrant family in N.Y. City. At the age of 11, she began to work at a collar factory and by the age of 16 joined the Knights of Labor. She was active in trade unions and helped form the female chapter of the United Garment Workers of America. O’Reilly received her education from Brooklyn Pratt Institute and after that, taught at the Manhattan Trade school for Girls from 1902-1909. She was co-founder of the Women’s Trade Union League of N.Y. From 1909-1910, she played a leading role in the garment worker dispute that led to the investigation of a fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Company. She became active in the Henry Street Settlement and campaigned for women’s suffrage, as well as for the Wage Earners’ League. Leonora O’Reilly was a member of

the Socialist Party of America and of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Matilda Joslyn Gage- (1826-1898)

Gage was "born with a hatred for oppression." She grew up in Fayetteville, N.Y., but was born in Cicero, N.Y. During her childhood, her home was part of the Underground Railroad, which would later lead her to a period of imprisonment under the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850. In 1852, she became active in the women’s rights movement and spoke at the National Women’s Rights Convention in Syracuse, N.Y. Later she would become active with the NWSA, acting as president from 1875-76, then as a Chair of the Executive Committee or Vice President over a span of twenty years. Gage co-authored the History of Woman Suffrage and The

Catherine Beecher- (1800-1878)

Catherine Esther Beecher was born during the "cult of domesticity". She was one of thirteen and was home schooled until the age of ten. At that point she attended a private school, where she

received a limited education, because she was a girl, so she spent a lot of time learning on her own. By 1824, she had a mission, "to find happiness in living to do good." She would open the Hartford Female Seminary, in Hartford, Connecticut. After that she would head west, with her father, and help organize the Western Female Institute of Cincinnati. Once she came back east she founded "The Ladies Society for Promoting Education in the West." She also helped found colleges in Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois. Beecher was a promoter of women’s education. Until her death, she taught, lectured, and wrote on subjects like, education, the domestic economy, women’s heath, and calisthenics.

Frederick Douglass- (Feb 14, 1818-Feb 20, 1895)

Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey (Frederick Douglass) was born as a slave in Maryland. As he grew up, his master’s wife taught him some of the letters of the alphabet and he learned to read from the neighborhood white children and by observing

the writings of the men he worked with. In 1837, he married Anna Murray, who helped him escape on September 3, 1838. They ended up in N.Y. He gave his first speech on anti-slavery at the Massachusetts Anti-Slavery Society Convention. In 1843, Douglass participated in the American Anti-Slavery Society’s Hundred Conventions Project. He would attend the Seneca Falls

Convention and sign the Declaration of Sentiments. The book Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slave was published in 1845. He would confer with President Lincoln about the treatment of black soldiers and then with President Johnson about black suffrage. Douglass was very involved with the Reconstruction Era. In 1882, his wife, Anna, died and in 1884 he remarried to Helen Pitt, a white feminist. They would travel together all across Europe from 1886-1887. On Feb. 20, 1895 he attended a meeting of

the National Council of Women, in Washington, D.C. At the meeting he gave a speech and received a standing ovation. Once he returned home, after the meeting, he would die of a massive heart attack.

Margaret Fuller- (May 23, 1810-July 19, 1850)

Margaret Fuller was born to a well-educated Harvard graduate, who wanted the best education for his daughter, so he taught her himself. She would attend a few different schools on and off from 1819-1825 and after that continued her studies on her own. In

would attract intellectual women from all around, that were interested in opening their minds, learning, and thinking freely. In 1839, she became editor of the Transcendentalist’s journal, Dial. She would write the essay, "The Great Lawsuit: Man vs. Men and Woman vs. Women", in July 1843, this would later be expanded in to the book Woman in the Nineteenth Century, in 1845. Her book would become the manifesto of the women’s rights movement. Fuller wrote many articles, essays, and other books. She would

move to Paris and then to Italy, where she met Ossoli. They would have a son, on September 7, 1848. War broke out in Italy and this prompted her to write about the history of the Italian Revolution. In May 1850, the Ossolis were sailing to N.Y. After a series of unfortunate events their ship crashed and the Ossolis perished.

Anna Howard Shaw- (1847-1919)

As a child, her family moved to Mecosta County, Michigan. She attended Big Rapids High School and then went on to study at Albion College. In 1878, she earned a theology degree from Boston

1. Politicians- Many feared that women would vote them out of office.

2. Priest and Ministers- They believed the woman’s role was in the home and that they should stay there.

3. Socialist and Labor Parties- They feared that women would vote conservatively, therefore not supporting them at the polls.

4. Textile, Liquor, and Mining Companies- The owners and people who ran companies in these industries believed that women would push them out of business. This was because women were known to support child labor laws, shorter workdays, and other work condition improvements.

5. Grace Duffield Goodwin- In her book, Anti-Suffrage Ten Good Reason, Goodwin states, "American women in their present evil condition, and of proving, also, that universal adult suffrage is the panacea." She tries to persuade the reader that women suffrage is not "supremely urgent" and not comparable to the struggle and value of religious and political freedom. She also says that patriotism means to find what is good for America through intelligent thought and what is good for America should be sought for through denoted services, this did not necessarily mean giving women the right to vote. A women would be patriotic if she instructed her son of the importance of treating the ballot as sacred and with dignity. Women, in Goodwin’s eyes, were the educators and men were the exponents. Goodwin believes that the ballot was not a right and if one examined the suffrage states they would see that divorce rates increased, women seemed to be more anti-American, and there were no child labor laws passed. Women should work towards what they want to accomplish through indirect means of government. The suffrage movement was English imported and instead of helping women, it made those that were suffering suffer more by asking for funds that could have been used to help poor women, instead of using the money to fuel the suffrage movement. Goodwin believed that suffragists were childish, lawless, ignorant, and cruel.

6. Marie Jenney Howe- In An Anti-Suffrage Monologue, written by Howe, we see one woman’s view on how the vote for women would affect society. She says, "Enfranchisement is what makes man man. Disenfranchisement is what makes woman woman." Here Howe stresses that if women are allowed to vote there won’t be any differences between men and women and this will lead to confusion in the home. Men have the right to vote because they are logical, whereas women are impulsive. If women could vote, they would neglect their home and family. Howe explains that women are angels and if they entered the political arena our national life would be ruined. Women can’t understand politics; it will only put stress on their delicate nervous system and put strain on their sensitive nature, causing a woman to go into a fit. The right to vote is over-estimated and women belong in the home, not in politics. If women could vote, men would revert back to their natural instincts, causing destruction, and after women go to the polls, divorce and death will increase, rage will go unchecked, and crime and disease will spread all across the land.