02/18/2025
Susan B. Anthony -- a fierce leader of the fight for women’s suffrage in the U.S. -- was born on this day 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 of having all women's right to vote recognized 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 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 as abolitionists 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.
The story of her illegal vote and subsequent arrest and trial is told in the inspiring picture book, "Heart on Fire: Susan B. Anthony Votes for President," for ages 5 to 8 at https://www.amightygirl.com/heart-on-fire
Her story is also told for young readers in the picture book "Marching with Aunt Susan" for ages 4 to 8 (https://www.amightygirl.com/marching-with-aunt-susan) and the chapter book "Susan B. Anthony: Her Fight for Equal Rights" for ages 4 to 7 (https://www.amightygirl.com/susan-b-anthony-her-fight)
For older kids, we recommend the illustrated biography "Who Was Susan B. Anthony?" for ages 8 to 12 (https://www.amightygirl.com/who-was-susan-b-anthony), the graphic biography "Susan B. Anthony: Champion for Voting Rights!" for ages 8 to 13 (https://www.amightygirl.com/anthony-champion-voting-rights), and "Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony: A Friendship That Changed the World" for ages 12 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/elizabeth-cady-stanton-and-susan-b-anthony)
For adult readers, we highly recommend the exceptional biography "Failure Is Impossible: Susan B. Anthony In Her Own Words" at https://www.amightygirl.com/failure-is-impossible-her-own-words
And to inspire children and teens with more stories of real-life girls and women who stood up for truth and justice throughout history, visit our blog post, "Dissent Is Patriotic: 50 Books About Women Who Fought for Change," at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=14364
