Her Life
Susan Brownell Anthony was bor n in
Massachusetts on February 15, 1820. Her
father, Daniel Anthony was a Quaker and her
mother’s name was Lucy Read. A few years
later the family moved to New York for her
father’s job. Her parents were active
abolitionists (meaning anti-slavery) and also
part of the temperance movement which
wanted to ban alcohol. They also attended
s o m e o f t h e e a r l i e s t w o m e n ’s r i g h t s
conventions. Many of her six siblings were also
involved in these social reforms.
After attending many boarding schools during
her youth, Susan became a teacher and
eventually a headmistress. When she was 26
years old she began to shed some of her
Quaker habits in speech and also replaced
some of her plain clothing with more modern
styles. At this time she also began to gain more
interest in becoming involved with social reform after
experiencing the inequality of pay. As a headmistress
she was receiving about 1/10 the pay of a man that
held a similar position. Thus began her life-long work
to give women more rights in the workplace, in the
voting booths, and in all other aspects of life.
Soon Susan was completely engulfed in social
reform. In 1851 she met Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a
fellow fighter for change and equality. Together they
organized many meetings, speeches, and other
events to help support women’s rights, abolition, and
temperance. Together they also started a publication
called The Revolution that lobbied for women’s rights.
Pictured left: Elizabeth C. Stanton (sitting) and Susan B. Anthony
Pictured above: Susan B. Anthony
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