Susan B. Anthony at a Woman's Suffrage Convention

Susan B. Anthony was a feminist and suffrage leader in the second half of the 19th century. She worked with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and other women leaders in the fight for women's right to vote. On November 5, 1872, Anthony voted in the presidential election, even though women did not legally have the right to vote. Anthony argued that under the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, she was entitled to vote. An article in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported that, "Miss Anthony says a woman is a person, a person is a citizen and a citizen has the right to vote." (Brooklyn Daily Eagle Online, Feb. 20, 1873) She was served a warrant on November 18 and was eventually fined $100 on June 18, 1873, but she never paid the fine. Anthony spoke out about women's rights and why she was arrested at woman's suffrage (as it was known) conventions like the one in this picture.

Read more in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

Editorial on Susan B. Anthony voting (November 7, 1872)

Editorial on Susan B. Anthony voting (February 20, 1873)

"Anthony in Anguish" (November 16, 1872)

For more information on woman's suffrage, see Documents 87, 92, 96, and 97.

Citation - Document 95
The Beecher-Tilton Scandal scrapbook, Vol. 1 Part 1
ca. 1874
Brooklyn Public Library – Brooklyn Collection
www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org/civilwar