Tag: Susan B. Anthony

Aimee Kuiper

A Season with Susan

This year we were honored by the gift of a gorgeous green and silver wreath that now festoons the front door of the Susan B. Anthony House. It is difficult to imagine what Susan herself might have said about it, since there were few recorded years where Susan chose to decorate 7 Madison Street for the season. In keeping with the style of the Society of Friends (which you might know as the “Quakers”), the Anthony family celebrated the holidays a little differently than expected; there were no elaborate adornments, no tree in the parlor, and certainly no cookies left out for Santa Claus. 

Then and now, members of the Society of Friends were known for their subdued celebrations, “With no minister, no program and no choir, the Quaker congregation will sit quietly in a room lit by a fireplace and candles…the entire four-hour service could pass without a sound.” (Virginian Pilot) Many Quakers tend to downplay the showier side of festivities, instead focusing on cultivating goodwill, peace, and community spirit even during the cold New York winter. Mr. and Mrs. Anthony raised their children in a branch of the Friends that emphasized simplicity, equality, and good action toward others, but certainly did not shy away from celebrating the holidays with gusto. The most notable deviance from cultural norms would likely have been their toast to the New Year — completely devoid of alcoholic beverages! In the Anthony House today, there is still preserved a velvet cloak which Susan received as a holiday gift from Mrs. Emily Gross, all the way from Chicago. Throughout Susan’s writings, we find her thanking various friends for shawls and fruit cakes around the holidays, but most of all we hear Susan and her closest allies speaking of how the work must go on, even on Christmas Morning. The Anthonys surely celebrated every day of the season as an opportunity to do good.

In reality, Americans during Susan’s childhood were just beginning to celebrate the holidays as we know them today, with Charles Dickin’s beloved A Christmas Carol published in 1843, and the iconic Christmas tree only gaining popularity after the Civil War. Life in the Antebellum period startled Americans. The United States were not as safe and warm as some had thought, but “At this cross-roads of progress and nostalgia, Americans found in Christmas a holiday that ministered to their needs.” (History Today) Practitioners of many religions joined in this nationwide joy, bringing a variety of traditions together under the snowy blanket of the “holiday season”.

Christmas Eve is a simple celebration for Quakers, The Virginian Pilot

Christmas in 19th Century America, History Today

Aimee Kuiper

2023 Susan B. Anthony Birthday Celebration

The Anthony Museum honored the 150th anniversary year of Susan’s vote.

Supporters of the mission for equal rights and voting rights for all have been celebrating Susan B. Anthony’s birthday since her own lifetime, and we are eager to continue the tradition. This 203rd birthday party and fundraiser for the National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House took place February 15, 2023, at the Joseph A. Floreano Riverside Convention Center, 123 E. Main Street, Rochester, NY, at 6pm. Our gathering remembers the 150 years that have passed since Susan B. herself dared to vote, but more importantly, looks toward the next 100 years and imagines all that we might do with our “wonderful power” of the vote.



Unable to attend? Please consider making a year-end gift! Click HERE to make a gift.

DHughes

Susan B. Anthony vs. The List

Every election cycle, the National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House is barraged with inquiries about the Susan B. Anthony List*.  “The List” is a PAC, a political action committee organized for the purpose of raising and spending money to elect and defeat candidates. We have no affiliation with “The List”, and we find their use of Susan B. Anthony’s name in support of their agenda to be misleading, deceptive, and damaging to Anthony’s legacy.

For decades, “The List” has been supporting candidates who promise to: 1. Defund Planned Parenthood, 2. Appoint only “pro-life” judges, and 3. Support overturning Roe v. Wade.

In the past, we have responded to inquiries about “The List” by clarifying the historical record about what Susan B. Anthony said or didn’t say about abortion (she said very little). Our website contains several articles that cover this in depth. (see below)

However, with the recent leak of the draft Supreme Court opinion in regard to Roe v. Wade, “The List” is getting media attention as they anticipate a victory for their anti-woman, anti-democracy agenda. They proclaim in their mission statement: “If Roe is indeed overturned, our job will be to build consensus for the strongest protections possible for unborn children and women in every legislature and in Congress.” 

But Roe v. Wade is not just about abortion access or reproductive choice; that is another deception. 

What is at stake is perhaps the most essential of our inalienable human rights: the right of an individual to make critical decisions about her (or his) own physical body in the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. Susan B. Anthony, in her own words, stood for “woman’s right to control of her own person.”

If this right is compromised so profoundly, all other human rights are fragile: freedom of  religion, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and even the freedom to elect a government of the people, by the people, for ALL the people. Susan B. Anthony fought her whole life to secure these inalienable rights, and this fight is as relevant as ever.

To suggest that Susan B. Anthony would support government intervention in a woman’s decision about a pregnancy is abhorrent. To associate Susan B. Anthony’s name with any action that would criminalize a woman’s right to make decisions affecting her body, health, and welfare is a bizarre and dangerous distortion of Anthony’s life and work. 

As the organization that has preserved Susan B. Anthony’s National Historic Landmark home and interpreted her life and work for more than 75 years, the National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House goes on record in opposition to The List and their misappropriation of her name. We stand with Susan B. Anthony for a woman’s right to control of her own person.

Deborah L. Hughes
President & CEO
National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House

*The Susan B. Anthony List rebranded as Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America in June 2022.

Pertinent Website Articles:

https://susanb.org/misrepresenting-susan-b-anthony-on-abortion/

https://susanb.org/were-not-that-susan-b-anthony/

https://susanb.org/anthony-museum-raises-concern-over-continued-misuse-of-anthonys-name-and-legacy/

https://susanb.org/rochester-icon-defamed/

Allison Hinman

Specialty Tour Announced

Join the National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House for a specialty tour offering on Sunday, June 19 at 2 pm.

The tour will discuss the role of the media in the 19th century and how the legendary American civil rights leader, Susan B. Anthony carefully curated her public image. The tour also explores the great reformers Frederick Douglass and Ida B. Wells and how they used their words as agents of change.

After the tour, we invite you to a round table discussion in our Carriage House.

Click here to register for this tour.

Wreath Hanging Ceremony

National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House Commemorates
Susan B. Anthony’s Death and Legacy

The National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House will host a ceremonial wreath hanging on the front steps of 17 Madison Street, the National Historic Landmark that was Susan B. Anthony’s home and headquarters, on Saturday, March 13, 2022 at 11:00 a.m.

The brief ceremony commemorates the 116th anniversary of Susan B. Anthony’s death and will include remarks by Anthony Museum President & CEO, Deborah L. Hughes.

Susan B. Anthony is as relevant as ever, even 115 years after her death. Come join us as we celebrate the life and accomplishments of this remarkable woman who called Rochester her home.

This event is free and open to the public.

Museum Closed

The Anthony Museum and Visitor Center will be closed this weekend due to unforeseen circumstances.

Susan B. Anthony Birthday Celebration

The Anthony Museum and its Administrative Offices will be closed today. The National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House presents The 2022 Susan B. Anthony Birthday Celebration Wednesday, February 9, 2022, 6pm Joseph A. Floreano Rochester Riverside Convention Center | 123 East Main Street | Rochester, New York Keynote Speaker: MiMi Aung We’re pleased to welcome MiMi Aung as the keynote speaker for the 2022 Susan B. Anthony Birthday Celebration. Aung is an engineer and former project manager at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Aung was the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Project Manager from the earliest stages of development in 2014 through the successful completion of flight tests on Mars. Recently, Aung joined Amazon Project Kuiper, an initiative to increase broadband access through a constellation of satellites in low Earth orbit. She is motivated by the opportunity to extend high-quality broadband to more places, including unserved and underserved communities around the world. Aung has received numerous accolades, including Time Magazine’s Time 100: The Most Influential People of 2021 and BBC’s 100 Women 2019.

Registration has now closed for the February 9th Susan B. Anthony Birthday Celebration, but we have created a wait list in case any seats become available between now and February 9.

If you are interested in being added to our wait list, please email RSVP@susanb.org or call 585.279.7490

Proof of COVID-19 vaccination will be required.

Unable to attend? Please consider making a year-end gift! Click HERE to make a gift.