Monday Lecture Series – October 2021

Lecturer: Shenette Garrette-Scott, PhD

“Banking on Freedom: Black Women in U.S. Finance Before the New Deal” 

Did you know that between 1888 and 1930, African Americans opened more than a hundred banks and thousands of other financial institutions? Dr. Shennette Garrett-Scott explores this rich period of black financial innovation and its transformative impact on U.S. capitalism through the story of the St. Luke Bank in Richmond, Virginia: the first and only bank run by black women. Join us to hear about the formidable Maggie Lena Walker, a Black woman who made her way from teller to boardroom, as she met the needs of middle and working class Blacks against the threats of white and male supremacy.

This lecture will be presented online, with each presentation offered to registered guests at 1pm ET.  Individual lectures are available at $30 each, with limited number of viewers.

To become a Monday Lecture Series Season Patron or to purchase individual lectures,
 please text monday-lecture-series-2 to 585-440-8825
or call 844-787-2626 (844-SUSANB6) or click here to purchase online.

NOTE: The link to the online lecture will be sent to registrants the Friday before the scheduled lecture.

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 March 13, 2024 at 11:00 a.m.

The brief ceremony commemorates the 118th anniversary of Susan B. Anthony’s death and will include remarks by Anthony Museum President & CEO, Deborah L. Hughes.

In every election year, we are reminded that Susan B. Anthony is as relevant as she’s ever been, even 118 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.

Susan B. Anthony Birthday Gala 2021

In a break with tradition, the Anthony Museum has made plans to safely share Susan B. Anthony’s birthday celebration with their biggest audience ever through a televised broadcast. The “Gala” will be a 1/2 hour program on WROC-TV at 7pm on Wednesday, February 10, and will also be streamed on the internet. An inspiring program is planned that will be memorable and entertaining. As in other years, it will also serve as the major fundraising event for the Anthony Museum. Click here to give now.

The keynote speaker will be Susan Zirinsky, acclaimed journalist and groundbreaking producer, now president and senior executive producer of CBS News. Her nickname in the newsroom is “Z.” Like Anthony, she is described as “legendary” and “trailblazing.”

Zirinsky recently received the National Press Club’s highest honor, the Fourth Estate Award. “Susan Zirinsky is the personification of journalistic perseverance, tenacity, and integrity,” Club President Michael Freedman said. “Like the best of those before her at the network of Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite, Susan leads by example, displaying the courage of her convictions and making a positive difference—at CBS News and throughout the profession. She is a role model not only for women but for everyone who is dedicated to journalistic ethics and excellence. We are proud to honor her achievements—and that’s the way it is.”

The theme of the 2021 Susan B. Anthony Birthday Gala is A 2 Z, saluting the intersection between Susan B. Anthony as a public relations maven, author, and newspaper editor, and Susan Zirinsky, broadcast media icon.

In her biography of Anthony, broadcast journalist and author Lynn Sherr noted: “Acutely aware of the power of the printed word, [Susan B. Anthony] was a one-woman press phenomenon, utilizing every aspect of the media that existed—daily newspapers, monthly magazines, women’s journals—to promote The Cause with impressive skill.”*

These two women understand the power and influence of the press. They never let a glass ceiling limit their work, their ascendance, or their impact as they open the world for others.

Questions related to the 2021 Susan B. Anthony Birthday Gala may be directed to pr@susanb.org.

For sponsorship opportunities both before and during the broadcast event, please call 585.249.7490, x 712.

*Lynn Sherr, Failure Is Impossible: Susan B. Anthony in Her Own Words, © 1995, Random House.

The Anthony Museum Reveals the Soon-To-Be-Released Susan B. Anthony Doll

Mattel’s Latest Inspiring Women™ Collectible Doll 

Susan B. Anthony has been spotted in Canada, and there have been sightings on Pinterest and murmurs online, but even fans at her home base at the National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House in Rochester, New York, have had to squelch rumors that the old girl was soon to arrive on doorsteps across the United States in a new, but familiar form. Today, inside sources at the Anthony Museum revealed the breaking news that Mattel™ is about to induct Susan B. Anthony into their Inspiring Women™ line in the form of a signature Barbie® doll.

The Anthony Museum has been keeping the secret for months. “We were delighted that the design team from Mattel™ reached out to us early in the project, demonstrating their interest in a doll and packaging that would reflect Susan B. Anthony’s life and work, and that would launch in this historically significant year when we celebrate Susan B. Anthony’s 200th birthday, the 19th Amendment, and the Anthony Museum’s 75th anniversary,” says Deborah L. Hughes, president & CEO of the Anthony Museum. 

 “While Barbie may have started as a teenage fashion model in 1959, she has evolved over the decades into a feminist role model, most recently with a 2020 Barbie presidential candidate who is Black and has a diverse campaign staff,” says Michelle Parnett-Dwyer, curator of dolls at The Strong National Museum of Play, home to the National Toy Hall of Fame. “It’s only fitting in this year of celebrating the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, that Barbie has now taken on the role of representing Susan B. Anthony.”

Lynn Sherr, journalist and author of Failure is Impossible, says, “Such a useful little likeness of our first suffrage felon!  Add a ‘Failure is Impossible’ button with a ‘Votes for Women’ sash, and the suffragist who once playfully explained her decision not to marry – she didn’t want to be ‘a drudge or a doll’ – is an organizing tool for the next generation. Better yet, give her a ballot!”

Esteemed Susan B. Anthony biographer, Ann Gordon, lends another perspective. “You can almost hear her speak, ‘Yes, your honor, I have many things to say.’  She is still telling us to get ‘a citizen’s right to vote.’”

The Barbie® Signature Susan B. Anthony Inspiring Women™ Doll has already been sighted at the Anthony Museum. The doll officially launches on October 5, but a limited number are currently available through the Anthony Museum online shop at shop.susanb.org.

Questions related to this doll launch may be directed to pr@susanb.org.

19th Amendment Musical Celebration

Tune in to Facebook and YouTube next Wednesday at 6:30 PM for a special performance in honor of the 100th Anniversary of 19th Amendment LIVE at the National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House! Featuring Principal Second Violin Rob Simonds, Assistant Principal Second Violin Daryl Perlo (The James E. Dumm Chair, funded in perpetuity), Willa Finck (violin), Olita Povero (viola), Ingrid Bock (cello), Hayley Grainger (flute), Kamalia Freyling (clarinet), and Karl Vilcins (bassoon).

PLEASE NOTE: Due to current COVID-19 restrictions, there will be no live audience at this performance.

On news of a presidential pardon for Susan B. Anthony on August 18, 2020

Objection! Mr. President, Susan B. Anthony must decline your offer of a pardon today.

Anthony wrote in her diary in 1873 that her trial for voting was “The greatest outrage History ever witnessed.”  She was not allowed to speak as a witness in her own defense, because she was a woman. At the conclusion of arguments, Judge Hunt dismissed the jury and pronounced her guilty.  She was outraged to be denied a trial by jury. She proclaimed, “I shall never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty.” To pay would have been to validate the proceedings. To pardon Susan B. Anthony does the same.

If one wants to honor Susan B. Anthony today, a clear stance against any form of voter suppression would be welcome. Enforcement and expansion of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 would be celebrated, we must assure that states respect the 14th, 15th, and 19th Amendments to the United States Constitution. Support for the Equal Rights Amendment would be well received. Advocacy for human rights for all would be splendid. Anthony was also a strong proponent of sex education, fair labor practices, excellent public education, equal pay for equal work, and elimination of all forms of discrimination.

As the National Historic Landmark and Museum that has been interpreting her life and work for seventy-five years, we would be delighted to share more.

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

Monday Lecture Series – June 2021

Why the ERA went MIA

Lecturer: Jennifer Lloyd, PhD

The Equal Rights Amendment, written by Alice Paul and supported by the National Women’s Party, was first proposed in Congress in 1923 but did not pass both houses until 1972. By 1982 thirty states had ratified it, one short of the required number. Why did it take nearly fifty years to pass Congress and why wasn’t ratified? What would it mean for women if ratification was successful?

This lecture will be presented online,  offered to registered guests at 1pm ET.

Space is limited—make your reservations today online here or call 585.279.7490.

Individual lectures are $25 each. NOTE: The link to the online lecture will be sent to registrants the Friday before the scheduled lecture.

Monday Lecture Series – March 2021

Suffragists: Public Relations Pioneers

Lecturer: Arien Rozelle

This lecture will be presented online,  offered to registered guests at 1pm ET.

Space is limited—make your reservations today online here or call 585.279.7490.

Individual lectures are $25 each. NOTE: The link to the online lecture will be sent to registrants the Friday before the scheduled lecture.

Monday Lecture Series – December 2020

Relationships, Rights, and Reforms: Sophonisba Breckinridge, Same-Sex Relationships, and Social Justice

Lecturer: Anya Jabour, PhD

This lecture will be presented online,  offered to registered guests at 1pm ET.

Space is limited—make your reservations today online here or call 585.279.7490.

Individual lectures are $25 each. NOTE: The link to the online lecture will be sent to registrants the Friday before the scheduled lecture.

Monday Lecture Series – September 2020

Cartooning for Suffrage!: Nina Evans Allender

Lecturer: Ronnie Frishman

For more information on Ronnie Frishman and her latest project, click here for a PDF.

This lecture will be presented online,  offered to registered guests at 1pm ET.

Registration is closed.

Individual lectures are $25 each.