Many women have contributed to the women’s rights movement, and some have even been instrumental in creating it. These pioneers include Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Matilda Joslyn Gage, and Lucy Stone. Other important figures in this movement’s history include Esther Morris, the first woman to hold a court position, and Abigail Scott Duniway. They led a successful campaign in Oregon and Washington during the early 1900s. Women of African descent also played a significant role in the movement, including Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Mary Church Terrell, and Harriot Stanton Blatch.
Anthony
In the 1850s, Anthony played a pivotal role in the women’s rights movement. She organized the Women’s National Loyal League and was the chief New York agent for Garrison’s American Anti-Slavery Society. She also helped form the Women’s National Loyal League during the early Civil War and urged emancipation. She also worked to reform the Fourteenth Amendment. In 1867, Anthony was the secretary of the American Equal Rights Association. She spoke at the National Women’s Rights Convention in Syracuse and later in Philadelphia.
Anthony traveled extensively in support of women’s suffrage. She gave 75 to 100 speeches yearly and worked on many state campaigns. She also collected petitions in 26 states and presented them to Congress. The result was the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, which ensured that women could vote.
Although Anthony endured a lifetime of abuse and harassment, she eventually emerged as a national hero. She participated in the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 and the Lewis and Clark Exposition in Portland, Oregon, in 1906. She also lobbied Congress every year. In later years, Anthony retired from her position as national president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. She died at sixty-one, fourteen years before women were granted the right to vote through the 19th Amendment in 1920.
While still a young woman, Anthony became involved in the women’s rights movement. Her parents encouraged her to be active in society. They taught her the importance of education for all. They also modeled activism for her, and Anthony became an abolitionist. Even though it was thought that women were not allowed to speak publicly, she made passionate speeches against slavery and fought for equal treatment for all citizens.
Stanton
Elizabeth Stanton was a woman who lived a long life and made significant contributions to the women’s rights movement. Her life story remains a source of controversy and scrutiny. But one thing is sure: she attracted attention and used that to change women’s and families’ views.
Stanton was a strong proponent of equal rights for women and worked to pass legislation that gave married women certain rights. For example, the Married Women’s Property Law of 1860 was passed in New York, providing married women the right to own property, engage in business, and manage their income. Moreover, the law also gave married women joint guardianship of children.
In 1876, Stanton became the principal author of the Declaration of Rights for Women and presented it at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. She also drafted a federal suffrage amendment introduced in every U.S. Congress until 1920. She wrote the first three volumes of a six-volume History of Woman Suffrage. She traveled to Europe to promote her cause.
In 1848, Stanton and Mott first met in Junius, New York, where the Motts were attending the Religious Society of Friends annual meeting. They were staying with Martha Wright. Stanton met with them, and the two discussed the plight of women.
Stanton held several speaking tours for women’s suffrage and eventually became co-editor of a publication called The Revolution. This magazine was dedicated to women’s rights and was published in 1870. Despite the opposition, Stanton continued to write and lecture on the topic. In 1869, she helped organize the National Woman Suffrage Association, and in 1870, she was named its president. Stanton served as the president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association until she died in 1892.
Stone
Lucy Stone was born on August 13, 1818, in West Brookfield, Massachusetts. She graduated from Oberlin College and became an eloquent speaker for women’s rights. Stone defied gender norms by refusing to change her last name after marriage. She later joined the American Women Suffrage Association, a group dedicated to abolishing slavery. As an activist, Stone also published The Woman’s Journal. She died in 1893.
Stone helped form the Women’s National Loyal League during the Civil War to promote equal rights for women and African Americans. She also led the Women’s Rights Association during the Reconstruction period and was a vital member of the organization. The organization focused on equal voting rights for women and African Americans. She also played a crucial role in organizing the first national women’s rights convention, which took place in 1850.
Stone was a staunch advocate of the 15th Amendment. Although it didn’t guarantee women the right to vote, she remained committed to the cause. Her work at the National Woman Suffrage Convention and her writings in various publications contributed to tangible gains. She was also active in state suffrage amendment campaigns and helped form the American Woman Suffrage Association. She worked hard to increase the number of women who could vote, and in 1879, she registered to vote in her home state, Massachusetts. She was subsequently removed from the voter rolls due to her lack of a husband’s surname.
After the Civil War, Stone began her feminist newspaper. She died in 1893, 27 years before the first American woman was granted the right to vote. The Woman’s Journal continued to publish until the end of the 20th century. Another prominent woman, Ida B. Wells, was born in 1862 in Mississippi and was an anti-lynching activist. She taught in a Memphis public school and wrote for the local Black newspaper, but her work in this arena exposed the inequalities and racism of the Jim Crow South.
Terrell Church
During the Women’s Suffrage Movement, Terrell Church played a crucial role in the struggle for the right to vote. During the 1920s, she was active in the NAWSA and the Congressional Union. She also spoke at national women’s rights conventions on behalf of Black women. After suffrage was achieved for women, Terrell went on to serve as director of work among women of color for the Republican National Committee.
Church Terrell’s work in the women’s rights movement mainly focused on public speaking events. She was an intense and passionate speaker with many ideas to share with the public. While her early work on the suffrage cause was aimed at confirming that white women could vote, she argued that these women should also adopt desirable traits of black women. While many disagreed with her viewpoints, she remained steadfast and never let her voice be silenced.
Terrell Church was one of the first black women to take a leadership role in the women’s rights movement. She was instrumental in the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment. She served as the first black woman on the Board of Education in Washington, D.C. Her passion and dedication to change opened many doors for other black women to succeed. Her legacy continues to live on in the hearts of black women activists today.
In addition to being an active member in the women’s rights movement, Terrell also served as the first president of the National Association of Colored Women. With her steadfast leadership, she worked to promote social and educational reform and end discriminatory practices in her community. Her influence and contributions allowed her to be appointed to the District of Columbia’s Board of Education in 1895.
Catt
Catt played a vital role in the women’s rights movement and helped to push for a suffrage amendment in several states. She helped organize a non-partisan organization of women voters, and she later served as honorary president of the League of Women Voters (LWV) for the rest of her life. She also published a book on the issue, Woman Suffrage, and Politics, in 1923.
Catt became active in the women’s suffrage movement in 1890 and was a delegate to the first national convention. In 1895, she named the head of field organizing, and in 1900, she succeeded Susan B. Anthony as the IWSA’s president. Her leadership continued to develop as she gave speeches, planned campaigns, and organized women. During this time, she also traveled abroad and advocated for the right of women to vote.
Catt worked on the first suffrage campaign in South Dakota and was asked to coordinate the women’s suffrage campaign in Colorado. She toured all 29 counties in Colorado and helped secure a vote for women in that state. In November 1893, Colorado became the second state to pass a women’s suffrage law. Interestingly, this was the first state to ratify suffrage by popular vote, and Catt was crucial in making it happen.
Carrie Catt met George Catt while living in San Francisco. He was an engineer and construction engineer who specialized in building bridges. They both attended the same college. The same woman’s work inspired Catt’s first year at school. They became close friends.
