Early Years

Susan B. Anthony was an American civil rights leader who was instrumental in the quest to grant women the right to vote (suffrage). Susan Brownell Anthony was born the daughter of Quaker parents on February 15, 1820, in Adams, Massachusetts. The family moved to New York State, where Susan received her education at a school her father ran. At school, she developed political inclinations and took a strong stance against slavery.

Fighting for Women's Rights

In 1854, Anthony devoted herself to the rights of women and advocated complete equality between men and women. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton published the weekly paper The Revolution, which contained equality literature and other political messages. She became vice president at large of the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) from 1869 until 1892, when she became president. On November 5, 1872, Anthony asserted her 14th Amendment right (to vote) and voted for Ulysses S. Grant in the presidential election. At the time, it was illegal for women to vote and Anthony was arrested. In 1878, women’s suffrage was introduced to Congress, but the idea floundered for many years. Anthonym however, worked hard to promote women's rights. She traveled far and wide and gave anywhere from 75 to 100 speeches each year. In the meantime, Anthony and several other women published The History of Woman Suffrage in 1884. It wasn’t until 1920 that the 19th Amendment (allowing women to vote) was ratified in Congress - 14 years after her death. Susan B. Anthony was honored on the US dollar coin minted in 1979. She was the first woman to be honored on a united States coin.