=216. Elizabeth Cady Stanton.= Elizabeth Cady was born in New York, in 1815. Her girlhood was a happy one, spent with her brother and sisters. She was a healthy, rosy-cheeked girl, full of life and fun, who believed girls were the equals of boys and had just as much intellect. [Sidenote: =Studies hard=] When Elizabeth was eleven years old her brother died. Her father grieved deeply over the loss of his only son, and Elizabeth determined to try to be to her father all that her brother might have been. She therefore applied herself diligently to study and self-improvement. [Sidenote: =Finds woman's position unequal=] Her father was a lawyer. He had been a member of Congress. Many hours out of school Elizabeth spent in his office, listening while his clients stated their cases. She gradually became indignant at what she found to be the unequal position of women in almost every walk of life. She determined to devote her life to securing for women the same rights and privileges that men had. [Sidenote: =Marries Henry B. Stanton=] While studying she did not neglect the arts of housekeeping. She regarded these as occupations of the highest dignity and importance. When twenty-five years old she married Henry B. Stanton, a lawyer and journalist who since his student days had talked and written against slavery. But she did not forget her old resolve to struggle for the rights of women, even when occupied with the duties of home and children. [Sidenote: =Calls woman's rights convention=] =217. The First Woman's Rights Convention.= In 1848 Mrs. Stanton called a woman's rights convention--the first ever held. Its purpose was "to discuss the social, civil, and religious conditions and rights of women." [Sidenote: ="Declaration of Sentiments"=] [Sidenote: =Women demand the right to vote=] Mrs. Stanton read to the convention a set of twelve resolutions, the now famous "Declaration of Sentiments." It demanded for women equality with men and "all the rights and privileges which belong to them as citizens of the United States," including the right to vote. This was the first public demand for woman's suffrage. The resolutions were passed. A storm of ridicule followed the convention, but Mrs. Stanton's position remained unchanged. [Sidenote: =Susan B. Anthony, 1820=] =218. Susan B. Anthony.= A few years after this historic convention, Mrs. Stanton met Susan B. Anthony. Miss Anthony was the daughter of Friends, or Quakers as they are often called. She was born at South Adams, Massachusetts, in 1820. Her father maintained a school at Battenville, New York, and here Susan received her early education. [Illustration: SUSAN B. ANTHONY _From a photograph by Veeder, Albany, N.Y._] [Sidenote: =Teaches school=] [Sidenote: =Won to the cause of woman's rights=]