Susan B. Anthony: Rebel, Crusader, HumanitarianLutz, Alma
History
Susan B. Anthony: Rebel, Crusader, Humanitarian
Lutz, Alma
Anthony, Susan B. (Susan Brownell), 1820-1906
So incensed was the Boston group by _The Revolution's_ opposition to
the Fifteenth Amendment, so displeased was Lucy Stone by the formation
of the National Woman Suffrage Association without consultation with
her, one of the oldest workers in the field, that they began to talk
of forming a national woman suffrage organization of their own. They
charged Susan with lust for power and autocratic control. Mrs. Stanton
they found equally objectionable because of her radical views on sex,
marriage, and divorce, expressed in _The Revolution_ in connection
with the Hester Vaughn case. They sincerely felt that the course of
woman suffrage would run more smoothly, arouse less antagonism, and
make more progress without these two militants who were forever
stirring things up and introducing extraneous subjects.
* * * * *
During these trying days of accusations, animosity, and rival
factions, Mrs. Stanton's unwavering support was a great comfort to
Susan as was the joy of having a paper to carry her message.
In addition to all the responsibilities connected with publishing her
weekly paper, advertising, subscriptions, editorial policy, and
raising the money to pay the bills, Susan was also holding successful
conventions in Saratoga and Newport where men and women of wealth and
influence gathered for the summer; she was traveling out to St. Louis,
Chicago, and other western cities to speak on woman suffrage, making
trips to Washington to confer with Congressmen, getting petitions for
the Sixteenth Amendment circulated, and through all this, building up
the National Woman Suffrage Association.
The _Revolution_ office became the rallying point for a
forward-looking group of women, many of whom contributed to the
hard-hitting liberal sheet. Elizabeth Tilton, the lovely dark-haired
young wife of the popular lecturer and editor of the _Independent_,
selected the poetry. Alice and Phoebe Cary gladly offered poems and a
novel; and when Susan was away, Phoebe Cary often helped Mrs. Stanton
get out the paper. Elizabeth Smith Miller gave money, encouragement,
and invaluable aid with her translations of interesting letters which
_The Revolution_ received from France and Germany. Laura Curtis
Bullard, the heir to the Dr. Winslow-Soothing-Syrup fortune, who
traveled widely in Europe, sent letters from abroad and took a lively
interest in the paper. Another new recruit was Lillie Devereux Blake,
who was gaining a reputation as a writer and who soon proved to be a
brilliant orator and an invaluable worker in the New York City
suffrage group. Dr. Clemence S. Lozier, unfailingly gave her support,
and her calm assurance strengthened Susan. The wealthy Paulina Wright
Davis of Providence, Rhode Island, who followed Parker Pillsbury as
editor, when he felt obliged to resign for financial reasons, gave the
paper generous financial backing.
[Illustration: Isabella Beecher Hooker]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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