Susan B. Anthony: Rebel, Crusader, HumanitarianLutz, Alma
History
Susan B. Anthony: Rebel, Crusader, Humanitarian
Lutz, Alma
Anthony, Susan B. (Susan Brownell), 1820-1906
With these questions puzzling her, she left for Rochester and the
West. Almost immediately the papers were full of Victoria Woodhull and
her family quarrels which brought her into court. This was a
disillusioning experience for the National Woman Suffrage Association
which had so recently featured Victoria Woodhull as a speaker, and
Susan began seriously to question the wisdom of further association
with this strange controversial character. Nevertheless, Victoria
still had her ardent defenders among the suffragists, particularly
Isabella Beecher Hooker and Paulina Wright Davis. Even the thoughtful
judicious Martha C. Wright wrote Mrs. Hooker at this time, "It is not
always 'the wise and prudent' to whom the truth is revealed; tho' far
be it from me to imply aught derogatory to Mrs. Woodhull. No one can
be with her, see her gentle and modest bearing and her spiritual face,
without feeling sure that she is a true woman, whatever unhappy
surroundings may have compromised her. I have never met a stranger
toward whom I felt more tenderly drawn, in sympathy and love."[266]
Elizabeth Cady Stanton spoke her mind in Theodore Tilton's new paper,
_The Golden Age_: "Victoria C. Woodhull stands before us today a
grand, brave woman, radical alike in political, religious and social
principles. Her face and form indicate the complete triumph in her
nature of the spiritual over the sensuous. The processes of her
education are little to us; the grand result everything."[267]
Victoria was in dire need of defenders, for the press was venomous,
goading her on to revenge. Susan, now traveling westward, lecturing in
one state after another, thinking of ways to interest the people in
woman suffrage, was too busy and too far away to follow Victoria
Woodhull's court battles.
* * * * *
Mrs. Stanton met Susan in Chicago late in May 1871, to join her on a
lecture tour of the far West. Together they headed for Wyoming and
Utah, eager to set foot in the states which had been the first to
extend suffrage to women. The long leisurely days on the train gave
these two old friends, Susan now fifty-one and Mrs. Stanton,
fifty-six, ample time to talk and philosophize, to appraise their past
efforts for women, and plan their speeches for the days ahead. While
their main theme would always be votes for women, they decided that
from now on they must also arouse women to rebel against their legal
bondage under the "man marriage," as they called it, and to face
frankly the facts about sex, prostitution, and the double standard of
morals. In Utah, in the midst of polygamy fostered by the Mormon
Church, they would encounter still another sex problem.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account