The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 1 of 2): Including Public Addresses, Her Own Letters and Many From Her Contemporaries During Fifty YearsHarper, Ida Husted
History
The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 1 of 2): Including Public Addresses, Her Own Letters and Many From Her Contemporaries During Fifty Years
Harper, Ida Husted
Anthony, Susan B. (Susan Brownell), 1820-1906
Mrs. Stanton wrote shortly afterwards, urging her to come to Seneca
Falls: "Indeed it would do me great good to see some reformers just
now. The death of my father, the worse than death of my dear cousin
Gerrit,[28] the martyrdom of that great and glorious John Brown, all
conspire to make me regret more than ever my dwarfed and perverted
womanhood. In times like these every soul should do the work of a
fullgrown man. When I pass the gate of the celestials and good Peter
asks me where I wish to sit, I will say: 'Anywhere so that I am neither
a negro nor a woman. Confer on me, great angel, the glory of white
manhood, so that henceforth I may feel unlimited freedom.'"
In this year of 1859, Charles F. Hovey, a wealthy merchant of Boston, a
radical in religion and a noted reformer and philanthropist, left
$50,000 to be expended in securing equal rights for women, the
abolition of slavery, and other reforms, at the discretion of Wendell
Phillips, Wm. Lloyd Garrison and the other executors. As slavery was
abolished four years later, a considerable portion of this was used for
the cause of woman.
Early in December the anti-slavery committee insisted that Miss Anthony
should resume the management of their conventions, as they wished to
hold a series throughout the large cities of the State and had been
unable to find any one who could so successfully conduct them. Abby
Kelly Foster, though often critical and censorious, wrote her regarding
one of her speeches: "It is a timely, noble, clear-sighted and fearless
vindication of our platform. I want to say how delighted both Stephen
and myself are to see that you, though much younger than some others in
the anti-slavery school, have been able to appreciate so entirely the
genius of our enterprise." The distinguished George B. Cheever, of the
Church of the Puritans in New York, one of the few orthodox clergymen
who stood with the Abolitionists in those early days, wrote Miss
Anthony: "May God be with you and guide and bless you in your efforts.
That is the strength we all need and must have if we accomplish
anything good and permanent in this terrible conflict."
[Autograph: George B. Cheever]
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