Famous Women for Suffrage

• Anne Hutchinson (1591-1643)--An outspoken woman of colonial America, she was perhaps the first woman who stood strongly for the rights of individuals, especially women. She was born in England, but came to Massachusetts in 1634. She was known for her generosity, but she also challenged a social structure that denied much freedom of thought and action.

• Lucretia Mott (1793-1880)--A friend of Susan B. Anthony, who influenced Susan in her early days in Rochester, New York. Lucretia's cousin (by marriage), Lydia Mott, had been a teacher of Anthony's in Philadelphia. Ms. Mott is recognized for helping to organize probably the first women's suffrage convention in the United States at Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. From her home in Philadelphia she helped in the founding of the American Anti-Slavery Society in the 1830s. She was an excellent speaker and was noted for her leadership.

• Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902)--She was a close personal friend of Susan B. Anthony and a fellow-worker on women's suffrage. Beginning in the early days in Rochester, New York, she encouraged Susan's interest in both the anti-slavery movement and in women's rights. In the 1840s Ms. Stanton travelled to the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London with her husband, but was not allowed to attend because she was a woman. Following that experience, she and Lucretia Mott organized what may have been the first women's suffrage convention in the United States at Seneca Falls, New York in 1848. In 1869, Elizabeth Stanton became the first President of the National Woman Suffrage Association, which she helped to organize along with Susan B. Anthony.

• Lucy Stone (1818-1893)--A famous lecturer on women's rights and a friend of Susan B. Anthony. She was active in the antislavery and suffrage movements, and is noted for having kept her maiden name after marriage.

• Mercy Otis Warren (1728-1814)--Perhaps the most remarkable woman living during the time of the Revolutionary War. She was a writer with strong political feelings which were often controversial--for patriotism, for safeguards for individual liberty and against a powerful central government. She was an important political force in a time when women were not heard in politics.

• Annie Wittenmyer--She was the first President of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, founded in 1874. This organization had a call for abstinence from all alcholic beverages, and for the end to liquor traffic.

• Emma Hart Willard (1787-1870)--She worked for female education, and established prominent schools and academies for women. At first she held classes in her home, and eventually established the Troy Female Academy, which was very strong on math, sciences, languages, etc. At the time, this school was considered the female equivalent of Harvard or Yale.

• Frances E.C. Willard (1839-1898)--Her critical work was in the Woman's Christian Temperance Movement, which she helped to organize in 1874 and brought to national prominence as President from 1879 to her death in 1898. She was also a strong voice for women's suffrage. She was a noted educator, serving as President of Evanston (Illinois) College for Ladies. This later merged with Northwestern University, where she became Dean of the Women's College.

• Victoria C. Woodhull (1838-1927)--The first woman to run for President of the United States. She was the candidate of the Equal Rights Party in 1872.

• Ernestine P. Rose (1810-1892)--Best known for her campaign for property rights for women in New York, she was a friend of Susan B. Anthony. She helped to promote property rights legislation that passed in that state in 1848. Prior to that time husbands controlled all property. Ms. Rose was a part of the first women's rights convention in Seneca, New York in 1848, and she helped form the Woman Suffrage Association in 1869.