February 15 is the annual Susan B. Anthony Day celebration. One of the most significant women in American history, Susan Brownell Anthony, was born on this day. Memorial services are held at her Rochester gravesite in observance of this day. In other locations, such as Washington, D.C., comparable services are provided. Anthony spent his entire life fighting for women’s rights to equal labor, education, and suffrage. She also declared her opposition to alcohol consumption and the practice of slavery. Anthony’s perseverance has allowed American women to vote with freedom today.
The day of Susan B. Anthony Day honors the life and contributions of this trailblazing woman who fought for women’s rights and the right to vote. It’s a day to recognize her unwavering commitment to the cause of equality and women’s voting rights. This post will explain what Susan B. Anthony Day is all about, when it happens, how to celebrate it, and some amazing facts about Susan B. Anthony.
Quick Facts about Susan B. Anthony Day
- Observed by:
- United States Florida legal holiday, state offices open
- United States California and Wisconsin educational observance, schools open with related instructions
- United States Massachusetts Local observance on August 26
- United States West Virginia state holiday on Election Day (Tuesday following the 2nd Monday in November)
- Type:
- Florida legal holiday
- California and Wisconsin educational observances
- Massachusetts local observance
- West Virginia state holiday
- Date: February 15
- Frequency: Annual
What is Susan B. Anthony Day?
Susan Brownell Anthony was born on February 15, 1820, and her birthday is honored on Susan B. Anthony Day. She was a prominent figure in the United States women’s suffrage movement and was instrumental in advancing women’s voting rights. Susan B. Anthony Day honors her commitment to the cause of gender equality and serves as a reminder of it.
When is Susan B. Anthony Day?
Every year on February 15th, Susan B. Anthony Day is observed in honor of her birthday. Today is a day to commemorate her legacy and the advancements in the fight for women’s rights.
Susan B. Anthony Day History
The cause of women’s suffrage and equal rights was Susan B. Anthony’s lifelong passion. She actively promoted women’s voting rights and was a key figure in the women’s suffrage movement. The 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which gave women the right to vote, was eventually ratified in 1920 as a result of Susan B. Anthony’s and other suffragists’ efforts. In honor of Susan B. Anthony’s contributions and legacy, a day was set aside.
Susan B. Anthony Day Facts
- Susan B. Anthony Day is a holiday honoring Susan B. Anthony’s birth and the achievement of women’s suffrage in the US. Anthony’s birthday, February 15, is the holiday.
- The Susan B. Anthony Birthday Act, H.R. #655, was introduced by Representative Carolyn Maloney in 2011 and gave rise to the idea of celebrating Susan B. Anthony with a national holiday.
- Today, only the state of Florida in the United States observes the holiday, with state offices closed.
- Enacted on April 15, 1976, Susan B. Anthony Day was declared a state holiday in the state of Wisconsin by Wisconsin Laws, Chapter 307, Section 20 of 1975.
- On even years, West Virginia celebrates this day on Election Day.
- There is no national celebration of this holiday. A campaign to make the holiday a national holiday was covered by The Seattle Times in 1985.
- As of 2014, this day is also recognized as a legal holiday in the U.S. state of California. Governor George Pataki of New York signed legislation designating this day as a holiday in 2004.
The “Susan B. Anthony Birthday Act” (H.R. #655) was introduced by Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York to the 112th Congress on February 11, 2011, to make the birthday a national holiday in the United States on the third Monday of February. At the end of the 112th Congress, the bill was dead because it was never signed into law.
Quick Facts about Susan Brownell Anthony
- Also Known As: Susan Anthony
- Birthday: February 15, 1820
- Birth Place: Adams, Massachusetts, United States
- Died On: March 13, 1906
- Place Of Death: Rochester, New York, United States
- Died At Age: 86
- Father Name: Daniel Anthony
- Mother Name: Lucy Read
- Founder/Co-Founder: International Council Of Women, National American Woman Suffrage Association, National Woman Suffrage Association, American Equal Rights Association, League Of Women Voters
Interesting Facts about Susan Anthony
- On February 15, 1820, Susan Brownell Anthony was born in Adams, Massachusetts, to Daniel Anthony and Lucy Read. Her father was a Quaker who temperance advocate and was an abolitionist. At a young age, her parents instilled in her the values of justice and integrity.
- She started collecting anti-slavery petitions at the age of 17 after becoming active in the anti-slavery movement as a young child. Susan’s father had insisted that all of his children receive a good education, but regrettably, a financial crisis forced her to drop out of school in 1837.
- Her family needed financial support, so she accepted a job as a teacher at a Quaker boarding school. She advanced to become the female department headmistress of the Canajoharie Academy by 1846. She was becoming more and more interested in social reform, as her family had always been involved in these movements.
- Following the closure of the Canajoharie Academy in 1849, Susan Brownell Anthony assumed management of the family farm located in Rochester. It didn’t take her long to realize that she wanted to devote herself entirely to reform work after managing the farm for a few years.
- In 1851, she got to know well-known feminist Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Stanton, who had participated in the Seneca Falls Convention planning committee, grew close to Anthony and they worked together to advance women’s suffrage.
- Susan B. Anthony demanded greater pay for female teachers as well as the admission of women to the profession at the 1853 state teacher’s convention. By 1859, she had given speeches at multiple teacher conventions advocating for coeducation and asserting that there was no cognitive difference between men and women.
- In the 1850s, Susan Brownell Anthony was also actively involved in the anti-slavery movement, and in 1856, she joined the American Anti-Slavery Society as an agent. She was in charge of arranging meetings, giving speeches, and handing out flyers in this role. Despite facing many challenges in her role as an activist, she never wavered in her commitment to abolitionism.
- Susan B. Anthony was more active at this time in the abolitionist movement than in the women’s suffrage movement. She did, however, select to focus more of her energies on the women’s rights movement as she grew increasingly conscious of the injustices women endure in the male-dominated society.
- To push for an amendment to the US Constitution that would outlaw slavery, Anthony and Stanton founded the Women’s Loyal National League in 1863. The league gave the women’s rights activists a chance to link the struggle for women’s rights with the struggle against slavery. It had 5,000 members, which tremendously aided in the women’s rights movement’s growth.
- In 1868, the two women in New York City started a weekly newspaper called “The Revolution.” The newspaper’s main cause was women’s rights, particularly women’s suffrage. “Men their rights, and nothing more; women their rights, and nothing less” was the newspaper’s motto.
- In response to the question of whether the women’s movement should support the Fifteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, Anthony and Stanton established the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1868. Unless women were granted the right to vote, they were both against the Fifteenth Amendment.
- Susan B. Anthony kept up her unrelenting campaigning in the 1870s and 1880s, and in 1872 she even cast an unauthorized presidential election. Her subsequent incarceration contributed to the cause’s increased popularity.
- In the 1880s, she collaborated with Stanton, Matilda Joslyn Gage, and Ida Husted Harper on the “History of Woman Suffrage.” It covered the history of the women’s suffrage movement, mostly in the US, and was published in four volumes. The History of Woman Suffrage was referred to as “the fundamental primary source for the women’s suffrage campaign” by “The Encyclopedia of Women’s History in America.”
- Even though Susan Brownell Anthony was in her seventies in the 1890s, her age did not diminish her positive attitude. In 1893, she founded the Women’s Educational and Industrial Union branch in Rochester and carried on her extensive speaking tour on women’s suffrage. By now she was well known across the country, and President William McKinley invited her to celebrate her eightieth birthday at the White House.
- Her contribution to the founding of the American Equal Rights Association (AERA) in 1866 was significant. The organization’s goal was to guarantee all American citizens equal rights, including the right to vote, regardless of their race, color, or gender.
- The National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) was established in 1869, and one of its founders was Susan B. Anthony. The organization, which welcomed men who supported women’s suffrage as members, sought to secure women’s enfranchisement through a federal constitutional amendment and only permitted women to hold leadership positions.
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton, another reformer, and she shared a very intimate personal and professional bond. She even spent a while living with the Stantons and assisted her married friend in raising the children. Even though the two women’s ideologies diverged later in life, they remained close friends all the way to the end.
- Susan Brownell Anthony was in her seventies, but she was still very much involved in the women’s rights movement. She spent years living in hotels, with friends, and with family before settling down with her sister in 1891.
- The National Organization for Women’s chapter in New York City has been presenting the Susan B. Anthony Award every year since 1970 to recognize “grassroots activists dedicated to improving the lives of women and girls in New York City.”
- The first feminist, women-only, witches’ coven was established in 1971 when Zsuzsanna Budapest founded the Susan B. Anthony Coven #1.
- Anthony received her induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 1973.
- The Susan B. Anthony dollar was first released by the US Mint in 1979. Anthony became the first woman to appear on US currency when a new dollar coin was introduced in 1979. However, her honor was somewhat mitigated by popular rejection of the coin due to its striking resemblance to the 25-cent coin.
- Google released a Google Doodle in honor of Susan Anthony’s 200th birthday on February 15, 2020.
- Susan B. Anthony Day is a holiday honoring Anthony’s birth and the achievement of women’s suffrage in the US. Anthony’s birthday, February 15, is the holiday.
Conclusion
The remarkable contributions of a trailblazing advocate for women’s rights and suffrage are celebrated on Susan B. Anthony Day. It serves as a reminder of both the strides made in the fight for gender equality and the continued efforts required to bring about complete equality for all. Susan B. Anthony Day offers an opportunity to commemorate her legacy and the values she supported, whether you’re learning about her life, contributing to causes for women’s rights, or having conversations.
Let us commemorate Susan B. Anthony on February 15th, honoring her unwavering commitment to transforming society and advancing the cause of global equity.
