Susan B Anthony

Susan Brownell Anthony (1820 1906) was a prominent American civil rights leader who played a pivotal role in the 19th century women's rights movement to introduce women's suffrage into the United States. Raised as a Quaker by her strictly religious father, Anthony took part in anti-slavery and temperance movements from an early age. At the age of 29 she moved to her family farm in Rochester, New York, where she started attending the local Unitarian Church and began to distance herself from the Society of Friends. This was in part because she had frequently witnessed instances of hypocritical behavior such as the use of alcohol amongst Quaker preachers. However her background attending Quaker services, where unlike most other denominations both men and women were allowed to speak, was influential on her beliefs and contributed to Anthony deciding to devote herself totally to the cause of equal rights for women. For 45 years, she traveled the United States and Europe, giving 75 to 100 speeches every year on women's rights. In 1869 Anthony, along with Elizabeth Stanton founded the National Woman Suffrage Association, the first women's movement in the USA.