Happy 200th Birthday, Susan B. Anthony
February 15, 2020, marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Susan B. Anthony, who is considered one of the driving influences behind the movement to give American women the right to vote.
Born in Adams, Massachusetts, Anthony was the second-oldest of seven children. The Anthony family was strongly committed to social causes. Her parents were involved in the abolitionist and temperance movements and one of her brothers fought with anti-slavery activist John Brown. Anthony herself became a close friend of abolitionist Frederick Douglass.
After her sister Mary attended the 1841 Seneca Falls Convention, which was one of the first major gatherings promoting women’s suffrage, Anthony became involved in women’s rights. In 1851, she met Elizabeth Cady Stanton and together they founded the National Women’s Suffrage Association. In November 1872, Anthony was arrested in Rochester, New York for attempting to vote in the presidential election. Her trial generated national outrage when the judge directed the jury to find her guilty.
Anthony continued tirelessly to advocate for women’s suffrage until her death in 1906, fourteen years before the ratification of the 19th Amendment, referred to at the time as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment. She famously stated, “Failure is impossible,” a fitting summary of her undeniable legacy.
At Reavis Page Jump, we celebrate Susan B. Anthony’s February birthday as an office holiday, putting her in the company of Abraham Lincoln and George Washington as one of the nation’s transcendent leaders.
Written by RPJ Partner Alice K. Jump, who practices in litigation and dispute resolution, employment, real estate and infrastructure law.