>> AS WE CELEBRATE WOMEN'S
HISTORY MONTH, WE LOOK AT THE
LIFE OF WOMEN'S RIGHTS PIONEER
SUSAN B.
ANTHONY.
BORN IN ADAMS, MASSACHUSETTS,
ANTHONY WAS A SOCIAL REFORMER
AND ACTIVIST WHO PLAYED A
PIVOTAL ROLE IN THE WOMEN'S
SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT.
TODAY, HER CHILDHOOD HOME HOUSES
A MUSEUM IN HER NAME -- AND LAST
YEAR CASSANDRA PELTIER BECAME
THE NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR.
SHE SAT DOWN WITH CONNECTING
POINT'S DAVE FRASER RECENTLY TO
TALK ABOUT HER ROLE AT THE
MUSEUM, AND THE LIFE AND LEGACY
OF SUSAN B. ANTHONY.
>> SUSAN B. ANTHONY WAS BORN
RIGHT IN THIS HOUSE FEBRUARY
18th, 1820.
THIS HOUSE IS THE SUSAN. B. ANTHONY BIRTH PLACE MUSEUM
IT'S ON THE NATIONAL REGISTER OF
HISTORIC PLACES.
IT'S A PLACE WHERE PEOPLE CAN
LEARN ABOUT THE INFLUENCES FROM
HER FAMILY, FROM HER COMMUNITY.
THEY CAN WALK THROUGH THE
CHRONOLOGY OF HER LIFE.
THEY CAN LEARN ABOUT HER CAREER.
THEY CAN SEE EVERYTHING SHE WAS
INVOLVED IN, AND JUST SOF GET A
SNAPSHOT OF ADAMS IN 1800.
♪
I INTERNED AT THE MUSEUM FROM
2015 TO 2016 AND EACH INTERN
GETS THEIR OWN PROJECT, AND I
HAVE A BACKGROUND IN HISTORY AND
WOMEN'S HISTORY SO MY PROJECT
WAS TO RECREATE ONE OF SUSAN'S
BLACK DRESSES.
SO WE HAVE IT ON DISPLAY IN THE
LEGACY ROOM AND AT THE BIRTHDAY
CELEBRATION IN 2016, I SPOKE A
BIT ABOUT MY PROJECT AND SHOWED
THE PROGRESS I'D MADE AND I MADE
AN IMPRESSION ON THE BOARD OF
DIRECTORS.
♪
>> SUSAN B. ANTHONY WAS AN
ALL-AROUND ACTIVIST AND SHE
SPENT HER CHILDHOOD OBSERVING
WHAT HER PARENTS DID TO SET
EXAMPLES, TAKING CARE OF THOSE
WHO ARE LESS FOR THE FORTUNATE.
SEEKING OUT INJUSTICES, FIGHTING
AGAINST DEPRESSION AND SHE WAS
ALSO JUST INQUISITIVE, ALWAYS
INTELLIGENT.
SHE STARTED TO LEARN AND WRITE
WHEN SHE WAS 3 YEARS OLD.
SHE STARTED TEACHING WHEN SHE
WAS 17 AND WHILE SHE WAS IN
SCHOOLS SHE SAW THE EFFECTS THAT
LIQUOR CONSUMPTION COULD HAVE ON
FAMILIES AND THE EFFECTS OF
ABUSE OF A DRUNK FATHER ON
CHILDREN AND SO SHE BECAME VERY
HEAVILY INVOLVED IN THE
TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT FIRST
AND IN THE 1840s SHE WENT TO A
TEMPERANCE CONVENTION AND SHE
TRIED TO GET UP ON STAGE AND ADDRESS THE ASSEMBLY AND A GENTLEMAN STOPPED
HER AND SAID NO THE LADIES HAVE COME TO LISTEN NOT TO SPEAK
AND THAT WAS ONE OF THOSE
MOMENTS WHEN SHE STARTED TURNING
HER ATTENTION TO WOMEN'S RIGHTS.
♪
>> IN 1851, SHE WAS INTRODUCED
TO ELIZABETH CADY STANTON.
THEY HAD A MUTUAL FRIEND AMELIA
BLOOMER WHO WE HAD KNOWN FOR THE
BLOOMER COSTUMES BUT SHE WAS
ALSO AN AVID ABOLITIONIST AND
SHE INTRODUCED ELIZABETH CADY
STANTON WHO HAD A PROFESSIONAL
PARTNERSHIP FOR 50 YEARS, AND THEY WERE REALLY THE LEADING FORCE BEHIND THE EARLY SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT
ONE OF THE THINGS I LOVE THE MOST ABOUT HER SHE ALSO DID HAVE
A HUMBLE SIDE.
ONE OF MY FAVORITE PHOTOGRAPHS
OF HER SHOWS HER SITTING AT HER
DESK AND THE NEWSPAPER WANTED TO
DO A STORY ON HER AND TAKE A
PICTURE OF HER AT WORK AND SHE
ONLY AGREED TAKE THE PHOTOGRAPH
ON THE CONDITION THAT SHE COULD
LINE UP PORTRAITS OF ALL OF HER
COLLEAGUES ALONG HER DESK
BECAUSE IT WASN'T JUST HER.
IT WASN'T JUST HER MOVEMENT.
IT WAS FOR ALL WOMEN AND SO
SHE'S JUST BECOME THIS HUGE
LARGER THAN LIFE ICON FOR
WOMEN'S RIGHTS.
SHE DIED MARCH 1906.
A MONTH AFTER HER 86th BIRTHDAY
AND THERE WERE SOME GREAT QUOTES
OF HER FINAL MOMENTS HOW SHE
SPENT MOST OF HER LIFE FIGHTING
FOR THE WOMEN TO GET THE VOTE
AND SHE DIDN'T COME TO SEE IT TO
FRUITION.
IT WAS ANOTHER 14 YEARS BEFORE
THE AMENDMENT PASSED AND IT'S
KNOWN AS THE SUSAN B. ANTHONY
AMENDMENT BECAUSE OF THE WAY SHE
DEVOTED HER LIFE TO IT AND ALL
OF THE BIG STEPS ACHIEVING FOR
WOMEN'S RIGHTS ALL THE THROUGH
YEARS, AND SO 2020 WE HAVE 2
YEARS WE'RE CELEBRATING WE HAVE
THE CENTENNIAL OF THE 18th
AMENDMENT AND WE HAVE THE 200th
ANNIVERSARY OF HER BIRTHDAY SO
WE GET TO THANK HER FOR ALL THE
WORK THAT SHE DID TO PAVE THE
WAY FOR WOMEN TODAY.
♪
