Susan B. Anthony was born on February 15,1820 in Massachusetts. Her family were Quakers, who believed in the equality of men and women. Anthony's family supported major reforms, such as antislavery and temperance, the campaign to abolish alcoholic beverages.
Working for Change
Through her temperance work, Anthony became increasingly aware that women did not have the same rights as men. In 1851, she met Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a leader of the women's rights movement. The two women became close friends and co-workers. Soon, Anthony devoted herself completely to women's rights and became a leader of the movement. She supported dress reform and, for a time, wore bloomers, which became a symbol of the women's rights movement. In 1869, Anthony and Stanton formed the National Woman Suffrage Association and worked for a woman suffrage amendment to the Constitution.
In 1872, she voted in the presidential election and was arrested and fined $100 for voting illegally. Anthony never paid the fine, but no further action was taken against her. From 1881 to 1886, Anthony and Stanton coedited three volumes of a book called History of Woman Suffrage. Anthony published a fourth volume of the book in 1902. In 1904, she established the International Woman Suffrage Alliance with Carrie Chapman Catt, another leader of the suffrage movement.
Leaving a Lasting Impression
She died on March 13, 1906, 14 years before the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution became law and gave women the right to vote. In 1979 and 1980, the U.S. government minted for circulation $1 coins bearing Anthony's picture. Anthony was the first woman to be pictured on a United States coin in general circulation.