Plan now to visit the Susan B. Anthony Museum & House in Rochester, NY… also February 11, 2015 for the annual Anthony luncheon that attracts almost a thousand people each year. Article about the 2014 event from the New York History blog. And now, a special feature article to warm you up to the idea of real or virtual travel!
The “Susan B. Anthony Medal”
by Kenneth Florey
Susan B. Anthony, who was born on February 15, 1820 and died on March 13, 1906, unfortunately never lived to see the passage of the Federal Suffrage Amendment that she had devoted her life to and whose wording she had essentially created. To commemorate Anthony’s efforts, the National American Woman Suffrage Association issued a 2” bronze medal featuring her bust on February 15, 1920, the one-hundredth anniversary of the date of her birth. Although designed to honor Anthony specifically, members of NAWSA were also anticipating the ratification by the states of what some termed “The Anthony Amendment” later that year, so the medal really served a dual purpose.
An announcement of the medal along with its picture appeared in the February 21, 1920 issue of The Woman Citizen, which under its old name The Woman’s Journal served for a time as NAWSA’s official newsletter. The medal was designed by Leila Usher, whose name is engraved on the piece just below Anthony’s shoulder on the front. The reverse features two twigs surrounding a plaque on which Anthony’s famous words “Failure is Impossible” appear. The design was taken from a larger bronze medallion, also designed by Usher, that Dr. Howard Kelly offered to donate to Bryn Mawr College in 1901. At the official ceremonies to honor the bequest on April 21, 1902, Anthony and Anna Howard Shaw were invited to attend and both were present. Usher was a painter and sculptor, who was born in Onalaska, Wisconsin in 1859 and died in New York City in 1955. Unlike Anthony, she was able to see the passage of the Federal Amendment and to vote in all elections, local, state, and federal. ++
Kenneth Florey is the author of the 2013 book Women’s Suffrage Memorabilia published by McFarland Books and available through Amazon and the publisher. Florey’s next work, “American Woman Suffrage Postcards: A Guide and Catalog,” will be out in the late fall or winter of 2015 and feature approximately 700 different suffrage postcards arranged into six categories.
Video about visiting the Susan B. Anthony Museum & House in Rochester, NY.
OTHER RECENT NEWS: Long-awaited book with six figure advance published about suffragette in England, Princess Sophia. Women’s suffrage highlighted in 2015 NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo inaugural address. Meryl Streep gives interviews about upcoming “Suffragette” film from the UK expected to be released in fall of 2015. Highlights from SuffrageCentennials.com in 2014.
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