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26 - Susan B. Anthony Rebel, Crusader, Humanitarian by Alma Lutz · Susan B. Anthony Rebel, Crusader, Humanitarian

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Speaker 1: Chapter twenty six of Susan B. Anthony by All Maluts.
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Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter twenty
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Speaker 1: six Susan B. Anthony of the World. Susan was on
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Speaker 1: the ocean in May nineteen o four with her sister
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Speaker 1: Mary and a group of good friends, headed for a
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Speaker 1: meeting of the International Council of Women in Berlin. What
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Speaker 1: drew her to Berlin was the plan initiated by Carrie
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Speaker 1: Chapman Cat to form an international woman's suffrage alliance prior
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Speaker 1: to the meetings of the International Council. This had been
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Speaker 1: Susan's dream and Missus Stanton's in eighteen eighty three when
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Speaker 1: they first conferred with women of other countries regarding an
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Speaker 1: international women's suffrage organization and found only the women of
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Speaker 1: England ready to unite on such a radical program. Now
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Speaker 1: that women had worked together successfully in the International Council
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Speaker 1: for sixteen years on other less controversial matters relating to women,
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Speaker 1: she and Missus Cat were confident that a few of
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Speaker 1: them at least were willing to unite to demand the
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Speaker 1: vote chosen as a matter of course to preside over
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Speaker 1: this gathering of suffragists in Berlin, Susan received an enthusiastic welcome.
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Speaker 1: For her, it was a momentous occasion, and eager to
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Speaker 1: spread news of the meeting far and wide. She could
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Speaker 1: not understand the objections of many of the delegates to
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Speaker 1: the presence of reporters, who they feared might send out
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Speaker 1: sensational copy. My friends, what are we here for, she
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Speaker 1: asked her more timid colleagues. We have come from many countries,
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Speaker 1: traveled thousands of miles to form an organization for a
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Speaker 1: great international work. And do we want to keep it
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Speaker 1: a secret from the public. No. Welcome all reporters who
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Speaker 1: want to come. The more the better. Let all we
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Speaker 1: say and do here be told far and wide. Let
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Speaker 1: the people everywhere know that in Berlin, women from all
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Speaker 1: parts of the world have banded themselves together to demand
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Speaker 1: political freedom. I rejoice in the presence of these reporters,
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Speaker 1: and instead of excluding them from our meetings, let us
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Speaker 1: help them to all the information we can and ask
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Speaker 1: them to give it the widest publicity. This won the
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Speaker 1: battle for the reporters, who gave her rousing applause, and
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Speaker 1: the news flashed over the wires with sympathetic dignified and
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Speaker 1: it told the world of the formation of the International
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Speaker 1: Women's Suffrage Alliance by women from the United States, Great Britain, Germany,
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Speaker 1: the Netherlands, Sweden, Australia, Norway and Denmark to secure the
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Speaker 1: enfranchisement of women of all nations. It praised the honorary
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Speaker 1: President Susan B. Anthony and the American women who took
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Speaker 1: over the leadership of this international venture, Carrie Chapman Catt,
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Speaker 1: the President, and Rachel Foster Avery, corresponding Secretary. To celebrate
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Speaker 1: the occasion, German suffragists called a public mass meeting, and Susan,
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Speaker 1: eager to rejoice with them, was surprised to find members
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Speaker 1: of the International Council disgruntled and accusing the International Women's
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Speaker 1: Suffrage Alliance of stealing their threat under and casting the
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Speaker 1: dark shadow of woman's suffrage over their conference. To placate
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Speaker 1: them and restore harmony, she stayed away from this public meeting,
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Speaker 1: but she could not control the demand for her presence.
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Speaker 1: Where is Susan B. Anthony? Were the first words spoken
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Speaker 1: as the mass meeting opened. Then immediately the audience rose
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Speaker 1: and burst into cheers, which continued without a break for
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Speaker 1: ten minutes. Anna Howard Shaw, there on the platform, and
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Speaker 1: deeply moved by this tribute to Aunt Susan later described
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Speaker 1: how she felt every second of that time. I seemed
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Speaker 1: to see Miss Anthony alone in her hotel room, longing
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Speaker 1: with all her big heart to be with us, as
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Speaker 1: we longed to have her. Afterwards, when we burst in
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Speaker 1: upon her and told her of the great demonstration, the
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Speaker 1: mere mention of her name had caused her lips quivered
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Speaker 1: and her brave old eyes filled with tears. The next morning,
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Speaker 1: her girls brought her the Berlin newspapers, translating for her
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Speaker 1: the report of the meeting and these heartwarming lines. The
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Speaker 1: Americans call her Aunt Susan. She is our Aunt Susan two.
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Speaker 1: This was but a foretaste of her reception throughout her
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Speaker 1: stay in Berlin. To the International Council, she was Susan
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Speaker 1: b Anthony of the world, the woman of the hour,
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Speaker 1: whom all wanted to meet. Every time she entered the
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Speaker 1: conference hall, the audience rose and remained standing until she
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Speaker 1: was seated. Every mention of her name brought forth cheers.
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Speaker 1: The many young women acting as ushers were devoted to
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Speaker 1: her and eager to serve her. They greeted her by
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Speaker 1: kissing her hand. Embarrassed at first by such homage, she
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Speaker 1: soon responded by kissing them on the cheek. The Empress
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Speaker 1: Victoria Augusta, receiving the delegates in the Royal Palace, singled
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Speaker 1: out Susan, and instead of following the custom of kissing
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Speaker 1: the Empress's hand, Susan bowed as she would to any
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Speaker 1: distinguished American, explaining that she was a Quaker and did
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Speaker 1: not understand the etiquette of the court. The Empress praised
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Speaker 1: Susan's great work, and, unwilling to let such an opportunity
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Speaker 1: slip by, Susan offered the suggestion that Emperor William, who
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Speaker 1: had done so much to build up his country, might
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Speaker 1: now wish to raise the status of German women. To this,
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Speaker 1: the Empress replied with a smile, a gentleman are very
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Speaker 1: slow to comprehend this works great movement. When the talented
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Speaker 1: Negro Mary Church Terrell, addressing the International Council in both
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Speaker 1: German and French, received an ovation, Susan's cup of joy
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Speaker 1: was filled to the brim, for she glimpsed the bright
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Speaker 1: promise of a world without barriers of sex or race.
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Speaker 1: The newspapers welcomed her home and in her own comfortable
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Speaker 1: sitting room, she read Rochester's greeting in the Democrat and Chronicle.
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Speaker 1: There are woman suffragists and anti suffragists, but all Rochester people,
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Speaker 1: irrespective of opinion, are Anthony men and women. We admire
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Speaker 1: and esteem one so single minded, earnest, and unselfish, who,
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Speaker 1: with eighty four years to her credit, is still too
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Speaker 1: busy and useful to think of growing old. Her happiness
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Speaker 1: over this welcome was clouded, however, by the serious illness
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Speaker 1: of her brother Daniel, and she and Mary hurried to
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Speaker 1: Kansas to see him. Two months later he passed away.
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Speaker 1: Now only she and Mary were left of the large
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Speaker 1: Anthony family. Without Daniel, the world seemed empty. His strength
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Speaker 1: of character, independence, and sympathy with her work had comforted
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Speaker 1: and encouraged her all through her life. A fearless editor,
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Speaker 1: a successful businessman, a politician with principles, he had played
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Speaker 1: an important role in Kansas, and proud of him, she
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Speaker 1: cherished the many tributes published throughout the country. Courageously, she
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Speaker 1: now picked up the threads of her life. Her precious
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Speaker 1: National American Woman Suffrage Association was out of her hands,
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Speaker 1: but she still had the history of women's suffrage to distribute,
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Speaker 1: and it gave her a great sense of accomplishment to
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Speaker 1: hand on to future generations this record of women's struggle
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Speaker 1: for freedom. Missing the stimulus of work with her girls,
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Speaker 1: she took more and more pleasure in the company of
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Speaker 1: William and Mary Gannett of the First Unitarian Church, whose
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Speaker 1: liberal views appealed to her strongly. She liked to have
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Speaker 1: young people about her and followed the lives of all
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Speaker 1: her nieces and nephews with the greatest interest, spurring on
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Speaker 1: their ambitions and helping finance their education. The frequent visits
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Speaker 1: of niece Lucy were a great joy during these years,
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Speaker 1: as was the nearness of niece Anna O, who married
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Speaker 1: and settled in Rochester. The young Canadian girl, Anna Dan
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Speaker 1: had become almost indispensable to her and to Mary as companion,
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Speaker 1: secretary and nurse, and her marriage left a void in
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Speaker 1: the household. Anna Dan was married at seventeen Madison Street
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Speaker 1: by Anna Howard Shaw, with Susan beaming upon her like
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Speaker 1: a proud grandmother. Longing to see one more state, one
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Speaker 1: for suffrage. Susan carefully followed the news from the field,
10:24
Speaker 1: looking hopefully to California and urging her girls to keep
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Speaker 1: hammering away there in spite of defeats. Her eyes were
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Speaker 1: also on the territory of Oklahoma, where a constitution was
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Speaker 1: being drafted preparatory to statehood. The present bill for the
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Speaker 1: new state, she wrote Anna Howard Shaw in December nineteen
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Speaker 1: o four, is an insult to women of Oklahoma such
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Speaker 1: as has never been perpetrated before. We have always known
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Speaker 1: that women were in reality ranked with idiots and criminals,
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Speaker 1: but it has never been said in words that the
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Speaker 1: state should restrict or abridge the suffrage on account of illiteracy,
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Speaker 1: minority sex, conviction of felony, mental condition, et cetera. We
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Speaker 1: must fight this bill to the utmost. The brightest spot
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Speaker 1: in the West was Oregon, where suffrage had been defeated
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Speaker 1: in nineteen hundred by only two thousand votes. In June
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Speaker 1: nineteen o five, when the National American Association held its
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Speaker 1: first Far Western convention in Portland during the Lewis and
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Speaker 1: Clark Exposition, Susan could not keep away. Although she had
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Speaker 1: never expected to go over the mountains again. As she
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Speaker 1: traveled to Portland with Mary and one hundred or more
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Speaker 1: delegates in special cars, she recalled her many long tiring
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Speaker 1: trips through the West to carry the message of women's
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Speaker 1: suffrage to the frontier. In comparison, this was a triumphal journey,
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Speaker 1: showing her as nothing else could what her work had accomplished.
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Speaker 1: Greeted at railroad stations along the way by enthusiastic crowds
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Speaker 1: showered with flowers and gifts, she stood on the back
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Speaker 1: platform of the train with her girls, shaking hands, waving
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Speaker 1: her handkerchief, and making an occasional speech presiding over the
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Speaker 1: opening session of the Portland Convention. Standing in a veritable
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Speaker 1: garden of flowers which had been presented to her, she remarked,
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Speaker 1: with a droll smile, this is rather different from the
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Speaker 1: receptions I used to get fifty years ago. I am
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Speaker 1: thankful for this change of spirit which has come over
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Speaker 1: the American people. On Woman's Day, she was chosen to
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Speaker 1: speak at the unveiling of the statue of Sakagawea, the
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Speaker 1: Indian woman who had led Lewis and Clark through the
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Speaker 1: dangerous mountain passages to the Pacific, winning their gratitude and
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Speaker 1: their praise. In the story of Sakagawea, who had been
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Speaker 1: overlooked by the government when every man in the Lewis
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Speaker 1: and Clark expedition had been rewarded with a large tract
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Speaker 1: of land. Susan saw the perfect example of man's thoughtless
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Speaker 1: oversight of the valuable services of women. Looking up at
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Speaker 1: the bronze statue of the Indian woman, her papouse on
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Speaker 1: her back and her arm outstretched to the Pacific, Susan said, simply,
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Speaker 1: this is the first statue erected to a woman because
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Speaker 1: of deeds of daring. This recognition of the assistance rendered
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Speaker 1: by a woman in the discovery of this great section
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Speaker 1: of the country is but the beginning of what is doing. Then,
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Speaker 1: with the sunlight playing on her hair and lighting up
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Speaker 1: her face, she appealed to the men of Oregon for
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Speaker 1: the vote next year. She reminded them, the men of
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Speaker 1: this proud state, made possible by a woman, will decide
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Speaker 1: whether women shall at last have the rights in it
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Speaker 1: which have been denied them so many years. Let men
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Speaker 1: remember the part women have played in its settlement and progress,
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Speaker 1: and vote to give them these rights which belong to
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Speaker 1: every citizen. Reporters were at Susan's door when she returned
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Speaker 1: to Rochester for comments on the ex President Cleveland's tirade
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Speaker 1: against club women and women's suffrage in the popular Ladies
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Speaker 1: Home Journal, Pure Folderol, she told them, adding testily, I
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Speaker 1: would think that Grover Cleveland was about the life last
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Speaker 1: person to talk about the sanctity of the home and
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Speaker 1: woman's sphere. This was good copy for Republican newspapers, and
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Speaker 1: they made the most of it, as women throughout the
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Speaker 1: country added their protest to Susan's. A popular jingle of
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Speaker 1: the day ran Susan b Anthony. She took quite a
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Speaker 1: fall out of Grover's sea. Susan, however, had something far
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Speaker 1: more important on her mind than fencing with Grover Cleveland.
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Speaker 1: An interview with President Theodore Roosevelt. Here was a man
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Speaker 1: eager to write wrongs, to break monopolies, to see justice
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Speaker 1: done to the negro, a man who talked of a
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Speaker 1: square deal for all, and yet a woman's suffrage aroused
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Speaker 1: no response in him. In November nineteen o five, she
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Speaker 1: undertook a trip to Washington for the express purpose of
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Speaker 1: talking with him. The year before, at a White House reception,
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Speaker 1: he had singled her out to stand at his side
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Speaker 1: in the receiving line. She looked for the same friendliness
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Speaker 1: now memorandum in hand, she plied him with questions, which
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Speaker 1: he carefully evaded, but she would not give up. Mister Roosevelt,
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Speaker 1: she earnestly pleaded, this is my principal request. It is
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Speaker 1: almost the last request I shall ever make of anybody.
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Speaker 1: Before you leave the presidential chair, recommend to Congress to
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Speaker 1: submit to the legislature's a constitutional amendment which will enfranchise women,
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Speaker 1: and thus take your place in history with Lincoln, the
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Speaker 1: great emancipator. I beg of you not to close your
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Speaker 1: term of office without doing this. To this, he made
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Speaker 1: no response, and trying once more to wring from him
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Speaker 1: some slight indication of sympathy for her cause, she added,
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Speaker 1: mister President, your influence is so great that just one
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Speaker 1: word from you in favor of women's suffrage would give
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Speaker 1: our cause a tremendous impetus. The public knows my attitude.
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Speaker 1: He tersely replied, I recommended it when governor of New York. True,
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Speaker 1: she acknowledged, but that was a long time ago. Our
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Speaker 1: enemies say that this was the opinion of your younger years,
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Speaker 1: and that since you have been president you have never
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Speaker 1: uttered one word that could be construed as an endorsement.
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Speaker 1: They have no cause to think I have changed my mind,
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Speaker 1: he suavely replied as he bade her goodbye, and the
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Speaker 1: months that followed he gave her no sign that her
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Speaker 1: interview had made the slightest impression. One of the most
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Speaker 1: satisfying honors bestowed on Susan during these last years was
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Speaker 1: the invitation to be present at Brynmore College in nineteen
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Speaker 1: o two for the unveiling of a bronze portrait medallion
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Speaker 1: of herself. Bryn Mahar under its brilliant young president M.
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Speaker 1: Carrie Thomas, herself a pioneer and establishing the highest standards
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Speaker 1: for women's education, showed no such timidity as Vassar, where
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Speaker 1: neither Susan nor Elizabeth Katy Stanton had been welcome as speakers.
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Speaker 1: At Bryn Mar, Susan talked freely and frankly with the students, and,
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Speaker 1: best of all, became better acquainted with M. Carrie Thomas
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Speaker 1: and her enterprising friend Mary Garrett of Baltimore, who was
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Speaker 1: using her great wealth for the advancement of women. She
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Speaker 1: longed to channel their abilities to women's suffrage, and a
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Speaker 1: few years later arranged for a national convention in their
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Speaker 1: home city Baltimore, appealing to them to make it an
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Speaker 1: outstanding success. Arriving in Baltimore in January nineteen o six
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Speaker 1: for this convention, Susan was the honored guest in Mary
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Speaker 1: Garrett's luxurious home, Frail and Ill. She was unable to
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Speaker 1: attend all the sessions as in the past, but she
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Speaker 1: was present at the highlight of this very successful convention,
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Speaker 1: the College Evening, arranged by M. Carrey Thomas. With women's
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Speaker 1: colleges still resisting the discussion of women's suffrage and the
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Speaker 1: Association of Collegiate Alumni refusing to support it, the College
19:48
Speaker 1: Evening marked the first public endorsement of this controversial subject
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Speaker 1: by college women. Up to this time, the only encouraging
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Speaker 1: sign had been the formation in nineteen hundred of the
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Speaker 1: College Equal Suffrage League by two young Radcliffe alumni, maud
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Speaker 1: Wood Park and Anez Haines Irwin. Now Here in conservative Baltimore,
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Speaker 1: college presidents and college faculty gave women suffrage their blessing,
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Speaker 1: and Susan listened happily as distinguished women one after another
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Speaker 1: allied themselves to the cause. Doctor Mary E. Woolley, who
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Speaker 1: was president of Mount Holio, was developing Mary Lyon's pioneer
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Speaker 1: seminary into a high ranking college. Lucy Salmon, Mary A. Jordan,
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Speaker 1: and Mary W. Hawkins of the Faculties of Vassar, Smith
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Speaker 1: and Wellesley. Eva Perry Moore, a trustee of Vassar and
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Speaker 1: president of the Association of Collegiate Alumni, with whom she
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Speaker 1: dared differ on the subject, maud Wood Park, representing the
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Speaker 1: younger generation in the College Equal Suffrage League, and last
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Speaker 1: of all, the President of brynmar M Carrie Thomas. After
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Speaker 1: expressing her gratitude to the pioneers of this great movement,
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Speaker 1: Miss Thomas turned to Susan and said, to you, Miss Anthony,
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Speaker 1: belongs by right, as to no other woman in the
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Speaker 1: world's history, the love and gratitude of all women in
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Speaker 1: every country of the civilized globe. We your daughters in spirit,
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Speaker 1: rise up to day and call you blessed of such
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Speaker 1: as you were. The lines of the poet Yates written,
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Speaker 1: they shall be remembered forever, They shall be alive, forever,
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Speaker 1: they shall be speaking forever. The people shall hear them forever.
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Speaker 1: During the thunderous applause, Susan came forward to respond, her
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Speaker 1: face alight, and the audience rose. If any proof were
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Speaker 1: needed of the progress of the cause for which I
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Speaker 1: have worked, it is here tonight, she said, simply. The
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Speaker 1: presence on the stage of these college women, and in
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Speaker 1: the audience of all those college girls who will some
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Speaker 1: day be the nation's greatest strength tell their story to
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Speaker 1: the world, they give the highest joy and encouragement to me.
22:36
Speaker 1: During her visit at the home of Mary Garrett, Susan
22:40
Speaker 1: spoke freely with her and with M. Carrey Thomas, of
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Speaker 1: the needs of the National American Association, particularly of the
22:48
Speaker 1: standing fund of one hundred thousand dollars of which she
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Speaker 1: had dreamed and which she had started to raise now
22:57
Speaker 1: like an answer to prayer, Mary gave Garrett and President Thomas,
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Speaker 1: fresh from their successful money raising campaigns for Johns Hopkins
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Speaker 1: and brynmar offered to undertake a similar project for women's suffrage,
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Speaker 1: proposing to raise sixty thousand dollars twelve thousand dollars a
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Speaker 1: year for the next five years. As we sat at
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Speaker 1: her feet day after day between sessions of the convention,
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Speaker 1: listening to what she wanted us to do to help
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Speaker 1: women and asking her questions, recalled M. Carrie Thomas in
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Speaker 1: her later years I realized that she was the greatest
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Speaker 1: person I had ever met. She seemed to me everything
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Speaker 1: that a human being could be, a leader to die
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Speaker 1: for or to live for, and follow wherever she led.
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Speaker 1: Immediately after the Convention, Susan went to Washington with the
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Speaker 1: women who were scheduled to speak at the Congressional hearing
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Speaker 1: on Women's suffrage. In her room at the Shoram Hotel,
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Speaker 1: a room with a view of the Washington Monument, which
24:10
Speaker 1: the manager always saved for her, she stood at the
24:14
Speaker 1: window looking out over the city as if saying farewell.
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Speaker 1: Then turning to Anna Shaw, she said, with emotion, I
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Speaker 1: think it is the most beautiful monument in the whole world.
24:29
Speaker 1: That evening, she sat quietly through the many tributes offered
24:33
Speaker 1: to her on her eighty sixth birthday, longing to tell
24:37
Speaker 1: all her friends the gratitude and hope that welled up
24:41
Speaker 1: in her heart. Finally, she rose, and, standing by Anna
24:46
Speaker 1: Howard Shaw, who was presiding, she impulsively put her hand
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Speaker 1: on her shoulder and praised her for her loyal support. Then,
24:55
Speaker 1: turning to the other officers, she thanked them for all
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Speaker 1: they had done. There are others also, she added, just
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Speaker 1: as true and devoted to the cause. I wish I
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Speaker 1: could name every one, but with such women consecrating their lives,
25:14
Speaker 1: she hesitated a moment, and then, in her clear, rich voice, added,
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Speaker 1: with emphasis, failure is impossible in Rochester, in the home
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Speaker 1: she so dearly loved. She spent her last weeks thinking
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Speaker 1: of the cause and the women who would carry it on.
25:36
Speaker 1: Longing to talk with Anna Shaw, she sent for her,
25:40
Speaker 1: but Anna, feeling she was needed, came even before a
25:44
Speaker 1: letter could reach her. With Anna at her bedside, Susan
25:48
Speaker 1: was content. I want you to give me a promise,
25:53
Speaker 1: she pleaded, reaching for Anna's hand. Promise me you will
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Speaker 1: keep the presidency of the Association as long as you
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Speaker 1: are well enough to do the work. Deeply moved, Anna replied,
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Speaker 1: but how can I promise that I can keep it
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Speaker 1: only as long as others wish me to keep it.
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Speaker 1: Promise to make them wish you to keep it, Susan urged,
26:20
Speaker 1: just as I wish you to keep it. After a moment,
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Speaker 1: she continued, I do not know anything about what comes
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Speaker 1: to us after this life ends, but if I have
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Speaker 1: any conscious knowledge of this world and of what you
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Speaker 1: are doing, I shall not be far away from you,
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Speaker 1: and in times of need, I will help you all
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Speaker 1: I can. Who knows, perhaps I may be able to
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Speaker 1: do more for the cause after I am gone, and
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Speaker 1: while I'm here. A few days later, on March thirteenth,
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Speaker 1: nineteen o six, she passed away her and in Anna's
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Speaker 1: asked a few years before if she believed that all
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Speaker 1: women in the United States would ever be given the vote,
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Speaker 1: she had replied with assurance. It will come, but I
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Speaker 1: shall not see it. It is inevitable. We could no
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Speaker 1: more deny forever the right of self government to one
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Speaker 1: half our people than we could keep the negro forever
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Speaker 1: in bondage. It will not be wrought by the same
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Speaker 1: disrupting forces that freed the slave. But come it will,
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Speaker 1: and I believe within a generation. She had so long
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Speaker 1: to see women voting throughout the United States, to see
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Speaker 1: them elected to legislatures in Congress. But for her, there
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Speaker 1: had only been the promise of fulfillment in Wyoming, Utah, Colorado,
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Speaker 1: and Idaho, and far away in New Zealand and Australia.
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Speaker 1: Failure is impossible, was the rallying cry she left with
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Speaker 1: her girls to spur them on in the long, discouraging
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Speaker 1: struggle ahead fourteen more years of campaigning until on August
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Speaker 1: twenty sixth, nineteen twenty, women were enfranchised throughout the United
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Speaker 1: States by the Nineteenth Amendment. Even then, their work was
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Speaker 1: not finished, for she had looked farther ahead, to the
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Speaker 1: time when men and women everywhere, regardless of race, religion,
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Speaker 1: or sex, would enjoy equal rights. Her challenging words failure
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Speaker 1: is impossible, still echo and re echo through the years,
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Speaker 1: as the crusade for human rights goes forward, and men
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Speaker 1: and women together strive to build and preserve a free world.
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Speaker 1: End of Chapter twenty six recording by Phyllis Vincelli. End
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Speaker 1: of Susan B. Anthony Rebel, Crusader, Humanitarian by Alma Lutz