Anna Sands McAvoy O'Shea

(1852–1937) Anna was an activist and suffragist from the age of sixteen until women won the right to vote in 1920. Her most notable participation in the suffrage movement came from her work in New York City with the St. Catherine's Welfare Association, a Catholic women's organization. Anna played a major role in establishing the group and organized the first meeting, held on Jan 7, 1911 at the Covenant of Peace, 225 West Fourteenth St. in New York City. She served as the organization's vice-president in 1917.

Anna actively engaged in the group's effort to spread the support of enfranchisement to women. The women of St. Catherine's Welfare Association rejected the general policy of the Catholic Church opposing women's enfranchisement, instead viewing it as their mission to change that policy.