Eliza Miller McDonald

(1845–1937) Described as a community activist and philanthropist, Eliza helped organize the Flushing Equal Franchise Association in 1909 and served as its president in 1913. By 1915 she was involved with the New York Woman Suffrage Party but left the Queens County division of the organization to form a separate Queens-based group, the Woman's Suffrage Central Campaign Committee; they also elected her its president. By 1916, the two groups had been reunited, the president of the other rival Queens organization had been voted out, and Eliza was elected to serve as the Vice President of the united Queens Borough branch.

One of the most noteworthy successes of this branch that year was its “Better Baby Campaign” which recruited 4 volunteer nurses and 7 physicians and gathered over 300 children across Queens who did not otherwise have access to health care to receive free vaccinations and physicals. In 1917 she returned to serve as the branch's director. Also in 1917, Eliza worked as a member of the War Service Committee of the Woman Suffrage Party of New York City. After the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, the Women's Civic Club presented her with an engraved silver gavel, “To our beloved pioneer, Eliza MacDonald, Suffrage Victory 1920.” *courtesy of alexanderstreet.com