Zobedia Alleman (1848–1940) Zobedia she served multiple terms as an officer in the Cayuga County Political Equality Club, was a delegate to the State Suffrage Convention, and was the state chair of the School Suffrage Committee of the NYS Woman Suffrage Association (NYSWSA). At the age of 90, Zobedia was still active in community affairs, giving, according to newspaper accounts, a “pleasing senior program” at a meeting of the Sherwood Orange Grange No. 1034, which described her as the oldest Granger in Cayuga County. A side note: Her obituaries misspelled her last name as Allerman; a mistake that perhaps helped to obscure her legacy in the movement. (Ruth Bradley April 2020 auburnpub.com) Maple Grove Cemetery ​ 41 W Main Street, Waterloo, NY 13165 Seneca County Learn More

Romain Hayward Lusk (1859–1945) Romaine, one of the founding members of the Pittsford Political Equality Club, hosted the Club’s meeting at her home on South Main street on December 2, 1902. This meeting memorably followed the sudden death of the Club’s first President, Mary Helen Shepard Light. At the meeting “letters from Mary Anthony (sister of Susan B. Anthony) expressing sympathy for us in our great loss were read and remarked upon. It was cordially agreed that each member would contribute a share of the flowers sent to Mrs. Light’s funeral in the name of the PEC.” Romaine Lusk’s life reflects the hardships women faced at the turn of the 20th century. Her husband died in 1891, leaving her to raise their only surviving child, 5-year old son Stephen, on her own. She supported herself and by working as a housekeeper in various homes in Rochester. Romaine spent her time in a quest for knowledge, taking classes on china painting and physical culture and participating in a Pittsford book club. "I am proud that Romaine Lusk was part of the effort to bring women a voice in the political system, including the right to vote—a right I recently exercised for the first time.”–Riley Jane Lusk (courtesy of www.townofpittsford.org/19thAcentennial) Pittsford Cemetery E 400 38 Washington Road, Pittsford, NY 14534 Monroe County Learn More

Lucy Spicer Shawler (1812–1896) Lucy was noted in the History of Women's Suffrage as having signed a petition to urge voting against Leslie Russell, NYS Attorney General, who opposed women's rights and whose recommendation was blocking women's rights legislation in New York State. He was defeated by 13,000 votes. Lucy also spoke at a Chenango, NY convention regarding the position of the county on the women's suffrage bill. It was reported in the New York Times July 26, 1884. Columbus Corners Cemetery ​ Columbus, NY 13411 Chenango County Learn More

Hannah Francisco Babbitt (1850–1931) Hannah was born in Canada. Her husband was a minister at the Gorham Presbyterian Church and Hannah was active in church affairs until her death. Hannah, along with her daughter and daughter in law, were members of the Ontario County League of Women Voters in 1919. If you know more about her, you can help us tell her story. Please use our Add a Suffragist form to submit your information. Gorham Cemetery ​ Route 245, Gorham, NY 14561 Ontario County Learn More

Chloe Amelia Peckham Sisson (1841–1923) Chloe was a founding member of the Easton Political Equality Club in 1891, along with her sister Emily Peckham, sister-in-law Mary Eddy Peckham and seven others. Additionally Chloe was the first female Washington County delegate to the Republican State Convention following passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920. (Information from "Strength Without Compromise", Teri Gay 2009) Easton Rural Cemetery Possibly plot Q-3 Meeting House Road, Easton, NY 12154 Washington County Learn More

Mariane Willets Wright Chapman (1843–1907) In 1884, Mariane attended her first women's suffrage convention held by the Woman Suffrage Association of Brooklyn. At the time, Lucy Stone was president. Shortly after, Mariane became a member of the association and went on to become president herself. Later, from 1897 to 1902, Mariane was president of the New York State Woman's Suffrage Association. Throughout her time leading these organizations, Mariane was frequently in contact with other well-known activists such as Susan B. Anthony and Carrie Chapman Catt. Westbury Friends Cemetery ​ 550 Post Avenue, Westbury, NY 11590 Nassau County Learn More

Ella Cunningham (1878–1945) Ella was an African American activist who worked for black women's suffrage in the early twentieth century. She was especially active in 1917, when suffragists in New York State organized to pressure the state's voters to pass a women's suffrage amendment. Born in South Carolina, Ella spent her adult life in New York City. She married at 19, but it ended in divorce. Despite her busy family and work life, as a domestic servant and laundress, Ella made time for political activism. She had no formal education; still she was literate and was determined to help black women gain the right to vote. During World War I, Ella and other African Americans in New York City contributed $350 to the war fund for the Colored Men's division of the YMCA; remarkable considering her own income. At this same time, Ella was a member of the Colored Women's Suffrage Club of New York, participating in a statewide suffrage convention in August of 1917. The New York Age wrote an article about the event, which met in Saratoga in hopes of garnering support for a suffrage amendment, which was on the November ballot in New York State. Women—black and white—traveled together to Saratoga. While suffragists had separate organizations, for this meeting, they united as affiliates of the New York City Woman Suffrage Party. The governor of New York and the mayor of New York City also attended the meeting. A reporter for The New York Age wrote that woman suffrage is one of the vital issues of the day to be given serious consideration. The State Suffrage party now has one million women enrolled under its banners. The state convention was significant for black women in particular. While black and white women united to garner support for women's suffrage, black women had long been treated as inferiors to their white counterparts. Some black women openly demanded equal treatment, nonetheless, they supported the New York Woman Suffrage Party because it was their best opportunity to gain the right to vote. The efforts of Ella and the other members of the Colored Women's Suffrage Club of New York City paid off. After hosting and attending meetings, sending postcards, knocking on strangers' doors, and even finding transportation for male allies to get to the polls on Election Day, Black women suffragists succeeded as New York voters made women's suffrage the state law in November 1917 three years before the Nineteenth Amendment required all states to grant women the right to vote. Ella continued to live in New York City with her adult children and worked the same jobs that she had before she won the right to vote. But she experienced a significant difference: she was able to—and did—vote. (Bio courtesy Alexanderstreet.com) Holy Cross Cemetery St. Augustine, System: CEM, Section: AUGU, Row: 23, Plot: 42 3620 Tilden Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11203 Kings County Learn More

May Malone Stalter (1858–1915) May was one of the founding members of the Pittsford Political Equality Club, formed in 1902. The first Political Equality Club was formed in 1885 at the Rochester home of Mary Anthony (sister of Susan). These clubs worked not only on securing women the right to vote, but also on other issues of women’s equality. In Rochester that included gaining the right for women to be admitted to the University of Rochester, providing legal assistance to women in need, and improving working conditions for women. While Rochester was the center of suffrage activity in that region, the movement included Political Equality Clubs in Pittsford, Charlotte, Chili, Churchville, Irondequoit, and Geneva. May was one of the five founding members of the Pittsford Club who died before the 19th Amendment was ratified. She, along with nine other founders are buried in Pittsford Cemetery between East Avenue and Washington Road. From her obituary in the Fairport Herald-Mail: Wednesday, June 9, 1915. "She was a very bright woman, keeping up in all the latest literature, and had studied several different languages." (courtesy of www.townofpittsford.org/19thAcentennial) Pittsford Cemetery K 112 38 Washington Road, Pittsford, NY 14534 Monroe County Learn More

Mary Jane Ashley Abel (1867–1957) Mary Jane Ashley was born in Richmond Center and died in Canandaigua, New York. She was a member of the Political Equality Club where her sister Alice Ashley was President. There were only 15 club members in 1906 when they agreed to help Harriett May Mills, the President of the New York State Women's Suffrage Association in Syracuse bring the issue of suffrage to their group in Honeoye. Mary Jane was 41 in 1906 when the Honeoye Political Equality Club was formed. She was Captain of the First Election District of Richmond, and in 1909 served a term on the Executive Committee of the Ontario County Woman Suffrage Association. That same year she attended the State Convention as a delegate. Her daughter Theresa, at age six, was recognized in 1910 as the youngest member of the Club. Lakeview Cemetery Memorial ID #62579133 West Lake Road, Honoeye, NY 14471 Ontario County Learn More

Cora Staffin (1866–1956) Cora was the Recording Secretary of the Erie County Political Equality League--an organization of Erie County women’s clubs. In 1904, there were ten women’s clubs under the umbrella of the Erie County organization. Cora attended annual conventions in 1912 and 1913. After the passage of the 19th amendment, Cora was a member of the Collins Town Election Board. She was also Noble Grand of the St. Clair Rebekah Lodge, an Odd Fellows women’s auxiliary, whose ceremony and lectures are based on women in Biblical history who exemplified the nobility and character of women. Collins Center Cemetery Section B. Lot 177 C NY-39, Collins Center, New York, 14035 Erie County Learn More

Edith Lawrence Black Bailey (1869–1912) Edith's suffrage work included a stint as the acting president of the Equal Franchise Society, a home for upper-crust women who were uncomfortable with the increasingly public, rabble-rousing suffrage work that was coming into fashion in New York. Though Edith came from wealth, she was drawn to more vigorous public organizing. In 1909, she spoke at a rally at Madison Square, introduced by Harriot Stanton Blatch. In addition to publishing other works, Edith wrote a tract called "Some Ideals of Suffrage." Her speech at the 1909 rally gives a clue to her suffrage politics: [Suffragists are housekeepers who] do not want to confine our housekeeping to our own homes. We feel that there is housekeeping for us in the streets, in the prisons, and on our school boards. There are old and young bachelors on the school boards, and there ought to be a mother or two." Reynolds (Cross River) Cemetery ​ Cross River Road, Cross River, NY 10518 Westchester County Learn More

Mabel Rosalie Barrow Edge (1877–1962) Born Mabel Rosalie Edge, she preferred "Rosalie". She was a socialite who committed her life to activism, becoming an influential environmental advocate. Rosalie was the daughter of Harriet Bowen Woodward and John Wylie Barrow, a wealthy British importer and accountant who was a first cousin to Charles Dickens. After marrying Charles Noel Edge, a British civil engineer, in 1909, she spent several years traveling throughout Asia. In 1915, after settling in New York, Rosalie joined the Equal Franchise Society, an organization founded by women of wealth to channel energies of the upper class into social activism. Rosalie became involved in the movement for women's voting rights, giving speeches and writing pro-suffrage pamphlets. In 1916, she was elected as the secretary-treasurer of the New York State Woman Suffrage Party under the leadership of Carrie Chapman Catt. In the 1920s, Rosalie turned her focus to environmental conservation, eventually establishing the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. The Rosalie Edge Society is named for their founder who is considered one of the most important conservationists of the 20th Century. Woodlawn Cemetery ​ 93 Union Avenue (County Road 69), New Windsor, NY Orange County Learn More

Evanetta Hare (1862/63–1938) Evanetta played a prominent role in the New York State suffrage movement and the local movement in Troy. In 1894, she attended the New York State Woman Suffrage Association (NYSWSA) convention in Ithaca and was named a press officer representing Rensselaer County. She was a founding member of the Political Equality Club of Rensselaer County and served a stint as the club's vice president. In 1913, she earned an appointment from NYSWSA as chairman of the Empire State Campaign Committee for the eleventh district in the Keene Valley region. As a district chair, Evanetta coordinated publicity for the 1915 referendum vote in her region and led a conference and school for suffrage workers where she collaborated closely with National American Woman Suffrage Association president Carrie Chapman Catt. Evanetta spoke frequently in favor of suffrage and proved a formidable opponent in debate against anti-suffragists. Just days before the November 2, 1915 referendum vote in New York, she engaged in a memorable clash with Margaret M. Crumpacker of the National Association Opposed to Woman Suffrage. In her eloquent defense of suffrage, Hare described a woman's right to vote as "part of the eternal forward march of the human race toward complete democracy." Evanetta labored diligently for the improvement of salaries and working conditions for teachers in the Troy area as another extension of her activism. She was elected treasurer of the Troy Teachers Association in the 1890s and later chaired the legislative committee for the Teachers' Welfare League of New York State, spearheading lobbying efforts in Albany on behalf of teachers. Additionally, she was a founder and an administrator of the Troy Teacher's Pension Fund. Until her death at the age of 75, Evanetta Hare maintained active membership in countless community organizations, particularly the welfare of women and children, including those concerned with improving housing conditions in Troy. (Courtesy of AlexanderStreet.com) Oakwood Cemetery ​ 50 101st Street, Troy, NY 12180 Rensselaer County Learn More

Anna Elizabeth Dickinson (1842–1932) Anna was the first woman paid to campaign for political candidates, even though she couldn't vote for them. In thanks for her work getting Republicans elected in the 1860s, she was invited to address Congress. On January 16, 1864, with President Lincoln and Mary Todd present, Anna addressed a joint session of Congress. Speaking for more than an hour without notes, Dickinson critiqued Lincoln's generosity to Confederate states and his meager protection for those formerly enslaved. Grandly, she closed by endorsing Lincoln for a second term, as "the Hour" called for a steady hand. After the war, Anna toured nationally, delivering a repertoire of 22 different lectures on women's suffrage and the rights of all African-Americans. At the height of her career, she made the equivalent of approximately $400,000 annually in today's dollars. Anna was one of the most famous suffragists of the day, so the movement's leaders couldn't ignore her, but they couldn't control her either. Both the National and the American Woman Suffrage Association invited her to join their boards, but she wasn't a joiner. Anna did provide the movement with some financial support, though. Her image is the frontispiece of Volume II of the History of Woman Suffrage, with her inscription: "The world belongs to those who take it." Bio by Rachel B. Tiven. Slate Hill Cemetery ​ South Church Street, Goshen, NY, 10924 Orange County Learn More

Gabrielle Stewart Mulliner (1872–1919) A lawyer, Gabrielle advocated for women in the court system and appealed to the Governor to set up separate courts for women and women's issues. Gabrielle was noted as a leader in women's affairs and was referred to as a prominent suffragist. She was reported to have called anti-suffragists "traitors to the home" and "cowards." Gabrielle authored a pamphlet entitled "New York Laws of Interest to Women", read at the November 11, 1908 convention of the New York State Federation of Women's Clubs and published by the Federation in 1908. She was active in the Woman Suffrage Party from its inception in 1909. She served as chairman of the Legislative Committee of the New York State Federation of Women's Clubs, during which time she was successful in establishing a Women's Court, a separate court for the trial of women under arrest. Gabrielle was a member of the New York County Lawyer's Association, Equal Franchise Society, Women's Republican Club, National Civic Association, National Society of Patriotic Women, and Daughters of the American Revolution. *courtesy alexanderstreet.com Sleepy Hollow Cemetery Lot 2617, Section 33 540 North Broadway, Sleepy Hollow, NY 10591 Westchester County Learn More

Susan Fiske Rumsey (1857–1941) Susan's close friend, Carrie Chapman Catt, was a frequent guest at Susan's house on Buffalo's "Millionaire Row." Susan presided over many women's suffrage meetings at her house. In 1908 the National American Woman Suffrage Association held it's annual convention in Buffalo, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the first Woman's Rights Convention at Seneca Falls. She was an active member of the local suffrage group that organized that meeting. In 1909 Susan spoke on behalf of the Western New York Federation of Women's Clubs at a hearing on woman suffrage before the New York state legislature in Albany. In 1913 Susan was elected a Director of the New York State Woman Suffrage Association. In November 1915 she was elected an officer of the New York State Woman Suffrage Party, which organized the 1917 referendum campaign that eventually led to New York women gaining the vote. Forest Lawn Cemetery Section X, Lot 1, Space 19 1411 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14209 Erie County Learn More

Rhoda Lynn Price (1827–888) Rhoda attended the State suffrage convention held in Saratoga Springs in July 1869. The goal of the convention was to create a permanent organization for the State of New York. Rhoda was elected to be a member of the Executive Committee, joining several other representatives from Syracuse. Without a doubt Rhoda "did the work" of suffrage in her day, and yet in regards to herself there's still much left to say. If you know more about Rhoda, you can help us tell her story. Please use our Add a Suffragist form to submit your information. Oakwood Cemetery Sect 12 plot 103 940 Comstock Avenue, Syracuse, NY 13210 Onondaga County Learn More

Delia C. Kenyon (1858–1945) Delia graduated from Rochester Business School, moved to Mendon, NY where she initially took a job as a secretary and bookkeeper at a local mill. She remained in the milling business and ultimately advanced to form a partnership with Roscoe and Samuel Tomkinson. The firm of Tomkinson, Kenyon and Tomkinson (TK&T) leased a mill on North Main Street. Although the mill had its difficulties (it burned down in 1901 and the inside had to be rebuilt), by the First World War, TK&T was exporting flour to France. In addition to her flourishing business, Kenyon was involved in a variety of community activities. She was a long-term member of the Honeoye Falls School Board. She helped to establish the Mendon Public Library and served as the president of its governing board. Delia's commitment to women’s rights is evidenced in the role she played in the Fortnightly Club, circa Feb. 19, 1913. The club, a women’s group established with the purpose of the advancement of women in Honeoye Falls, was formed over one hundred years ago and remains in existence. Delia was instrumental in organizing the Club, and acted as its President. By1914 both the New York State Grange and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union had endorsed the cause of women’s suffrage. A glance at the program for March 31, 1915, a year in which Delia served as President, shows the club’s concern for women’s issues. “The Benefits of Equal Suffrage” was discussed, and women also spoke and heard about “Clara Barton and the Red Cross,” (Barton being a known suffragist) the “Growth of Temperance,” and “The Grange.” The program concluded with a “Roll Call of Women Reformers.” Honeoye Falls Cemetery ​ 214 North Main Street, Honeoye Falls, NY 14472 Monroe County Learn More

Anna Babbitt Sidman (1877–1956) Anna was an educator and an active member of the Gorham Presbyterian Church. Along with her mother, Hannah and sister-in-law, Maud, she became involved in local and county efforts to support women. Anna was a member of the Ontario County Political Equity Club. This organization of men and women discussed local issues as well as women's rights. From 1919-1920, Anna is listed as a member of the Ontario County League of Women Voters. If you know more about her, you can help us tell her story. Please use our Add a Suffragist form to submit your information. Gorham Cemetery ​ Route 245, Gorham, NY 14561 Ontario County Learn More

Helen Probst Abbott (1879–1970) Helen was President of Rochester Political Equality Club and Chair of Monroe County Woman Suffrage Association. She was also one of the founders of the Woman's City Club, a leader in women's civic activities, and served as Vice Chair of the City Manager Committee. Named on the Democratic ticket in 1927, Helen ran unsuccessfully as the first female city council candidate of the East District of Rochester. Very active in civic and political affairs, she occupied the office of chairman of the Christmas Bureau, Council of Social Agencies, was president of the Rochester Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and served on the Board of Directors of the YMCA. Her work in organizing the Rochester Woman's City Club attracted the attention of Miss Anne Morgan, founder and the executive director of the American Woman's Association and daughter of financier J. P. Morgan. In 1932, Helen left Rochester for New York City when Anne Morgan appointed her as the executive director of the American Woman's Association (AWA), an organization which helped women invest their own money for leisurely pursuits. Helen directed the activities for over 4,000 women of the AWA, who took part in study groups, lectures, and other activities ranging from art to music and drama. Helen challenged women not to hide behind their roles as homemakers. She reminded women that the modern woman does not have to choose one role over the other, but to embrace the idea that she can have a career and a family. She urged women to get involved in politics and civic matters on a consistent basis and, plan to meet the challenges of modern times and modern freedom. *courtesy alexanderstreet.com Riverside Cemetery Section I William Street, Gouverneur, NY 13642 St. Lawrence County Learn More