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- Grace Campbell
Grace Campbell (1883–1943) As part of her advocacy for women's suffrage, Grace held membership in the Northeastern Federation of Colored Women's Clubs, an umbrella organization for fifty-five black women's clubs across the region. The federation supported anti-lynching advocacy, the work of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), child welfare, and sent $20 per month to help support Harriet Tubman and her old folks' home in Auburn, NY. The Federation formally adopted a woman suffrage resolution and sought membership in the National American Woman Suffrage Association. NAWSA denied the request for fear of losing the support of southern women. Grace often spoke at these kinds of meetings and at other political gatherings. Grace, a socialist, is most well-known for her campaigns for the New York State Assembly in 1919 and 1920, as she became the first woman of color to run for a New York state-level public office. Grace cofounded the 21st Assembly branch of the Socialist Party, and became one of the three first African American members. Fresh Pond Crematory 61-40 Mount Olivet Crescent, Middle Village, NY 11379 Queens County Learn More
- Mary Catherine Seymour Howell
Mary Catherine Seymour Howell (1844–1913) Mary was a brilliant orator that traveled with Susan B. Anthony and wrote the bill that later became the 19th Amendment. She was appointed in 1891, by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the President of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, to represent that body in the National Council of Women of the United States in Washington, D.C. Mary Catherine Howell and Anthony made a tour of New York state in 1894 and presented the state constitutional convention with a massive suffrage petition. Mount Morris (City) Cemetery Sand Hill Road, Mount Morris, NY 14510 Livingston County Learn More
- Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815–1902) Elizabeth was a suffragist, social activist, abolitionist, and leading figure of the early women's rights movement. Her Declaration of Sentiments, presented at the Seneca Falls Convention held in 1848 in Seneca Falls, NY, is often credited with initiating the first organized women's rights and women's suffrage movements in the US. Stanton was President of the National American Woman Suffrage Association from 1890 until 1892. Before Stanton narrowed her political focus almost exclusively to women's rights, she was an active abolitionist with her husband Henry Brewster Stanton (co-founder of the Republican Party) and cousin Gerrit Smith. Unlike many of those involved in the women's rights movement, Stanton addressed various issues pertaining to women beyond voting rights. Her concerns included women's parental and custody rights, property rights, employment and income rights, divorce, the economic health of the family, and birth control. After the Civil War, Stanton's commitment to suffrage caused a schism in the women's rights movement when she, together with Susan B. Anthony, declined to support passage of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the US Constitution. She opposed giving added legal protection and voting rights to African American men while women, black and white, were denied those same rights. Her position on this issue led to the formation of two separate women's rights organizations that were finally rejoined, with Stanton as president of the joint organization, about twenty years after her break from the original women's suffrage movement. Woodlawn Cemetery Lake Section, Lot 48 4199 Webster Avenue, Bronx, NY 10470 Bronx County Learn More
- Leah Wheeler Freeman
Leah Wheeler Freeman (1890–1987) Little seems to be known about Leah's suffragist activities other than that she was involved in the Bristol Women's Club where she was a speaker on the topic of Women's Suffrage. If you know more about her, you can help us tell her story. Please use our Add a Suffragist form to submit your information. Evergreen Cemetery (AKA Baptist Hill Cemetery) 3812 Co Road 2, Bloomfield, NY 14469 Ontario County Learn More
- Annie Lorraine Rose Fitch
Annie Lorraine Rose Fitch (1868–1940) Annie was born in Flushing, New York. The wife of a prominent lawyer, Joseph Fitch, she was known to be involved in charitable works in her community. Annie served as the Vice President of Flushing's Equal Franchise Association leading up to women earning the right to vote in New York State. Volume six of the History of Woman Suffrage (p. 462) lists Mrs. Joseph Fitch as one of many "capable officials" who in 1915 helped with various activities on behalf of the cause, including canvassing and clerical work. (Courtesy alexanderstreet.com) Joseph died in 1917, the same year New York gave women the right to vote, and any record of Annie Fitch's suffrage activities ends there. As suggested in the Alexander Street document, "she may have lost her energy at that time." Or perhaps we don't know more because it appears she had no grandchildren or great-grandchildren who would document her life on a genealogy site. If you know more about her, you can help us tell her story. Please use our Add a Suffragist form to submit your information. Annie is buried with her husband. Flushing Cemetery 163–06 46th Avenue, Flushing, NY 11358 Queens County Learn More
- Lucy Carlisle Watson
Lucy Carlisle Watson (1855–1938) As a graduate from the Utica Academy in 1872, Lucy presented an essay entitled "The Pressures of Society upon Beliefs," indicating her resolve to effect change. Susan B. Anthony came to Utica in 1894 to address suffrage at the Utica Opera House. "Women of Oneida County," she declaimed, "you are paid less than men doing the same job as you because you do not have the ballot. You are denied the right to a voice in government because you do not have the ballot. What you have is a whole white male aristocracy." Dr. Anna Howard Shaw, the orator of the cause, addressed women in Utica in 1900 and urged them to stand up for themselves and make a difference. She also maintained that men did not represent women at the ballot box. After her speech, the local suffrage movement began in earnest with the formation of the Utica Political Equality Club with Lucy as its president. She promoted the cause for 20 years, encouraging more women to join the movement. She helped to bring the New York State Suffrage Convention to Utica in 1912. In the August 31, 1912 Utica Herald Dispatch she was quoted: "Women suffrage appealed to my sense of justice, and during the past five years the feeling of equal suffrage for men and women is an essential feature in a democracy, and the hope it will aid in making better conditions for women and children will have strengthened my belief in the necessity of votes for women." In 1915, a suffrage liberty torch was carried throughout New York State with Lucy (at age 60) carrying the torch nineteen miles from Utica to Verona. Forest Hill Cemetery Plot 31 2201 Oneida Street, Utica, NY 13501 Oneida County Learn More
- Eva Gillam Emmons
Eva Gillam Emmons (1853–1939) Born in Port Byron, NY, Eva was the mother of two biological children and one foster child. A founding member of the Pittsford Political Equality Club, she lived at 10 North Main Street where she and her husband ran a thriving greenhouse business. Eva exemplified the civic engagement that was a part of many suffragists’ lives. In addition to working to win women the right to vote, among other interests, Eva was also an active member of the Cheerful Workers of the King’s Daughters, an organization that supported homes for aging women and was founded on the principle of service to others. Its motto was “Look up, not down; Look forward, not back; Look out, not in; Lend a hand.” In addition Eva was a member of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, one of the first organizations of women devoted to social reform with a program that “linked the religious and the secular through concerted and far-reaching reform strategies based on applied Christianity.” Eva served as Treasurer. And she was involved in Pittsford Grange, which focused on the economic and political well-being of agricultural communities. In 1902 the Pittsford Grange No. 424 installed new officers, which included five women. The Grange was an unusual fraternal organization because it allowed women to be members and to hold office. (courtesy of www.townofpittsford.org/19thAcentennial) Pittsford Cemetery A 107 38 Washington Road, Pittsford, NY 14534 Monroe County Learn More
- Carrie Chapman Catt
Carrie Chapman Catt (1859–1947) Carrie began working for woman suffrage in Iowa in 1887. In 1900 she succeeded Susan B. Anthony as president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA), and held that position until 1904. In 1902 she founded the International Woman Suffrage Alliance (IWSA) and served as president until 1923, with affiliates eventually being founded in Australia, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Holland, Norway, Sweden and the United States. After accepting another term as president of NAWSA in 1915, Carrie worked for the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which would grant suffrage to women. At a convention marking NAWSAs 50th anniversary Carrie announced the founding of the League of Women Voters (LWV), which would succeed the NAWSA and enable women to become informed voters. The 19th Amendment was eventually ratified on August 26, 1920. In 1915 she helped establish the Woman's Peace Party, and helped to organize the Committee on the Cause and Cure of War in 1925, serving as chair until 1932. Following World War I she campaigned for American participation in the League of Nations and later the United Nations. (Bio by: Diane Carmichael Blank) Woodlawn Cemetery Primrose Plot, Laurel Avenue 4199 Webster Avenue, Bronx, NY 10470 Bronx County Learn More
- Elizabeth Newell Ferguson Hershey
Elizabeth Newell Ferguson Hershey (1866–1948) Elizabeth was a lifelong resident of Gorham, NY. Married twice, Elizabeth was buried with her first husband as Elizabeth Ferguson. Elizabeth and her step daughter, Bessie Hershey, were active in suffrage organizations in their area. She is noted as belonging to the Ontario County 1919–1920 League of Women Voters. No other documentation on Elizabeth's participation has been found. Gorham Cemetery Route 245, Gorham, NY 14561 Ontario County Learn More
- Abbie Keene Mason
Abbie Keene Mason (1861–1908) Abbie was a wife, mother and temperance reformer. In 1888, she married Rev. James E. Mason, a pastor at Memorial African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church (Zion), the oldest African American church in Rochester, New York. Beyond her family life, she participated in the women's rights movement. Specifically, she was a founding member and the inaugural president of a branch of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (W.C.T.U.) in August of 1901. Eight women joined the chapter along with her. The majority attended Zion, which had a storied history of fighting for advancements for women and African Americans. Abolitionists and women's rights advocates, including Abbie, contributed to Zion's distinguished legacy. Abbie held W.C.T.U. meetings in Zion's basement and participated in a church conference that highlighted the achievements of Frederick Douglass. Douglass published his anti-slavery weekly, the North Star, in Zion's basement. He also led the efforts to make the original church building a stop on the Underground Railroad, which sheltered Harriet Tubman and other escaped enslaved people. Furthermore, Douglass's friend and leader of the suffrage movement, Susan B. Anthony, gave her last public speech at Zion before her death in 1906. *courtesy of alexanderstreet.com Mount Hope Cemetery NW 1/4, BB, Lot 159 1133 Mount Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620 Monroe County Learn More
- Ella Boole
Ella Boole (1858–1952) Her obituary reads “World Leader of WCTU dies at 92." Ella was an American temperance leader and social reformer. She served as head of the World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union from 1931 to 1947, after serving as head of the United States' National WCTU. Following the enfranchisement of women in the United States, Ella decided to run for office herself. In 1920, she unsuccessfully challenged James Wolcott Wadsworth Jr. for the Republican Party nomination for the United States Senate. After losing the nomination, she ran as a candidate for the Prohibition Party against Wadsworth and the Democratic and Socialist Party candidates in the general election. Wadsworth won easily with 52% of the vote, while Boole came in third place with 7% of the vote, not far ahead of the Socialist candidate. Earlier in her life she had shown great skill as an organizer of new unions, and became vice-president of the New York state union in 1891. After the death of Ella's husband, she was able to support her family through an inheritance from her father and income from her speaking engagements and temperance activities. One of her key activities was in shifting WCTU work away from its emphasis on collecting petitions, and towards direct lobbying of legislators. Her other causes included supporting legislative changes to bring about social reform, including laws to protect the rights of women and children in industry, the establishment of separate courts and deputies for juvenile offenders, and woman suffrage. As President of the International WCTU, she promoted disarmament, the end of the international illicit drug trade, and supported international women's rights. Cypress Hills Cemetery 833 Jamaica Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11208 Kings County Learn More
- Mary Lucy Draper
Mary Lucy Draper (1866–1952) Mary spent most of her life in Victor, NY. Her family included many physicians and Mary continued this caring tradition by opening her home to others in need. She was an active member of the Presbyterian Church, Eastern Star, and the Unity Club. Through these organizations, she gave her time and energy to meeting the needs of others in her community. The Victor Equality Suffrage Association first met at her home in October 1913. Seventeen members committed to carrying out the work needed to grant women the right to vote. Boughton Hill Cemetery Old Ground, Section C, Row 13, Lot 10, Grave 1 1518 NY-444, Victor, NY 14564 Ontario County Learn More
- Rhoda Anne Hallock Glover
Rhoda Anne Hallock Glover (1826–1920) A lifelong resident of Long Island and mother of five, Rhoda spent her later years vigorously supporting the suffrage movement. She was the vice president of the Political Equity League of Queens and Nassau Counties. Rhoda also served as a member of the Nassau County Suffrage Club in Rockville Center and was later named as the permanent honorary president. Well into her 80s, Rhoda rode in suffrage parades along with Edna Kearns and others. The 1913 photo shows her driving her horse drawn carriage in a parade from Mineola to Hempstead. Rhoda was known as Long Island’s oldest suffragist. Old Bethany Cemetery 12605 Main Road (Route 25), Mattituck, NY 11952 Suffolk County Learn More
- Katherine Stoneman
Katherine Stoneman (1841–1925) Kate is best known for being the first woman lawyer in the state of New York, admitted to the bar in 1886 before being the first female graduate of Albany Law School in 1898. She was very involved with the local and state woman suffrage movement for many years and was the first woman to legally vote in Albany in 1880 when New York women were granted the right to vote in school elections. Kate was friends with Susan B. Anthony and worked alongside Lillie Devereux Blake, Mary Seymour Howell and other prominent suffrage leaders. She lived long enough to witness New York women voting in 1918 and the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution in 1920. *courtesy alexanderstreet.com. Albany Rural Cemetery Section 56, Plot 28 Cemetery Avenue, Menands, NY 12204 Albany County Learn More
- Edith Lawrence Black Bailey
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
- Maude Skinner Humphrey
Maude Skinner Humphrey (1856–1897) Maude served as the President of Warsaw's Monday Club and Chairman of the legislative committee of the NYS Woman Suffrage Association. Proceedings of the Thirtieth Annual Convention of the National American, published in 1898, mention Maude as an officer in the NYSWSA and include her in a roll of the immortals in the movement, the occasion being the 50th anniversary of the 1848 convention. Warsaw Cemetery S. Main Street, Warsaw, NY 14569 Wyoming County Learn More
- Alva Erskine Smith Vanderbilt Belmont
Alva Erskine Smith Vanderbilt Belmont (1853–1933) Alva was a prominent multi-millionaire American socialite and a major figure in the American women's suffrage movement. Known for having a haughty manner that antagonized some people, she was also noted for her energy, intelligence, strong opinions, and willingness to challenge convention. In 1909, Alva founded the Political Equality League to get votes for suffrage-supporting New York State politicians, wrote articles for newspapers, and joined the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). She later formed her own Political Equality League to seek broad support for suffrage in neighborhoods throughout New York City, and, as its president, led its division of New York City's 1912 Women's Votes Parade. In 1916, she was one of the founders of the National Woman's Party and organized the first picketing ever to take place before the White House, in January 1917. She was elected president of the National Woman's Party, an office she held until her death. On "Equal Pay Day," April 12, 2016, Alva was honored as President Barack Obama established the Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument in Washington, D.C. Woodlawn Cemetery Whitewood Plot, Sections 133, 134. 4199 Webster Avenue, Bronx, NY 10470 Bronx County Learn More
- Adelene Welsh Bayle
Adelene Welsh Bayle (1888–1933) Adelene was an active member of the Political Equality Club of Glens Falls. She was on the local Canvas Committee in 1915 helping coordinate the canvassing of Glens Falls to ascertain how many men and women in the city were in favor of granting women the right to vote. This committee was part of the Empire State Campaign of the New York State Woman Suffrage Association. Glens Falls was in the 11th campaign district led by Katharine Notman. Pine View Cemetery Wah-tah-wah, 1C, 56 21 Quaker Road, Queensbury, NY 12804 Warren County Learn More
- William Clough Bloss
William Clough Bloss (1795–1863) William was a dedicated supporter of equal rights for all people. Born in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, William moved to Rochester to join his parents. He and his new wife built and operated a tavern in Brighton. A short time after, William became involved in the temperance movement. His liquor was dumped in the Erie Canal and the building was sold. In the early 1830s, Bloss became involved in the anti-slavery movement. He worked to establish a local anti-slavery society as well as a statewide convention to address this injustice. William was a publisher of the Rights of Man newspaper when local papers refused to include anti-slavery articles. He served in the New York State Assembly for three years, advocating for obtaining the vote for people "of color" and for desegregating all public schools. William also embraced women's rights. He spoke at the Rochester Convention in August of 1848 in support of the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions. In later years, William worked to have the NY death penalty abolished. Social justice was his life's work. Brighton Cemetery Hoyt Place, Rochester, NY 14610 Monroe County Learn More
- Reverend Annis Bertha Ford Eastman
Reverend Annis Bertha Ford Eastman (1852–1910) Annis was a restless intellect who was under-nourished by the opportunities for women in her day. Despite those limitations, she became a pulpit minister, an active suffragist, and a lifelong student of philosophy, religion, and psychology. Two of her children - Max and Crystal Eastman - became well-known reformers and intellectuals, influenced by their mother’s ideas. Annis and her sisters grew up in Peoria, Illinois in a household with a violent, alcoholic father. All five sisters were determined to make their own living, which Annis did by seeking a college education at Oberlin College (class of 1874). There she met her husband, Samuel Eastman, who was studying for the ministry. They settled in Canandaigua, NY. The early years of their marriage were fraught and difficult, marked by the births of their four children and the death of their oldest son at age seven. In 1886, Samuel Eastman’s health collapsed and he stepped down from his pulpit. This made space for Annis to lead both the church and the family. In 1889 she was ordained a Congregational minister based on her independent study of scripture, one of the first female clergy in the denomination—and the country. She led a church in Brookton, NY (near Ithaca) and became increasingly well known as a preacher. In 1893 she addressed the World’s Parliament of Religions at the Chicago World’s Fair. The following year Annis and her husband were both hired as assistant pastors of Park Church in Elmira. Whether Samuel Eastman was active in the ministry or hired because they would not have hired Annis alone is unclear. When Rev. Thomas K. Beecher died in 1900, the Eastmans were elevated to co-pastors with Annis as the intellectual leader of the church. Her own academic journey included summer study at Harvard with some of the great men of philosophy, and she grew increasingly skeptical of Christian dogma. In 1907 she led the church to change its affiliation from Congregational to Unitarian. The shift indicated her own engagement with the secular world. In her 50’s she became increasingly interested in suffrage and social reform. In 1908 she addressed the 60th anniversary ceremony at Seneca Falls—giving one of two keynotes, alongside Mary Church Terrell, one of the most prominent African-American activists in the country. In 1910 Annis wrote a eulogy for Mark Twain, Elmira’s most famous resident, but was too sick to speak so her husband delivered it on her behalf. She died later that year. Samuel Eastman outlived his wife by 15 years. Their shared headstone reflects the partnership Annis Eastman and her husband eventually developed: ministers and equals. Bio by Rachel B. Tiven. Woodlawn Cemetery Section 5, Lot 207 NP 130 N Pearl Street, Canandaigua, NY 14424 Ontario County Learn More

















