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Ruth Woolsey Johnson Mott (1881–1971) Ruth served as a director of the New York State Woman Suffrage Association in 1913 and marched in the woman suffrage parade in Washington, D.C. on March 3. Her husband, Luther Mott, was US Representative from New York's 28th (later the 32nd) congressional district (1911-1923), an early proponent of women's suffrage, and an ardent prohibitionist. On his death in 1923, former speaker, Thaddeus D. Sweet, was backed by party leaders over Ruth Mott as a candidate to replace her husband in Congress. At the same time, Ruth's supporters suggested that she be offered the position of Oswego's postmaster, which she accepted. Ruth served as the postmaster in Oswego from 1923 to 1936. While many supporters of women's suffrage were wives or daughters of successful professional men or business leaders, Ruth achieved those roles in her own right. *Courtesy alexanderstreet.com Riverside Cemetery Section X, Lot 10 4024 County Rte 57, Oswego, NY 13126 Oswego County Learn More

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 (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

Anna Murray Douglass (1813–1882) Anna Murray was an American abolitionist, member of the Underground Railroad, and the first wife of American social reformer and statesman Frederick Douglass, from 1838 to her death. Anna was a member of the Anti-Slavery Society as well as a regular donor. Like her husband Frederick, she was committed to the emancipation of her people. In Rochester, she was also an agent on the Underground Railroad – where she provided food, clean clothes, and a safe place for fugitive enslaved people to stay on their journeys to freedom in Canada. An early advocate of Women’s Suffrage, Anna Murray's husband Frederick Douglass is often called a Suffragent. His enlightenment was said to be influenced by relationships with some of the movement’s founders. But the example of his wife Anna Murray Douglass must have also been a major and earlier influence. She was among the most fearless and independent women in his life and had been so even before they met. The records of Caroline County, Maryland, held at the state archives show that 17-year-old Anna and three of her siblings requested official "Certificates of Freedom" from the county court on 29 May 1832 attesting to their free status. The certificates enabled them to travel freely in Maryland, because the law required they provide proof that they were free people, or risk being enslaved. It is likely that Anna and her brother and sisters were planning to move to Baltimore, where Anna eventually met Frederick Bailey [Douglass] and helped him escape. A resourceful young woman, she established herself as a laundress and housekeeper and became financially secure. Murray's freedom made Douglass believe in the possibility of his own. When he decided to escape enslavement in 1838, Murray encouraged and helped him by providing Douglass with some sailor's clothing her laundry work gave her access to. She also gave him part of her savings, which she augmented by selling one of her feather beds. After Douglass had made his way to Philadelphia and then New York, Murray followed him, bringing enough goods with her to be able to start a household. Anna's daughter Rosetta reminded those who admired her father that his "was a story made possible by the unswerving loyalty of Anna Murray." Mt. Hope Cemetery Section T, Lot 26 1133 Mt Hope Ave, Rochester, NY 14620 Monroe County Learn More

Maria Boughton Crump (1850–1909) Maria and her sister, Christine Boughton Dunning, were founding members of the Pittsford Political Equality Club. Maria’s family is an example of the connections between women’s suffrage and abolition. Maria’s father-in-law and husband were ardent abolitionists who aided runaway slaves. Maria and her husband had nine children. Their son, Dr. Walter Crump, was a Trustee of the Tuskegee Institute, the historically Black college founded by Booker T. Washington. Pittsford Cemetery J 148 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

Eleanor Weatherhead Higley (1872–1958) Eleanor was a founding member of the Political Equality Club of Hudson Falls serving as Vice President in 1915, then president 1916–1917. She also served as Chairman of the 1915 Washington County Suffrage Convention. In 1916 she was elected secretary of the Washington County Branch of the New York State Woman Suffrage Party. Chester Rural Cemetery C-G70, Row 4, Grave 9 US Route 9, Chestertown, NY 12817 Warren County Learn More

Cora Calhoun Horne (1865–1932) In her autobiography, singer-actress Lena Horne remarked that "the part of me that responds to causes or to injustices, or issues fighting comments on all kinds of issues, that part of me is the creation of my proud, activist grandmother, who never seemed to be afraid of anything". Horne's grandmother, Cora, was a community leader and suffragist in Brooklyn in the first decades of the 20th century. She was a leader in the Urban League, the YWCA, and the NAACP, and a vocal advocate of women's suffrage in the heated years of the New York state campaign. During World War I, Cora led a Red Cross unit making and repairing bandages, in connection with the Brooklyn YWCA. A detailed essay about Cora's life reports that, "in recognition of her contributions, Cora was appointed to the mayors Victory Committee." Cora continued actively participating in the National Association of Colored Women and the NAACP and by 1918 was also involved with the Brooklyn League on Urban Conditions and the Big Brother and Big Sister Federation, organizations in which she would hold many leadership positions and with which she would continue working until the end of her life. Among these, Cora served as editor-in-chief of the Empire State Voice, the newsletter of the New York Federation of Colored Women's Clubs. The Evergreens Cemetery ​ 1629 Bushwick Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11207 Kings County Learn More

Margarite (Peggy) Baird Johns (1890–1970) Peggy was a well-known artist and suffragist in Greenwich Village. She was known to mix with radicals, writers, poets, and artists. In 1917 she met Dorothy Day and became close friends for the rest of their lives. They joined the National Woman's Party and picketed in front of the White House to urge the passage of the woman suffrage amendment. Later that day, Peggy, Dorothy, and others were arrested and sent to Occoquan workhouse. Peggy earned the “prison pin,” a symbol of her “sacrifice of individual liberty for the liberty of all women.” Saint Sylvia Cemetery ​ 104 Broadway, Tivoli, NY 12583 Dutchess County Learn More

Mary Elizabeth Eato (1844–1915) Mary Elizabeth was an African-American social justice advocate and women’s suffrage leader. At sixteen she started teaching in the New York City Public School system where she was said to have been an exceptional teacher and an inspiration to her students. Mary taught at Grammar School No. 3 on West 41st Street, later moving to Grammar School No. 80 on 42nd Street. She retired in 1904, after a career that spanned forty-four years. Mary Elizabeth also led a number of social justice programs, including St. Mark’s Mutual Aid Society, the New York African Society for Mutual Relief, and the Hope Day Nursery for Colored Children. She became a member of the Colored Women’s Equal Suffrage League of Brooklyn, New York and served as its Vice President in 1908. During her tenure she was noted for inviting a diverse range of suffrage speakers including white women suffragists and men. Cypress Hills Cemetery ​ 833 Jamaica Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11208 Kings County Learn More

Lorena Weller Drummond (1859–1930) Rena was a leading citizen of Shortsville as well as an active member of the Presbyterian Church there where she was a member of the Women's Organization. In May of 1916, she attended the Ontario County Suffrage Convention held in Shortsville. No other documentation of her contributions was found. If you know more about her, you can help us tell her story. Please use our Add a Suffragist form to submit your information. Brookside Cemetery Section A, Lot 114 18 Hebron Avenue, Shortsville, NY 14548 Ontario County Learn More

Ruth Campbell Clement Litt (1867–1937) Ruth was a suffragist and advocate for women's rights. Widowed young, she became a successful farmer in rural Suffolk County and put her energy into promoting business opportunities for women. Ruth became a member of the New York State Republican Committee and served as chairperson of the GOP in Suffolk County. In 1924, she was denied an opportunity to represent her area in the Republican National Convention. Ruth responded by setting off on a worldwide tour supporting business opportunities for women. In 1929, Ruth was an organizer of the Open Door International. This organization was dedicated to having women viewed equally to men in industry. Woodlawn Cemetery ​ 501 East 233rd Street, Bronx, NY 10470 Bronx County Learn More

Katherine Alexander Duer MacKay Blake (1878–1930) Katherine founded the Equal Franchise Society, an independent suffrage organization established in 1908. The Society would be a home for wealthy women who were just then becoming interested in the cause of women’s suffrage. Along with better-known Alva Belmont, Katherine made suffrage safe for prominent society women who had seen the cause as too radical, too feminist, too populist for them. Mrs. Mackay, as she was known, consulted with leading suffragists like Harriot Stanton Blatch in creating the Equal Franchise Society. Mrs. Mackay recruited a board of serious and capable suffragists (including Blatch), and began funding significant lobbying work in Albany as early as 1910, when few resources for state legislative work existed. Mrs. Mackay’s upper-crust viewpoint sometimes left her at odds with her own organization, for example when she insisted that the Albany headquarters be a suite at the posh Ten Eyck Hotel, not a storefront on State Street. She was adamantly opposed to the idea of public demonstrations, which many middle-class and upper-class suffragists feared would be seen as rabble rousing. She was deeply dismayed when the Equal Franchise Society board voted to participate in the first large New York City suffrage march, in May 1910. But to her credit, she accepted their decision and even wanted to make sure the Society showed up handsomely, though she herself refused to attend. Katherine Mackay was massively wealthy. Her lavish Long Island mansion, Harbor Hill, was designed by Stanford White and situated on 648 acres in Roslyn. She devoted time and money to the local community, renovating the public library and serving for five years on the Roslyn school board, in 1905 the first woman ever elected. She sent her daughters to public school, explaining to the newspaper: “If we wish to establish confidence in the public school system, it is necessary for the rich as well as the poor to patronize them. If we draw such caste distinctions as in the past, it is inconsistent to preach the benefits to be derived from government aid in education.” She sought a divorce in 1914 to marry a doctor she fell in love with when he treated her husband. She lost custody of her children, and was stripped of her American citizenship when she and Dr. Blake moved to Paris. After the war they returned to New York and later divorced. Katherine’s private life was extensively covered in the papers, always in a tone viciously judgmental of her. Bio by Rachel B. Tiven. Woodlawn Cemetery Prospect Plot, Sec 57 4199 Webster Avenue, Bronx, NY 10470 Bronx County Learn More

Bella Savitzky Abzug (Battling Bella) (1920–1998) Born in the Bronx, Bella predated women’s right to vote by one month. A tireless and indomitable fighter for justice and peace, equal rights, human dignity, environmental integrity and sustainable development, she advanced human goals and political alliances worldwide. Known by her colleagues as a “passionate perfectionist,” Bella believed that her idealism and activism grew out of childhood influences and experiences. From her earliest years, she understood the nature of power and the fact that politics is not an isolated, individualist adventure. At a time when very few women practiced law, Bella graduated from Columbia University’s law school, was admitted to the bar in 1947, took on civil rights cases and was also an activist in the Woman's Movement. Known as "Battling Bella" in the 1960s, she became involved in the antinuclear and peace movements and helped organize the Women Strike for Peace. Carrying on as a feminist advocate, in 1971, she was elected as a Democrat to the 92nd Congress and to the next two succeeding Congresses, serving until 1977. She was the first Jewish woman to be elected to the U.S. Congress and was appointed by President Jimmy Carter to co-chair the National Advisory Committee for Women, serving from 1977–79. After leaving politics, she remained active in the feminist movement, addressed international women's conferences as well as establishing the global organization, Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO). As co-creator and president of WEDO, Bella galvanized and helped transform the United Nations agenda regarding women and their concerns for human rights, economic justice, population, development and the environment. WEDO represented the culmination of her lifelong career as public activist and stateswoman. Bio based on the work of Blanche Wiesen Cook and John J-Cat Griffith. Mount Carmel Cemetery Section 1, Block C, Map 14, Grave 28 83-45 Cypress Hills Street, Glendale, NY 11385 Queens County Learn More

Helen Miles Rogers Reid (1882–1970) A distinguished woman of the 19th century in large part for her position as President of the New York Herald Tribune, Helen is featured in a book with the title Notable American Women, where we learn of her women’s suffrage involvement. She was the state treasurer for the New York suffrage campaign, raising more than half a million dollars for the passage of New York State women’s suffrage legislation in 1917. In speeches throughout her life, she advocated that women should work and be economically independent from their husbands and that men should take greater responsibility in the home and for raising their children. After her husband died in 1947, she took over the presidency of the New York Herald Tribune until 1953. She was a well-regarded individual who received accolades and honors and was an accomplished manager and role model for women when there were few women in leadership roles. Helen was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1950. An active supporter of her alma mater, she served for nine years as chairman of the board of trustees, and in 1963, she helped raise funds for a dormitory at Barnard, which was then named for her. She was a trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, active in the New York Newspaper Women's Club, and was president of the Reid Foundation, an organization funded and established by her husband to give journalists fellowships to study and travel abroad. Her funeral, presided over by The Right Rev. Paul Moore Jr., the Bishop of New York, was attended by over 300 people including John Hay Whitney, who purchased The Herald Tribune, August Heckscher, the Parks Commissioner who was chief editorial writer, Mayor John Lindsay, David Rockefeller, Robert Moses, former head of the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, Andrew Cordier, the president of Columbia University, and Kingman Brewster Jr., the president of Yale University. Sleepy Hollow Cemetery ​ 540 N Broadway, Sleepy Hollow, NY 10591 Westchester County Learn More

Margaret Lewis Morgan Norrie (1869–1927) In 1913, Margaret was appointed 10th campaign district chairman of the Empire State Campaign Committee. She was a friend of Carrie Chapman Catt and often accompanied her on her campaigns. The counties in the 10th campaign district included her home county of Dutchess, as well as Putnam, Columbia, Ulster and Greene. One can find numerous articles regarding Mrs. Norrie's suffrage work, and many more after enfranchisement was gained. To summarize Margaret's activism in a short biographical sketch would be a challenge, as she was involved in 28 organizations. (Poughkeepsie Eagle News, 12/20/1927). She was a leader in the fight for woman suffrage and had a passion for politics. In her role as chairman of the Tenth Campaign District, she was often the chief speaker or presided over various meetings. The address she gave at the opening of the new headquarters of the local Suffrage party on the second floor of the Hinkley Building in Poughkeepsie is printed in full in the Poughkeepsie Eagle-News, Feb 26, 1916 issue. Saint James Episcopal Churchyard ​ 4526 Albany Post Road, Hyde Park, NY 12538 Dutchess County Learn More

Elnora Monroe Babcock (1852–1934) In 1889, Elnora helped to found the Political Equality Club of Dunkirk and was voted its first president. She was later elected president of the Chautauqua County Political Equality Club. Under her leadership, the county suffrage club expanded to more than 1,400 members, making Chautauqua County the best organized county in the nation for women’s suffrage. Babcock also was noted for convincing the Chautauqua Institution’s management to “proclaim the one day a year that they devoted to discussions of political rights as Political Equality Day.” In 1894, she was instated as the New York State suffrage association’s Chairman for Press Work and in 1899 she rose to the position of Superintendent of Press Work for the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). In announcing her appointment to the national post, a NAWSA publication pointed to the “wonderful results” she had achieved in her parallel responsibilities in the “conservative state” of New York. It also extolled her “courage, persistence, consecration, tact and level-headed judgment.” *Compiled by Sara Kibbler Levant Cemetery Lot 2, 14E Falconer, New York 14733 Chautauqua County Learn More

Phebe Ann Coffin Hanaford (1829–1921) This activist leader and groundbreaking female minister said of herself, "I was born a suffragist." Phebe served in an organizational or leadership capacity in the American Equal Rights Association American (AERA), the Woman Suffrage Association, the Women's Press Club, and Sorosis, the first professional women's club in the United States. She was the first woman ordained a minister in New England, the second in the United States, and the fourth in the world. A long-time friend to Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, she preached at their funerals. Phebe wrote a total of fourteen books, one titled Lucretia The Quakeress, inspired by her cousin Lucretia Mott. She also wrote Women Of The Century, and later, an expanded version, Daughters Of America. After separating from her husband, Phebe lived for 44 years with Ellen Miles, her female companion. Orleans Cemetery ​ Route 488 and State Route 20 Ontario County Learn More

Harriet Burton Laidlaw (1873–1949) Harriet was a suffragist, reformer, and educator. As an early proponent of women's suffrage, she later became a director of the National American Women Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in which she and other suffragists helped persuade President Theodore Roosevelt to lend support for their cause. After the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment, Harriet promoted the United States membership into the League of Nations and the eventual creation of the United Nations. In addition, she was a crusader against white enslavement and coerced prostitution among white and Chinese women in New York. Green-Wood Cemetery Section 172, Lot 13406 500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11232 Kings County Learn More

Mary Garrett Hay (1857–1928) A suffrage activist who worked closely with Carrie Chapman Catt, Mary was also a temperance worker with the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. She became President of the New York Equal Suffrage League (1910-1918), New York City Woman's Suffrage Party (1912-1918), and the New York City League of Women Voters (1918-1923). Mary was one of the founders of the National American Women's Suffrage Movement (1910-1918) and, along with Carrie Chapman Catt, was instrumental in obtaining legislation for women's right to vote. Her papers are housed at the Harvard University Library in the Women's Rights Collection. She and Carrie Chapman Catt are buried side by side marked by a single monument inscribed in block letters: "Here lie two, united in friendship for 38 years through constant service to a great cause." Woodlawn Cemetery Primrose Plot, along Laurel Avenue 4199 Webster Avenue, Bronx, NY 10470 Bronx County Learn More