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- Harriet Clark Tiffany
Harriet Clark Tiffany (1853–1926) Possessing a contralto voice of great natural beauty, Harriet was constantly in demand as a concert singer in addition to acting as soloist in churches. Though her home and family were her chief interest, she found time to take an active part in every movement with which the women of her greater community were identified, and gave active and tireless effort to the cause of women's suffrage. Forest Hill Cemetery O/40 55 Lambert Avenue, Fredonia, NY 14063 Chautauqua County Learn More
- Nora Stanton Blatch Barney
Nora Stanton Blatch Barney (1883–1971) Nora continued the legacy begun by her grandmother, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and mother, Harriet Stanton Blatch. Nora was the first female to graduate from Cornell University with a civil engineering degree and the first woman admitted to the Society of American Civil Engineers. When she aged out of her junior member status, she sued to be a full member but was denied based on her gender. In 2015, she was given this status posthumously. Nora's first husband wanted her to give up her occupation to be a housewife. Although pregnant, she refused and they were divorced shortly after. These actions speak to her strong belief in women's rights. In 1915, Nora was elected president of the Women's Political Union began by her mother. This organization joined thousands of working women together in support of voting, equal pay and improved working conditions. In later years, she worked in support of the Equal Rights Amendment. Nora wrote articles promoting world peace until the time of her death. Woodlawn Cemetery 4199 Webster Avenue, Bronx, NY 10470 Bronx County Learn More
- Bella Savitzky Abzug (Battling Bella)
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
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
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
- Daisy Robinson Tapley
Daisy Robinson Tapley (1882–1925) Daisy moved to Chicago to study music and perform organ at Quinn Chapel, a congregation within the progressive African Methodist Episcopal faith. It was perhaps during this period that she first became exposed to the politics of gender and race. She married Green Tapley and moved to New York City in the early 1900s. She was already a budding contralto voice in the national music scene. Even as her career grew, Daisy became engaged in the women's rights movement. This included her attendance at the 1913 convention of the Empire State Federation of Women's Clubs, where she and her fellow delegates would vote in favor of women's suffrage. Daisy remained active in the organization beyond this initial participation, including acting as the treasurer of the New York chapter. In 1915, while serving in this role, Daisy's name appeared on a resolution for the allocation of funds for a monument to Harriet Tubman. *Courtesy Alexanderstreet.com Oakland Cemetery Jermain Avenue, Sag Harbor, NY 11963 Suffolk County Learn More
- Madame C.J. Walker (Sarah Breedlove)
Madame C.J. Walker (Sarah Breedlove) (1867–1919) Madame C. J. Walker was her business name. Her given name was Sarah Breedlove. She was the first African American Women millionaire. Early in the 20th century, she demonstrated political equality because she showed that African-American women could start their own business and be successful. She created her own line of hair care products and founded a school for training women in her hair care products. She was later a political activist, and donated funds to African American Schools. Ultimately, Madame C. J. employed 40,000 African American women and men in the US, Central America, and the Caribbean. She also founded the National Negro Cosmetics Manufacturers Association in 1917. In 1918 she was several times the keynote speaker at fundraisers for the National Association of Colored People. Madame C.J.'s business grew rapidly, with sales exceeding $500,000 in the final year of her life. As her wealth increased, so did her philanthropic and political outreach. She contributed to the YMCA, covered tuition for six African American students at Tuskegee Institute, and became active in the anti-lynching movement, donating $5,000 to the NAACP’s efforts. Just prior to dying of kidney failure, Sarah Breedlove/Madame C. J. revised her will, bequeathing two-thirds of future net profits to charity, as well as thousands of dollars to various individuals and schools. Woodlawn Cemetery Butternut, Section 141 South, S 4199 Webster Avenue, Bronx, NY 10470 Bronx County Learn More
- Alice Teeter Knapp
Alice Teeter Knapp (1870–1918) Alice served as the vice-president of the Woman Suffrage Party of Chemung County during the 1917 campaign. She was the founder of the Women's League for Good Government and served as president of the Elmira Women's Civic League. Both she and her husband, District Attorney Wilmot E. Knapp, were involved in the temperance movement. During the 1918 campaign to turn Elmira dry, Alice's efforts to organize the city's women in favor of the measure proved instrumental in the law's passage. At the time of her unexpected death in 1918, she was being considered for Police Commissioner. Woodlawn Cemetery 1200 Walnut Street, Elmira, NY 14905 Chemung County Learn More
- Helen Probst Abbott
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
- Susan B. Anthony
Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906) Susan was the driving force behind the 19th Century women’s rights movement. She was born in 1820 in Adams, Massachusetts to Quaker parents, who believed in abolition, temperance, and the equality of men and women. Susan's work in women’s rights began in 1852, when she co-founded the Woman’s New York State Temperance Society. Their goal was to advocate for state legislation to regulate the sale of alcohol, allow women to divorce their husbands for drunkenness, and permit women the right to vote. For the next half century, Susan labored ceaselessly for women’s rights on the state, national and international levels. She founded the National Woman’s Suffrage Association and the International Women’s Council and lectured throughout the United States and lobbied lawmakers for women’s property rights, divorce laws favorable to women, and women’s suffrage. In fact, Susan drafted the language of the 19th Amendment first introduced to Congress in 1878. She voted illegally in the 1872 federal election for which she was fined $100 but did not pay. In 1906, Susan gave her last speech, where she concluded with her famous quote “Failure is Impossible.” She passed away one month later at the age of 86. It would be another fourteen years before the passage of the 19th amendment. Nonetheless, her efforts laid the foundation for its enactment. Two organizations that she founded exist today and are carrying out her legacy. The National Woman Suffrage Association became the League of Women Voters. The International Council on Women serves in a consultative capacity to the United Nations. In 1921, Susan was commemorated with a statue of her, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucretia Mott, which is on display in the U.S. Capitol Building. In 1979, the Susan B. Anthony dollar was issued making it the first coin with a woman’s likeness. The Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan has a sculpture honoring four spiritual heroes of the twentieth century: Martin Luther King, Albert Einstein, Mohandas Gandhi, and one woman—Susan B. Anthony. " Mount Hope Cemetery Section C, Lot 93 1133 Mount Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620 Monroe County Learn More
- Lucy Earle Sprague
Lucy Earle Sprague (1851/52–1903) Lucy was active in a number of organizations in Rochester that were known to support woman suffrage; including AME Zion Church and Susan B. Anthony Club. The prominent activist Hester Jeffrey organized the Susan B. Anthony Club for Colored Women in Rochester and served as its first president. The club drew many members from the AME Zion Church, including Lucy. She and Jeffrey were colleagues and supporters in their church work as well as in their suffrage and civil rights activism. They both sought to bridge the divide between black and white suffrage activists. At the 1903 celebration of Susan B. Anthony's birthday, club members joined other special guests in presenting Anthony with an enamel green and white pin in the shape of a four-leaf clover bearing the initials of their club. In general, the Susan B. Anthony Club for Colored Women met to discuss the importance of obtaining woman suffrage, but the members also sought to get young black women admitted to the University of Rochester. The first young black man had graduated from the university in 1891. When Lucy died in 1903, she was still fulfilling her duties for both the church and the club. Mount Hope Cemetery Range 1, Surnames L-Z, Lots 101-280 1133 Mount Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620 Monroe County Learn More
- Catherine Noyes Lee
Catherine Noyes Lee (1900–1967) Catherine was the first woman to be named partner in a major Wall Street law firm - and was notably one of the original twelve women to be admitted to the New York State Bar Association in 1937. She remained an active Partner in in Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, in downtown Manhattan, until her death. If you know more about Catherine, you can help us tell her story. Please use our Add a Suffragist form to submit your information. Sleepy Hollow Cemetery 540 North Broadway, Sleepy Hollow, NY 10591 Westchester County Learn More
- Janet Livingstone Fotheringham
Janet Livingstone Fotheringham (1895–1935) A teacher of physical culture from Buffalo, NY, Janet was 26 years old when she traveled to Washington to participate in the 1917 suffrage protests at the White House. Her courageous participation in these historic protests earned her a place in suffrage history. Janet was among the second of three groups of protestors who marched from NWP headquarters across the street to the White House. A crowd formed at the scene, and police made no attempt to disperse them. The first group took their places at the upper gate without incident. However, as soon as the second group took their positions at the lower gate, the police immediately arrested both groups of suffrage protestors. When the third group emerged from NWP headquarters, the crowd applauded as the suffragists took their places. The police waited four minutes before arresting them on a charge of “violating an ordinance.” At the police station, all 16 were charged with “unlawful assembly.” In court on July 17 all 16 were found guilty of “obstructing traffic” and sentenced to 60 days at the Occoquan Workhouse, the federal prison in Lorton, Virginia. Family members visited the suffragists in prison and, shocked by their condition, appealed to President Woodrow Wilson. After serving three torturous days at the Occoquan Workhouse, the 16 suffragists—including Janet—were pardoned by the president and released. Forest Lawn Cemetery Section: 27, Lot: 394, Lot: E 1/2, Space: 5 1411 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14209 Erie County Learn More
- Delia C. Kenyon
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
- Maud Nathan
Maud Nathan (1862–1946) Maud was a social worker, labor activist, and suffragist for women's right to vote. Lobbying Albany on consumer issues made Maud realize how little legislators cared about the opinions of vote-less women and so she became more involved in suffrage activities. In 1908, Maud published a pamphlet entitled The Wage Earner and the Ballot which pointed out that in suffrage states the age of consent was higher, the illiteracy rate was lower, women were paid more for civil service jobs, and there were stronger child labor laws. Beth Olom Cemetery 2 Cypress Hlls Street, Ridgewood, NY 11208 Queens County Learn More
- Reverend Jermain Wesley Loguen
Reverend Jermain Wesley Loguen (1809–1872) Abolitionist, minister, bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and author, Rev. Jermain served as one of the vice presidents at the 1853 New York State woman suffrage convention. Jermain was once hailed as the “Underground Railroad King,” and assisted the Rev. Samuel J. May, a Unitarian clergyman in Syracuse, with his Underground Railroad work but gradually took the lead. The Loguen house near the intersection of Pine and Genessee Streets was a principal station or depot on the Underground Railroad. Jermain placed letters in the Syracuse press openly discussing his activities and asking for donations to assist fugitives and is said to have aided more than 1500 freedom seekers. Oakwood Cemetery Section 6, Plot 55 940 Comstock Avenue, Syracuse, NY 13210 Onondaga County Learn More
- Elizabeth Chatfield
Elizabeth Chatfield (1843–1917) Elizabeth was a suffragist who served as the private secretary to Susan B. Anthony in the late 1800s. She resided at 18 Front Street in Owego (different from Oswego) until eventually moving to New York City for her work with Anthony. While Susan B. Anthony was touring and promoting “Revolution,” the newspaper on women’s suffrage, she presented her case at the Tioga County Courthouse in 1894 and stayed overnight and was hosted by Elizabeth. Evergreen Cemetery Section 1, Lot 62 Prospect Street, Owego, NY 13827 Tioga County Learn More
- Anna Sands McAvoy O'Shea
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. Kensico Cemetery 273 Lakeview Avenue, Valhalla, NY 10595 Westchester County Learn More
- Caroline Lexow Babcock
Caroline Lexow Babcock (1882–1980) From the time she graduated from Barnard College in 1904, Caroline Lexow Babcock was committed to woman's rights. She was a leader in the long campaign to extend voting rights to women, in the National Women's Party, which fought for the Equal Rights Amendment, and in peace movements. When she died at age 98 in 1980, she was wearing an ERA button. Caroline Lexow was born in 1882 in Nyack, New York; after college she became active full-time in the suffrage movement, as Executive Secretary assisting Harriot Stanton Blatch in running the Women’s Political Union, and as President of the National College Equal Suffrage League of New York. “On the day of my graduation,” she told audiences while touring as a suffrage organizer in 1909, "I became actively interested in suffrage work and a member of the League, and I expect to devote the most of my time to the cause until it wins." In 1921, Caroline was one of the members of the Women’s Peace Society who left to start the Women’s Peace Union. In that same year, she chaired a Women’s Peace March in New York City. Caroline and Elinor Byrns drafted a constitutional amendment calling for the power to declare or prepare for war to be removed from the powers of the U. S. Congress. She included the Boy Scouts among her targets, calling scouting a “kindergarten for war”. Caroline was on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the Birth Control Federation of America. Her life is explored in a book published by the Historical Society of Rockland County entitled: “Ladies Lib: How Rockland Women Got the Vote” by Isabelle Keating Savell (Historical Society of Rockland County 1979). Oak Hill Cemetery 140 N Highland Avenue, Nyack, NY 10960 Rockland County Learn More
- Helen Deming Sherman Pratt
Helen Deming Sherman Pratt (1869–1923) Helen was born in Brooklyn. Her father was John Taylor Sherman, a descendant of Roger Sherman, signer of the US Constitution. She attended the Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn. In 1897 she married George DuPont Pratt, whose father, Charles Pratt one of the founders of Standard Oil. In addition to other philanthropic causes, both Helen and her husband were avid supporters of the suffrage movement. In addition to generous financial support, they frequently opened their home to fund raisers and activities promoting equality under the law. Pratt Cemetery Pratt Mausoleum Old Tappan Road, Lattingtown, NY 11560 Nassau County Learn More















