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

Huldah Mary Loomis (1886–1976) Huldah was born at Locust Grove, near Port Leyden, NY. She attended Syracuse University for 2 years and graduated from the University of Wisconsin. Later, she trained at the Cornell School of Nursing in New York City, eventually being employed as a registered private nurse. Huldah was very involved in the suffrage movement, serving as President of the local Equal Franchise League and a leader of the Port Leyden Woman’s Suffrage Club. She spoke at the Lewis County Suffrage Convention in 1915, providing a report on the club’s work. Locust Grove Cemetery ​ Route 12D, Port Leyden, NY 13433 Lewis County Learn More

Ada Mantha Hall (1861/75–1943) Ada was active in the suffrage movement in New York from 1899 through roughly 1912. A survivor of what her father described as “mild attacks of temporary insanity,” after losing first her mother and then stepmother, with whom she was close, Ada spent some time in at least two mental institutions before “recovering” from suicidal tendencies. Her immersion in community and society groups was suggested as her self-created cure, with Ada joining the Browning Society, a local poetry group, and becoming the club's secretary in 1896. By 1899, Ada's interests had turned to women's rights and she became active in the Syracuse Women's Educational and Industrial Union, founded in 1886 with the aim of improving the ""physical, intellectual and moral condition of women and children."" Ada's work there launched an Employment Bureau designed to help young women find gainful employment. Her efforts to ensure education and work for local women led to her involvement with the New York Trades School for Girls and Day Nursery in Syracuse, where she served on the Board until 1912. Through her work in the aforementioned groups, Ada was drawn into the suffrage movement. By 1901, she was described in the local press as "an ardent suffragist," serving as the corresponding secretary for the New York State Woman Suffrage Association, attending statewide and national suffrage conventions, donating $5.00 annually to the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) (roughly $130 in today's money), and making connections with the major players in the movement, including Carrie Chapman Catt and Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Ada served as a de-facto touring manager for both women during their lecture tours throughout New York State in 1902 and 1903, hosting Catt at her home and arranging speaking engagements across the state for Gilman. Ada Hall also began to lecture herself, speaking on suffrage, architecture, and women's rights starting in 1904. Around the same time, she joined Syracuse's Political Equality Society and became their auditor. (Courtesy of AlexanderStreet.com) Oakwood Cemetery Section 24, Plot 66 940 Comstock Avenue, Syracuse, NY 13210 Onondaga County Learn More

Lillian D. Wald (1867–1940) Born to an affluent family in Cincinnati, OH and raised in Rochester, NY, Lillian was afforded many educational opportunities. Instead of marrying and continuing her comfortable lifestyle, she moved to New York City and entered the New York Hospital School of Nursing. Along with her colleague, Mary Brewster, she opened the Nurse's Settlement House on Henry Street in 1895—the start of public health nursing—offering sliding scale for payment to ensure everyone could access medical treatment. Lillian also supported the suffrage movement. She campaigned for the 1915 state referendum and was named an honorary chair of the New York State Women's Suffrage Party. A pacifist, Lillian encouraged President Wilson to mediate rather than enter World War I. She continued to support Democratic ideals and was a friend of Eleanor Roosevelt. Her last political campaign occurred in 1936 when she co chaired the Good Neighbor League. Lillian's work has had a lasting impact far beyond New York. Mount Hope Cemetery Range 3, Lot 34 Mount Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620 Monroe County Learn More

May Ladd Simonson (1868–1948) May was also known as Mrs. Charles E. Simonson. She was active in the Political Equality Club of Richmond County. After the passage of the 19th amendment, she was the Director of the League of Women Voters. She was also a member of many women's organizations. In 1921, May founded the Woodrow Wilson Foundation--a fund-raising and award-granting organization for those who aspired to Wilsons ideals for world peace. Moravian Cemetery ​ 2205 Richmond Road, New Dorp, NY 10306 Richmond County Learn More

Katherine (Kate) Downs Randolph (1879-1946) Katherine was a Virginia native and long time resident of The Bronx. She arrived in New York just before the Great Migration, the wave of over six million African Americans who left the South for the North and West during the World War I era until the 1970s. She attended the 1913 Empire State Federation of Women's Clubs convention. This fifth annual gathering of the umbrella organization for all NYS African American Clubs was held in Buffalo, NY. The group focused on programs to assist young black women and support for Harriet Tubman. After Tubman's death, the 1913 meeting was dedicated to education and suffrage for women of color. While her exact contributions from this point on have not been documented it has been stated that she continued to "champion for suffrage and the rights of African American women." If you know more about Kate, you can help us tell her story. Please use our Add a Suffragist form to submit your information. Woodlawn Cemetery Cosmos Range 8, Grave 24 4199 Webster Avenue, Bronx, NY 10470 Bronx County Learn More

Edwine Blake Evans Danforth (1863–1961) Her resolution to pledge suffrage organizations assistance to Herbert Hoover's Government Housewives League was adopted, and they met once a week in New York City. A newspaper quote of 1917 supported her many activities, writing "Mrs. Danforth brings to the office the advantage of years of experience, both in suffrage work and other forms of service. She is an active participant in the Red Cross and served as local Chairman of the Woman's League for National Services." Mount Hope Cemetery Section V 1133 Mount Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620 Monroe County Learn More

Susan M. Chesebrough Bain (1854–1937) Susan was one of the powerhouse Glens Falls women behind the first local study club, Friends in Council (1884) and the first suffrage club in Warren County, the Political Equality Club of Glens Falls (1893). She was elected vice president of the PECGF in 1901, and later served as president hosting many meetings in her home on South Street. In 1914, she became the Warren County Suffrage leader, and served on the canvass committee with Lucy Wooster Chapman, and Adelen Walsh Bayle. On June 7, 1894, as Chair of the Campaign Committee of the 21th District, Susan addressed the New York Constitution Convention Committee in Albany, stating “there is one cogent reason for woman suffrage–woman herself. Womanhood and motherhood are as strong arguments for the right to vote as fatherhood and manhood. Though a woman, she is a citizen, a house-holder, a tax-payer, and ought to have, according to the accepted principles of our form of government, a voice in the expenditure of the public money she helps to pay and the making of laws she is bound to obey. As wife, mother, daughter and sister, she is a silent and uncounted unit in the State, except as she appears in the census returns. By what authority is she thus governed by proxy?” Anthony, S. B., & Sewall, M. W. (1895). Constitutional-amendment campaign year: report of the New York State Woman Suffrage Association, twenty-sixth annual convention, Ithaca, N.Y., November 12- 15. Rochester, NY: Charles Mann, printer, Elm Park. Bio by Tisha Dolton. Quaker Cemetery ​ Ridge & Cronin Roads, Queensbury, NY 12804 Warren County Learn More

Lucy Popenhusen (1893–1976) Lucy Popenhusen was a member of The Grange, WCTU, and the Ladies Aid Society. She was among the women who voted in 1917. Lucy and her family were very active Quakers. If you know more about her, you can help us tell her story. Please use our Add a Suffragist form to submit your information. North Farmington Friends Cemetery Section 5, Row 15 250 Sheldon Road, Farmington, NY 14425 Ontario County Learn More

Betty Friedan (1921–2006) Dubbed the “mother” of the modern women’s movement, Betty Friedan was an American feminist writer, activist, and complicated force to be reckoned with. A leading figure in the women’s movement in the United States, she spent five years conducting interviews with women across the country, charting white, middle-class women’s metamorphosis from the independent, career-minded New Woman of the 1920s and 1930s to the housewives of the postwar era who were expected to find total fulfillment as wives and mothers. Published in 1963, The Feminine Mystique hit a nerve, becoming an instant best-seller that continues to be regarded as one of the most influential nonfiction books of the 20th century, often credited with sparking the “second wave “of American feminism. In 1966, Friedan co-founded and was elected the first president of the National Organization for Women (NOW), which aimed to bring women into the mainstream of American society now [in] fully equal partnership with men. In 1970, after stepping down as NOW's first president, Friedan organized the nationwide Women’s Strike for Equality on August 26, the 50th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution granting women the right to vote. The national strike was successful beyond expectations in broadening the feminist movement; the march led by Friedan in New York City alone attracted over 50,000 people. In 1971, Friedan joined other leading feminists to establish the National Women’s Political Caucus. Friedan was also a strong supporter of the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the United States Constitution that passed the United States House of Representatives (by a vote of 35 - 24) and Senate (84 - 8) following intense pressure by women’s groups led by NOW in the early 1970s. Following Congressional passage of the amendment, Friedan advocated for ratification of the amendment in the states and supported other women’s rights reforms. As more diverse voices emerged within the women’s movement, Friedan not only struggled to retain her leadership but was criticized by other feminists for focusing on issues facing primarily white, middle-class, educated, heterosexual women. Radical feminists also blasted Friedan for referring to lesbian women in the movement as the “lavender menace,” and for Friedan’s willingness to cooperate with men. Ever politically expedient, Friedan believed the only hope for change was by retaining the movement’s mainstream ties and veneer. This alienated her from younger, radical, and visionary feminists who were increasingly becoming the vanguard of the movement. Friedan nonetheless remained a visible, ardent, and important advocate for women’s rights. Sag Harbor Jewish Cemetery (AKA Independent Jewish Cemetery) ​ NY-114, Sag Harbor, NY 11963 Suffolk County Learn More

Sarah Kirby Hallowell Willis (1818–1914) Sarah was a life-long advocate for abolition, women’s suffrage, and political equality. She became involved in social justice through her older sister, Amy Post, who was an ardent abolitionist and suffrage supporter. They were both frequent guests in the home of fellow abolitionists and suffrage supporters Lucy and Daniel Anthony; Susan B. Anthony’s parents. In 1848, Sarah, her sister Amy, Daniel and Lucy Anthony, Mary Anthony, and Frederick Douglass travelled from Rochester to Seneca Falls to attend the Women’s Rights Convention. At the conclusion of the conference, Sarah signed the Declaration of Sentiments. A few weeks later another convention was held in Rochester, and Sarah was designated as a secretary. In 1853 another convention was held in Rochester. Sarah attended and once again was a designated secretary. When the National Woman's Suffrage Association was formed, Sarah was one of its first members. She was also one of the first members of the Political Equality Club of Rochester. In 1872, she was one of the many women who attempted to register to vote (Susan B. Anthony and fourteen others succeeded in voting illegally). A year later, she was an officer in the Women’s Taxpayer Association--a short lived organization formed to protest the taxation of women without representation. Sarah could be counted on for financial contributions when needed. In 1900, when the fundraising campaign to admit women to the University of Rochester came up short, Sarah contributed $2,000. In 1888, she was invited by Susan B. Anthony to attend her newly formed International Council of Women. Susan proudly introduced Sarah as one of the signers of the Declaration of Sentiments. Sarah was a close friend of Susan and was a frequent visitor at the Anthony home for holidays and birthdays. Sarah died in 1914 at the age of ninety-six. Mount Hope Cemetery Section V, Lot 20 1133 Mount Hope Avenue, Rochester, NY 14620 Monroe County Learn More

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

Edith Wheeler Johnson (1878–1956) Little is documented about Edith's suffrage activities beyond being involved in the Bristol Woman's Club, where she was one of the speakers who spoke on the topic of 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

Gertrude B. (Gertie) Ferguson (1871–1964) Gertrude "Gertie" was very active in her native Glens Falls community as Librarian, and later Director, at Crandall Free Library. She was a member of Study Club, Social Worker’s Club, and Glens Falls Garden Club. In 1914 Gertie was present at the official reformation of the Political Equality Club of Glens Falls, and was elected corresponding and recording Secretary. Gertie also represented the club at the 46th annual convention of the New York State Woman Suffrage Association in Rochester in 1914. Bio by Tisha Dolton. Glens Falls Cemetery Plot 11, Lot 10 38 Ogden Street, Glens Falls, NY 12801 Warren County Learn More

Anne Fitzhugh Miller (1856–1912) Anne emerged as a spokesperson for the suffrage cause at the New York State Constitutional Convention, held in 1894. There, she gave a speech advocating women’s suffrage. Anne attended most state suffrage conventions from that time on until her death, and was regarded as one of Ontario County’s leading suffragists. Peterboro Cemetery ​ Peterboro Road, Peterboro, NY 13134 Madison County Learn More

Reverend Juanita Breckenridge Bates (1860–1946) Rev. Juanita was an American Congregationalist minister, her application being the test case to determine the policy of the denomination. She was the first woman to be awarded a Bachelor of Divinity degree from Oberlin College (1891), and Oberlin was the first school to award this degree. While at Oberlin, she was a member of Ladies' Literary Society. For decades, Rev. Juanita was a community organizer in the women's suffrage movement. Rev. Juanita chaired the Suffrage Party in Ithaca, New York, and was a leader of Tompkins County, New York in New York state's campaign for woman suffrage. The city of Ithaca and Tompkins County carried for suffrage. Rev. Juanita was interested in The Social Service League, Y.W.C.A. work, and both home and foreign mission work. She served as first vice-president of the Ithaca Political Study Club; was a member of Susquehanna Ministerial Association, New York State Congregational Conference; and was a director of New York State Federation of Women's Clubs, Ithaca Woman's Club, and City Federation of Women's Organizations of Ithaca. Lake View Cemetery ​ 605 East Shore Drive, Ithaca, NY 14850 Tompkins County Learn More

Matilda Joslyn Gage (1826–1898) Matilda was a suffragist, Native American rights activist, abolitionist, freethinker, and author. She is the eponym for the Matilda Effect, which describes the tendency to deny women credit for scientific invention. Matilda was the youngest speaker at the 1852 National Women's Rights Convention held in Syracuse, New York. She was a tireless worker and public speaker, and contributed numerous articles to the press, being regarded as one of the most logical, fearless and scientific writers of her day. During 1878–1881, she published and edited at Syracuse the National Citizen, a paper devoted to the cause of women. In 1880, she was a delegate from the National Woman Suffrage Association to the Republican and Greenback conventions in Chicago and the Democratic convention in Cincinnati, Ohio. With Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, she was for years in the forefront of the suffrage movement, and collaborated with them in writing the History of Woman Suffrage (1881–1887). She was the author of the Woman's Rights Catechism (1868); Woman as Inventor (1870); Who Planned the Tennessee Campaign (1880); and Woman, Church and State (1893). Matilda served as president of the New York State Suffrage Association for five years, and president of the National Woman's Suffrage Association during 1875–76, which was one of the affiliating societies forming the national suffrage association, in 1890; she also held the office of second vice-president, vice-president-at-large and chairman of the executive committee of the original National Woman Suffrage Association. Matilda's views on suffrage and feminism were considered too radical by many members of the suffrage association, and in consequence, she organized in 1890 the Woman's National Liberal Union, whose objects were: To assert woman's natural right to self-government; to show the cause of delay in the recognition of her demand; to preserve the principles of civil and religious liberty; to arouse public opinion to the danger of a union of church and state through an amendment to the constitution, and to denounce the doctrine of woman's inferiority. She served as president of this union from its inception until her death in Chicago, in 1898. (Source: Sue Boland) Fayetteville Cemetery ​ Fayetteville Manlius Road, Manlius, NY 13104 Onondaga 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

Martha Matilda Harper (1857–1950) Martha was born in Canada and immigrated to the US as a domestic servant. Though not well educated and without wealth, Martha became a successful entrepreneur and created the first business franchise system in the United States. With a "secret" hair tonic recipe she most likely obtained from her late Canadian employer, a doctor and herbalist, Martha opened the Harper Method Shop in the Powers Building in downtown Rochester. Susan B. Anthony was a customer of Harper's. Susan B. Anthony was known to praise Martha as an example of women's success in business. Martha offered her beauty shop model to help poor women rise up and become entrepreneurs. In time, there were 350 sites worldwide, including hair dressing schools, laboratories, factories for hair products and make up, as well as hair salons. Both Calvin Coolidge and Woodrow Wilson were customers. In the 1920s, Martha married James McBain and joined in a partnership with him. Martha retained the name of her business and her position as president. In the 1940s, Martha was a generous donor to the Susan B. Anthony House project. Riverside Cemetery ​ 2650 Lake Avenue, Rochester, NY 14612 Monroe County Learn More

Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm (1924–2005) The first African American woman elected to the U.S. Congress, Shirley was a passionate and effective advocate for the needs of minorities, women, and children and changed the nation's perception about the capabilities of women and African Americans. Shirley spent seven terms in the NYS House of Representatives. As a founding member of the Congressional Black Caucus in 1969, Shirley championed minority education and employment opportunities. In 1972, she became the first major-party black candidate (and the second woman) to make a bid for the U.S. presidency. Shirley was one of the early members of the National Organization for Women (NOW) and active in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1993. From Shirley Chisholm—Unbought and Unbossed. Forest Lawn Cemetery Birchwood Mausoleum 1411 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14209 Erie County Learn More