“Susan B. Anthony has gotten quoted this year, gosh darn it, as much as Jesus,” said Deborah Hughes, a former pastor who is marking her 10th anniversary as director of the National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House.
And these oft-cited quotes from the most famous suffragist of all time are being viewed through a 2017 filter, reinterpreted and often taken out of context 150 years after her words were delivered.
Hughes, along with the country, has witnessed in recent months national headlines that claim Anthony — who fought hard against slavery alongside Frederick Douglass — was racist; many are interpreting her words to say she was pro-life.
But at the National Historic Landmark home and museum in Rochester, Anthony is celebrated for working tirelessly to bring less suffering and equal rights to all.
As a woman clinched a major party nomination for U.S. president for the first time last fall, Anthony’s home and grave were the focus of vigils and “Because of Women Like Her” campaigns, garnering international news attention. Thousands waited in line at Mount Hope Cemetery to place their “I Voted” stickers on or near her tombstone.
“She was more relevant on November 9 than on November 8, that is for sure,” Hughes said.
Quoting Susan B.
“Her voice is so powerful,” she noted. “It is great to be to be connected to a historical person who is quoted as often as she is, although she is often misquoted.”
With her first-hand research in the shadow of Anthony herself on Madison Avenue, Hughes can say Anthony never advocated for the criminalization of abortion.
“The pro-life movement is a contemporary movement with a different agenda than Susan B. Anthony had in her time,” Hughes said. And in regard to racism, Hughes said Anthony acknowledged her own white privilege and did not allow people to claim ignorance to the plight of slavery.
Anthony said, “Anti-slavery prayers are nothing without action.” While radical at the time, Hughes said, Anthony told large groups at multiple speaking engagements that “you do not get off the hook from your white privilege until we disassemble racism in this country.”
Yet, with so much historical documentation about Anthony’s vigilant work against slavery and for equal rights, an L.A. Times article this past winter questioned if she was racist.“I don’t believe she would want us to say she was a racist,” Hughes said. “I think she would ask, ‘What are we going to do about this social ill that is racism?’”
“Did Susan B. Anthony regularly have guests at her home who were of color? Yes,” Hughes said. “Did she travel with black women across the United States and fight for abolition? Yes. Did she go to all-white events and cross the street to go to a black church event and cross the line to fight segregation every place she went? Yes. Did she fight for human rights and education for all people regardless of gender and race and national origin? Yes!”
Summer in Suffragist City
While David Bowie’s 1973 hit song “Suffragette City” has a catchy tune and memorable title, a July 22 parade and celebration in Anthony’s adopted hometown of Rochester is titled the Suffragist City Parade.
Anthony fought for the plight of all and called herself a suffragist. The Oxford Dictionary defines suffragist as “a person advocating the extension of suffrage.”
In fact, the term suffragette was created as a derogatory term by a British newspaper writer in the late 1800s, referencing the women fighting for their rights as militant and radical activists. “It is historically accurate and what Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass preferred,” Hughes said. “They thought suffragette was diminutive.”
The parade will start at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 22, and run from Court Street to Main Street, via Exchange Boulevard and Broad Street, in downtown Rochester.
More than 50 organizations are taking part and more groups are invited to join in, with registration open through July 8.
The inaugural Suffragist City Parade — carrying the theme in 2017 of “Because of Women Like Her …” — will commemorate and celebrate the centennial of women’s suffrage in New York state.The parade promotes the history of women’s suffrage and its relevance today; and celebrates women who have made a difference in our lives — sharing their images, names, and accomplishments.
Taking part in the Suffragist City Parade won’t be the first time Hughes has marched proudly this year. In January she joined the Women’s March in D.C., alongside her wife, Emily Jones — representing herself and her own beliefs, however, as the museum must remain non-partisan as a non-profit institution.
“Susan B. Anthony said she dreamed of the day when there would be masculine women and feminine men and we’d approach our differences with compromise rather than swords and weapons,” Hughes said. “Today’s politicians can learn so much from her.”
VoteTilla on the canal
In addition to celebrating her 10th anniversary on Aug. 1, this year marks the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in New York state and the bicentennial of the Erie Canal. Hughes and the staff and volunteers of the National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House have created a weeklong celebration called VoteTilla, to take place along the Erie Canal from July 17-22.
With a core of five canal boats, VoteTilla will set out from the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls and travel to Rochester. Aboard the boats will be re-enactors who will tell stories of suffragists and abolitionists, in first-person character using actual historic oration. Anthony and her closest cohort, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, are among those being portrayed.
VoteTilla boats will dock at several towns and villages along the canal, where local residents and organizations can share in the celebration with programs, side trips, and adding their own boats to the traveling fleet.
The public is invited to take part on land or water. At each stop there will be voting boxes so attendees can make their own personal commitment to ending suffrage.
If you go
Location: 17 Madison St., Rochester
Admission: $15 adults; $10 seniors (62+) and active military; $5 students.
Hours: Tuesday-Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Accessibility: The museum’s Visitors Center and first floor of the historic house are wheel-chair accessible. The second and third floors of the house are reachable via stairs. By arrangement, interpretation can be provided for those who cannot climb the stairs.
Learn more: susanbanthonyhouse.org or 585-235-6124
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