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In the Spring of 1851 two women met on a street corner in Seneca Falls, New York—Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a thirty-five year old mother of four boys, and Susan B. Anthony, a thirty-one year old, unmarried, former school teacher. Immediately drawn to each other, they formed an everlasting and legendary friendship. Together they challenged entrenched beliefs, customs, and laws that oppressed women and spearheaded the fight to gain legal rights, including the right to vote despite fierce opposition, daunting conditions, scandalous entanglements and betrayal by their friends and allies.
Weaving events, quotations, personalities, and commentary into a page-turning narrative, Penny Colman tells this compelling story and vividly portrays the friendship between Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, a friendship that changed history.
"This thoughtful portrayal of two complex women is further enhanced by comprehensive backmatter, making this an invaluable addition to the literature of suffrage.” —Kirkus Reviews
Two of the most iconic figures in women's history were linked in deep friendship as well as commitment to the most contentious causes in 19th-century America: antislavery and woman suffrage.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a married mother of four boys at the time they met, and Susan B. Anthony, an unmarried schoolteacher, formed a friendship that lasted until Elizabeth's death more than 50 years later. Their tireless work, including advocacy, speeches, organizing and writing, placed them at the center of tumultuous events in the middle of the 19th century. They were associates of other prominent activists, such as Frederick Douglass, William Lloyd Garrison and Lucretia Mott. This lively, very readable narrative paints a picture that depicts each woman's path to activism and demonstrates that these passionate figures often disagreed with each other and their fellow activists over strategy, allies, direction for the movement—even rhetoric. The tenor of the times is on full display as the struggle to extend rights to women is resisted by most institutions in society. Conflicts within the movement are discussed, although the long-term breach that occurred when Stanton and Anthony opposed the amendment granting the right to vote to freedmen because women of all races were denied is not fully explored.
This thoughtful portrayal of two complex women is further enhanced by comprehensive backmatter, making this an invaluable addition to the literature of suffrage. (Nonfiction. 12 & up)
Author's Note xi
Prologue: Imagine a Time 1
Part 1
1 "Ah, You Should Have Been a Boy!" Elizabeth Cady 1815-1832 7
2 "An Affectionate Family" Susan B. Anthony: 1820-1832 12
3 "Rousing Arguments" Elizabeth Cady: 1833-1839 17
4 "Hardscrabble Times" Susan B. Anthony: 1833-1839 25
5 "A New World" Elizabeth Cady Stanton: 1840-1847 30
6 "Sink or Swim" 40
1840-1847 Susan B. Anthony
7 "To Do and Dare Anything" Elizabeth Cady Stanton: 1848-1850 46
8 "Out of Sorts with the World" 53
Part 2
9 "An 'Intense Attraction'" Elizabeth Susan: 1851-1853 59
10 "Do You Not See?": A Woman's Rights Point of View: 1853-1854 68
11 "Where Are You?": Challenging Times: 1854-1859 78
12 "Nevertheless You Are Right" Controversy: 1860 88
13 "Put on Your Armor and Go Forth!" Women Rally: 1861-1866 97
Part 3
14 "Keep the Thing Stirring": Two Campaigns: 1867 113
15 "Male Versus Female": Division in the Ranks: 1868-1870 122
16 "The Crowning Insult": Another Battle: 1870-1871 132
17 "I Have Been & Gone & Done It!": Taking a Stand: 1871-1872 142
18 "Our Friendship Is Too Long Standing": Gains and Losses: 1873-1879 153
Part 4
19 "We Stood Appalled": Monumental Project: 1880-1883 167
20 "Brace Up and Get Ready": Setbacks: 1884-1889 177
21 "Under Your Thumb" A Mountain of Work: 1890-1895 187
22 "To Stir You and Others Up": Free Expression: 1896-1899 202
23 "Oh, This Awful Hush" 213
The End: 1900-1906
Epilogue 224
Chronology 225
Places to Visit 230
Namesakes 233
Acknowledgments 235
Source Notes 237
Selected Bibliography 245
Webliography 248
Index 249
Overview
In the Spring of 1851 two women met on a street corner in Seneca Falls, New York—Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a thirty-five year old mother of four boys, and Susan B. Anthony, a thirty-one year old, unmarried, former school teacher. Immediately drawn to each other, they formed an everlasting and legendary friendship. Together they challenged entrenched beliefs, customs, and laws that oppressed women and spearheaded the fight to gain legal rights, including the right to vote despite fierce opposition, daunting ...