My National History Day project topic is Susan Brownell Anthony and her tragedy of
supporting the 15th amendment and the triumph of leading women’s suffrage, which led to the
19th amendment. I chose this topic because equality is important to me and I was curious about
how women got their rights. I knew very little about Anthony, just the basics. As a young
woman, I feel responsible to be informed about how women in American history made this
country into what it is today.
A majority of my research for this project came from the internet. Two very helpful
sources were the Library of Congress and ABC-CLIO. Library of Congress contained the legal
documents I used and multiple primary sources such as newspaper clippings. ABC-CLIO had
illustrations and political cartoons from the movements. ABC-CLIO also had summarized pages
which helped explain and gave me the big picture.
A difficulty I had in producing my project was not summarizing information. Since I
have researched and know well about my topic, I wasn’t sure how to put it all together. To me,
the information I gave was easy to understand and simple enough to make the connection to my
thesis. I had a hard time finding data in charts or graphs, I didn’t know what to look for. I
realized I could show which states had suffrage or didn’t, before and after Anthony’s
contribution.
Susan B. Anthony fits into this year’s NHD theme because her actions had failures and
successes. When she tragically supported the 15th amendment, she thought it was the correct
thing to do, realizing it was excluding women. Then she triumphantly led women’s suffrage.
This topic is important because Anthony’s actions back in the late 1800s helped many people in
the future fight for what they believe in. People saw how she took things into control and
demanded her rights for all women around her.
Annotated Bibliography
Primary Sources:
"Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony." American History, ABC-CLIO, 2019,
[Link]/Search/Display/1169692. Accessed 8 Feb. 2019.
This source is an image of Stanton and Anthony sitting next to each other at a table
looking at some sort of papers. This was used to show how the two women worked
together.
"Fifteenth Amendment March." American History, ABC-CLIO, 2019,
[Link]/Search/Display/327768. Accessed 8 Feb. 2019.
This source is an illustration of a celebratory march of the ratification of the fifteenth
Amendment. I used this to show what the fifteenth amendment is.
Knobe, Bertha Damaris. Votes for Women: An Object-Lesson by Bertha Damaris Knobe.
Harper's
Weekly, New York City, New York, 1908. Library of Congress,
[Link]/item/rbcmiller001165/. Accessed 8 Feb. 2019
This source is a map of women’s suffrage around the world. I used this to show historical
context.
"March on Washington." American History, ABC-CLIO, 2019,
[Link]/Search/Display/293734. Accessed 8 Feb. 2019.
This source is an image of a civil rights movement march. I used this image to show how
Anthony’s actions in the past helped show people to fight for their rights.
"National American Woman Suffrage Association." American History, ABC-CLIO, 2019,
[Link]/Search/Display/293332. Accessed 8 Feb. 2019.
This source is an illustration from 1896 from The Washington Post titled “The
Apotheosis of Suffrage”. In the illustration, George Washington, Susan B. Anthony,
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and angels named “Utah” and “Wyoming” are sitting in the
clouds. The illustration is of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. This
was used as an image before talking about tragedy and triumph.
"National Woman's Party." American History, ABC-CLIO, 2019,
[Link]/Search/Display/294175. Accessed 7 Feb. 2019.
This source is a photograph of women protesting in 1917 in front of the White House.
The image was used as a header on the home page.
Rosenthal, L. N. , Lithographer. Sons of Temperance. Photograph. Retrieved from the Library of
Congress, <[Link]/item/2003680846/>.
This source is an illustration of the Sons of Temperance. I used it to show an interesting
image of movements Anthony was a part of before the 15th or 19th amendments.
"Susan B. Anthony." American History, ABC-CLIO, 2019,
[Link]/Search/Display/270705. Accessed 7 Feb. 2019.
This source is a photograph of Susan B. Anthony sitting down at a table. This was used in
the home page alongside a quote from her to show she is the topic.
"Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton." American History, ABC-CLIO, 2019,
[Link]/Search/Display/293328. Accessed 8 Feb. 2019.
This source is a photograph of Susan B. Anthony standing next to Elizabeth Cady
Stanton who is sitting. The two women are looking at a paper they are holding. This
source was used in the Historical Context tab.
"Susan B. Anthony: Quote on Equal Rights." American History, ABC-CLIO, 2019,
[Link]/Search/Display/264219. Accessed 8 Feb. 2019.
This source is one quote made by Anthony. I used this quote on my thesis page to show
that Anthony believes in equality.
"Susan B. Anthony: Women's Right to Vote Speech (1873)." American History, ABC-CLIO,
2019,
[Link]/Search/Display/253900. Accessed 8 Feb. 2019.
This source is a speech made by Anthony in 1873. In this speech, she talks about the
alleged crime she committed, she is referring to voting.
Secondary Sources:
Campbell, Heather. "Woman Suffrage Movement." American History, ABC-CLIO, 2019,
[Link]/Search/Display/256043. Accessed 8 Feb. 2019.
This source is an article about women’s suffrage. It gives a summary of the topic. I used
this to gain information on who was involved and how it started.
Gordon, Ann D. "The Trial of Susan B. Anthony." 26 Feb. 2019
<[Link] 12 Feb.
2019.
This source was a summary of Anthony’s trial. It helped explain what happened in the
Court.
McGuire, William, and Leslie Wheeler. "Susan B. Anthony." American History, ABC-CLIO,
2019, [Link]/Search/Display/245412. Accessed 8 Feb. 2019.
This source is a biography of Anthony. I used this to help me understand the overall
idea of her life.
Susan B. Anthony - Abolitionist | Mini Bio | BIO. Dir. Biography. YouTube. 17 Oct. 2012.
<[Link] Accessed 8 Feb. 2019.
This source was a short biography of Anthony’s life. It was used to show how women
lived before Anthony joined women’s suffrage.
"Women's Suffrage by State, 1875." American History, ABC-CLIO, 2019,
[Link]/Search/Display/291466. Accessed 8 Feb. 2019.
This source is a map of suffrage in the United States from 1875. I used this to show
which states had full or partial suffrage for women.
"Women's Suffrage by State, 1920." American History, ABC-CLIO, 2019,
[Link]/Search/Display/291469. Accessed 8 Feb. 2019.
This source is a map of suffrage in the United States from 1920. It shows that after the
nineteenth amendment all states had full women’s suffrage.
