Featured Suffragists

Ida B. Wells 1862-1931 “I think Ida B. Wells should be remembered as an African-American woman who battled both racism and sexism at a time when it was extremely dangerous to speak out… She used her gift of writing, speaking and organizing to help shed light on injustice.  She was extremely brave and held steadfast […]

Alice Paul 1885-1977 “I never doubted that equal rights was the right direction. Most reforms, most problems are complicated. But to me there is nothing complicated about ordinary equality.” -Alice Paul, 1972 interview. Early Life Born on January 11, 1885 in Moorestown, New Jersey, Alice Paul was a committed and passionate leader in the Women’s […]

Sojourner Truth c.1797-1883 Sojourner Truth (born Isabella Baumfree) was both an abolitionist and a champion of the women’s rights movement, exposing the important intersection of gender and race. As one of the only black women of the time who spoke for women’s rights, she is most well known for her “Ain’t I a Woman” speech […]

Jeannette Rankin 1880-1973 Jeannette Rankin is best known as the first woman elected to Congress. She ran in 1916 to represent her home state of Montana as a progressive Republican and served from 1917-1919. Her younger brother Wellington, later to hold statewide office in Montana himself, financed her campaign. Unusually, she ran for and won […]

Elizabeth Cady Stanton 1815-1902 “Surely there is no greater monopoly than that of all men in denying to all women a voice in the laws they are compelled to obey.” Letter from Elizabeth Cady Stanton to President Theodore Roosevelt, 1902 “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal.” […]