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ENLARGE
An alleged “dangerous agitator” arrived at the Oakland Academy in Oakland, Ore., one evening late in November. Speaking to a responsive audience, this agitator most likely argued that when government benefits the few rather than the whole, society is adversely affected. Undoubtedly this middle-aged speaker also buttressed her arguments with compelling evidence and made the case that women were citizens and therefore had a right to vote. This much maligned orator and suffragist was Susan B. Anthony. The year was 1871. It would be another 41 years before women in Oregon would win the right to vote in 1912.
Although Anthony was known to have expressed her distrust of politicians, she also believed that those who could vote had the power and the responsibility to create change. As this is not only an election year but the 100th anniversary of woman suffrage in Oregon, I believe it is fitting to reflect on the enduring work of Susan B. Anthony.
Anthony had received an invitation from noted Oregon suffragist, Abigail Scott Duniway, to visit the Pacific Northwest. According to historian G. Thomas Edwards, after an extensive lecture tour in the Northwest, Anthony had stopped in Oakland on her way to California. Following an overnight stay in Oakland, Anthony traveled to Roseburg.
Bethenia Owens, a millinery merchant (who later became a physician), met Anthony's stagecoach in Roseburg and arranged for her lecture. As suffragists were typically associated with the temperance movement, a local saloon owner purportedly organized a dance and offered free beer at a Roseburg hotel to discourage people from hearing Anthony. Nonetheless, the lecture was well-attended. Though some of the attendees may have been supporters or potential supporters, others may have come because it was a novelty to actually hear a woman speaker.
During a time when women who dared to speak in public were heavily criticized, Anthony traveled throughout the nation giving presentations to anyone who would listen. While she wrote in her diary that she had a lot of anxiety about speaking in public, she was clearly fueled by a strong sense of purpose. No matter what obstacles she confronted, Susan B. Anthony believed that change was possible.
A year after her visit to Roseburg, Anthony was arrested in November 1872 for voting without the legal right to do so. Rather than give up her fight for justice, Susan B. Anthony turned her arrest into an opportunity to draw attention to her cause by speaking, writing, and printing transcripts of the trial.
Anthony continued to work tirelessly for the suffrage cause by gathering signatures, petitioning Congress, traveling, lecturing, debating, fundraising, corresponding with influential people and leading a national suffrage association.
Her last Oregon visit was in 1905 when she attended a national suffrage convention in Portland; she was 85. A year later, she died — just six years before Oregon passed the woman suffrage amendment.
Anthony was later recognized as one of this nation's greatest leaders of the 19th century. She influenced a nation through her organizational leadership, her well-researched lectures, debates, conversations, her writing and through her persistence. She believed that in a truly democratic society, responsible citizens who exercised their rights as voters had the power to bring about positive change.
For the past 100 years, all U.S. citizens in Oregon have had the right to vote. Yet, as I believe Anthony's work illustrates, with rights come responsibilities. As citizens, we have a responsibility to become engaged in the democratic process.We have an obligation to be informed about issues and positions that affect our society. Further where we see injustice, we have a responsibility to put our own fears aside and to advocate for change. Finally, regardless of what we may feel, we still have a responsibility to be registered and to vote in this 2012 election year. The power belongs to us.
Paula Marie Usrey is an associate professor of communication studies at Umpqua Community College. On occasion, she dresses as Susan B. Anthony and gives presentations in her classes. She also has an “interview” of Anthony on YouTube listed as Lessons from Susan B. Anthony: Interview #1 Speaking Anxiety. She can be contacted at Paula.Usrey@umpqua.edu.
Although Anthony was known to have expressed her distrust of politicians, she also believed that those who could vote had the power and the responsibility to create change. As this is not only an election year but the 100th anniversary of woman suffrage in Oregon, I believe it is fitting to reflect on the enduring work of Susan B. Anthony.
Anthony had received an invitation from noted Oregon suffragist, Abigail Scott Duniway, to visit the Pacific Northwest. According to historian G. Thomas Edwards, after an extensive lecture tour in the Northwest, Anthony had stopped in Oakland on her way to California. Following an overnight stay in Oakland, Anthony traveled to Roseburg.
Bethenia Owens, a millinery merchant (who later became a physician), met Anthony's stagecoach in Roseburg and arranged for her lecture. As suffragists were typically associated with the temperance movement, a local saloon owner purportedly organized a dance and offered free beer at a Roseburg hotel to discourage people from hearing Anthony. Nonetheless, the lecture was well-attended. Though some of the attendees may have been supporters or potential supporters, others may have come because it was a novelty to actually hear a woman speaker.
During a time when women who dared to speak in public were heavily criticized, Anthony traveled throughout the nation giving presentations to anyone who would listen. While she wrote in her diary that she had a lot of anxiety about speaking in public, she was clearly fueled by a strong sense of purpose. No matter what obstacles she confronted, Susan B. Anthony believed that change was possible.
A year after her visit to Roseburg, Anthony was arrested in November 1872 for voting without the legal right to do so. Rather than give up her fight for justice, Susan B. Anthony turned her arrest into an opportunity to draw attention to her cause by speaking, writing, and printing transcripts of the trial.
Anthony continued to work tirelessly for the suffrage cause by gathering signatures, petitioning Congress, traveling, lecturing, debating, fundraising, corresponding with influential people and leading a national suffrage association.
Her last Oregon visit was in 1905 when she attended a national suffrage convention in Portland; she was 85. A year later, she died — just six years before Oregon passed the woman suffrage amendment.
Anthony was later recognized as one of this nation's greatest leaders of the 19th century. She influenced a nation through her organizational leadership, her well-researched lectures, debates, conversations, her writing and through her persistence. She believed that in a truly democratic society, responsible citizens who exercised their rights as voters had the power to bring about positive change.
For the past 100 years, all U.S. citizens in Oregon have had the right to vote. Yet, as I believe Anthony's work illustrates, with rights come responsibilities. As citizens, we have a responsibility to become engaged in the democratic process.We have an obligation to be informed about issues and positions that affect our society. Further where we see injustice, we have a responsibility to put our own fears aside and to advocate for change. Finally, regardless of what we may feel, we still have a responsibility to be registered and to vote in this 2012 election year. The power belongs to us.
Paula Marie Usrey is an associate professor of communication studies at Umpqua Community College. On occasion, she dresses as Susan B. Anthony and gives presentations in her classes. She also has an “interview” of Anthony on YouTube listed as Lessons from Susan B. Anthony: Interview #1 Speaking Anxiety. She can be contacted at Paula.Usrey@umpqua.edu.
