Today is Susan B. Anthony’s birthday. She is probably Rochester’s most famous resident, although she was born in Massachusetts in 1820, and her family moved to Rochester when she was 25 years old. Everyone knows that she championed women’s rights and got arrested for voting, but I learned some more obscure facts from Ruth Rosenberg-Naparsteck, the former City Historian.

I was surprised to find out that the Anthony family came to Rochester by canal boat. I had always pictured canal boats being used for trade and not as moving vans. They first lived on a farm near what is now Brooks Ave. and Genesee Park Blvd, but when Mr. Anthony died in 1862, the family moved to 17 Madison St. You may tour that house, which is now a museum.

Susan B. Anthony started 2 chapters of the American Red Cross, and she also was instumental in the University of Rochester admitting women. University officials tried to keep women out by insisting that $100,000 be raised first. They later dropped that amount to $50,000. Anthony played a key role in raising that money and pledged her own life insurance to the cause. In 1900 the U of R admitted it’s first class of 33 women.

    Susan B. Anthony was not the only woman who illegally voted in the 1762 presidential election. 16 women voted, but Ms. Anthony was the only one who was arrested. Her trial was moved to the Ontario County Courthouse in Canandaigua because of the pre-trial publicity in Rochester. The judge would not let her testify and instructed the jury to find her guilty, which they did. The $100 fine was never paid, and the authorities never pursued it, but some of the election officials did get arrested and ended up in jail. Susan B. Anthony never lived to see women get the vote. She died 14 years before the 19th amendment was passed on Aug. 26, 1920. She is buried in Mt. Hope Cemetery next to her sister Mary, who was a groundbreaker herself. Mary voted in that presidental election along with her sister and was the first woman principal in the Rochester City School District.

   Susan B. Anthony: A step ahead of her generation.

Day 46: 6,757 Steps  YTD: 408,303 Steps   Goal: 429,000 Steps