EXHIBITS AT THE BIRTHPLACE MUSEUM
The Legacy Room Exhibits
Timeline
Visitors will have the opportunity to view Susan's life at a glance, through a detailed timeline with historical images.
Artifacts Collection
Take a look at our artifacts collection, complete with authentic period pieces, such as, Dolls, Ribbons, Figurines, Buttons, Kitchenware, Suffrage Memorabilia and Textiles. Items are added to the collection throughout the year, so stop back and take a peek to see what's new.
Ephemera
Ephemera are authentic printed materials or paper items that have endured over time and used as historical documentation.
The Susan B Anthony Birthplace Museum collection includes suffrage postcards, bookmarks, paper napkins, playing cards, brochures, and meeting notices, which provide insight into the issues for which early women advocated.
TEMPERANCE
What was the temperance movement and who was involved? Learn how Susan B. Anthony became interested in Temperance and how it shaped her character and her journey to become the iconic feminist role model.
ABOLITION
The first recorded vote against slavery in America was on February 18, 1688 at a Society of Friends meeting in Germantown, PA. With this kind of Quaker influence the Anthony family was firmly set in the belief of equal treatment for all. Learn how Susan B. Anthony became acquainted with and joined individuals such as Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, and William Lloyd Garrison to end slavery - even if it meant postponing securing the right for women to vote.
Learn when the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments were enacted. What are their differences? How are they similar? What effect did their passage have on the women's movement and the impact of racism?
OPPOSITION TO RESTELLISM (Opposition to Abortion)
Restellism stems from the infamous mid 19th century abortionist Madame Restell. Her trade was condemned unanimously by early feminists. The exhibit features copies of The Revolution, the newspaper owned and managed by Susan B Anthony, in which 120 letters, articles, and editorials speak out against Restellism and are the basis for the exhibit. Please view a selection of these articles here.
The exhibit also features portraits of the first women doctors who went into the medical profession to counter the negative impression of Restellism, and to support pregnant women.
THE REVOLUTION
The Revolution was published in January 1868 through May of 1870. The Birthplace has one of the largest collections in the country of The Revolution. Click here to view a selection of articles published in The Revolution.
SUFFRAGE
The road to suffrage was neither quick nor without sacrifice yet Susan pressed on. The 14th constitutional amendment had bluntly stated that a vote could be cast by a "male", regardless of color. As Susan worked to promote the right of a woman to vote, she led and worked with organizations and beside individuals such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucy Stone, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Matilda Joselyn Gage - to name a few.
Not all women were content with the idea of women voting. The opposition launched a campaign of "Anti-Suffrage" led often by wealthy women and men but expanded to include all socioeconomic levels. This exhibit features ephemera (paper based artifacts), political pins, ribbons, postcards, and much more.
SBA AMMENDMENT: Winning the Vote
Women were not 'given' the right to vote in 1920. Rather, it was an inalienable right that they made manifest through hard work. While Susan's role as an active pioneer continued to the last month of her life, her colleagues and friends saw the fight to its fruition. The Nineteenth Amendment would be proclaimed on August 26th, 1920.
The exhibit features artifacts from the period following Susan B. Anthony's death, including the names of Massachusetts women who were jailed for the cause.
It was to be forever known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment.