Susan B. Anthony sister-in-law honored

Susan B Anthony sister in law

Susan B. Anthony’s sister-in-law and brother were honored with a historical marker in Leavenworth, Kansas. This marks their support for women’s rights.

Mary Bowser, Confederate White House Spy

Even now, it’s hard to get a clear description of Mary Bowser, who greatly aided the North by spying on the Confederate White House during the Civil War. Maybe that’s because she wanted it that way. Here is the closest we can come to facts about her life. Mary Bowser (AKA Richards) was born a […]

Great American Women of Susan B.’s Era

Susan LaFlesche Picotte

During Women’s History Month we will use this space to celebrate several great American women who were comrades of Susan B. Anthony. (Click here for an earlier blog post on Women’s History Month.) Though Miss Anthony did not know all of them, each one came from her era and worked to make us a more […]

Susan B.’s 200th

Susan B. Anthony and Daniel Read Anthony

It is good to see Susan B. venerated on her birthday, especially since many regarded her as troublesome during her lifetime. I wonder how troubled she would be by some of the current causes that have tried to co-opt her support posthumously. Though I have not been blogging recently, my interest in Susan never flags. […]

Daniel Anthony’s Abolitionist Activities

Pleasant Hill post office mural

“Well mercy me!” as they might have exclaimed in the 19th century. It seems I never published the post explaining why Daniel Anthony’s abolitionist activities were controversial. So let’s play catch-up. The photo above, from a mural in Pleasant Hill, Missouri, should give you a clue. When Susan B. Anthony was four, her brother Daniel […]

New Underground Railroad Exhibit at Niagara Falls

rushing waters of Niagara Falls

A whole new source of information on the Underground Railroad is opening next weekend in Niagara Falls, starting May 4. I’m excited because it will offer more in-depth background for my historical novels in The Dauntless Series, featuring abolitionists Daniel Read Anthony and his sister Susan. Here’s the scoop on the new museum: Niagara Falls […]

Historic Rochesterian Burns Up the West

Author Jeanne Gehret in front of b&w photo of old Leavenworth

Historic Rochesterian Daniel Read Anthony, brother of Susan B., wielded both fire and bullets to bring about the end of slavery in the Wild West. Pictured behind me is the city of Leavenworth, Kansas around 1860, where Daniel emigrated after selling insurance in Rochester, New York for several years. Throughout his life, Daniel also supported […]

All for Suffrage, Part 1

Tree with many branches

Susan B. Anthony’s family members were all for women’s suffrage, each in his or her own way. Some supported voting rights by actually casting ballots, while others supported campaigns for African-Americans and women to vote. Susan had a strong support system for her reform work.

Agitators Prevailed

Jeanne Gehret in front of sign that reads "Rochester: City of Agitation"

The story of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass packed a full house tonight, the opening of “The Agitators.” Rochester’s famous reformers really showed their mettle at this fine play at GEVA Theater. Actors Madeleine Lambert and Cedric Mays delivered the pair’s famous arguments with conviction and humor against a massive timeline that resembled the […]