Suffragist Susan B Anthony (Women Who Changed the World Series)

On this week's episode, hosts Amy Contreras and Cece explore dive into the life and legacy of one of America’s most iconic suffragists, Susan B. Anthony. 

Listen in as they share the story of Susan B. Anthony, who played a key role in the fight for women’s right to vote and the ratification of the 19th amendment. 

Throughout the episode, Cece asks thoughtful questions about voting, equality, and justice, making it a perfect opportunity for young listeners to engage and learn. This episode highlights interesting facts about Anthony's life, including her famous arrest for illegally voting in 1872 and her collaborations with other notable suffragists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton. 

The episode ends with key takeaways to encourage further exploration. Plus, enjoy a special poem celebrating Susan B. Anthony’s impact. 

Make sure to like, follow, and share Check This Out! Podcast for Kids with your friends and family. Together, let’s inspire the next generation to learn about the heroes who changed the world! 

Transcript

Welcome to Check this out! Podcast for kids 

And their grownups where we explore people, places, ponderings and past moments from history that shape the world around us.  My name is Amy Contreras, and I’m Cece.  

Today we are continuing our series on 

Cece: Women Who Changed the World 

Today’s episode is about one of the most famous suffragists in American history, Susan B Anthony! But before I get too far into the episode and tell you all about Susan B Anthony and why we think she's a woman who changed the world, I have a feeling a few of you have the same question that Cece has for me…  

Cece: What does that word mean mama? 

That's the question I was expecting!  We’ve talked about suffrage before in some of our other episodes.  But let’s make sure we are all on the same page! A Suffragist is a person, often a woman, who fought for women’s right to vote.    

Cece: I remember hearing about that! 

Now the reason we need to know what suffrage is and why this matters is White Women didn’t gain the right to vote in the United States until the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920.  Black women weren’t able to vote in the United States until the voting rights act of 1965 was passed.  If these facts ring a bell it's because we talked about it in our episodes on Martin Luther King Jr and Sojourner Truth to name a few.  Helen Keller was also a big suffragist!  

But before we get into all the details of the star of today’s episode, Susan B Anthony, we have 2 big favors to ask of all of you, our listeners! 

Cece: First things first

We are hoping you can do us a big favor. Pease follow and like our podcast on apple, spotify, audible, or wherever you’re listening to your podcasts.  A 5 star rating from you helps our podcast find more listeners!  

Our second ask, is about spreading the word about Check this out, Podcast4kids.  Do you have 5 friends who you can share this podcast with? Maybe your teacher at school or someone you go to church with?  We are loving all of our new listeners and want to invite more into the party.  

Cece: Do you think you can help us with that?   

I bet they can!  Thanks, friends.  Now, it's time to get into our episode all about suffragist Susan B Anthony. 

Cece: Listeners keep your ears open 

Because at the end of the episode we are going to recap some of the things we learned about Susan that you can continue to research on your own!  

You might not have learned about Susan B Anthony in school yet. So right away we want to tell you a little bit about her to help you understand why we think she’s….

Cece: A woman who changed the world 

I’m gonna hit you with a few factoids right out the gate so you understand why this lady had such an impact on the world around her. 

Cece: Here’s a quick overview 

1. Susan B Anthony served as the president of the National Woman Suffrage Association from  1892–1900
2. She worked with other famous suffragists and civil rights activists like Elisabeth Cady Stanton to fight for women’s right to vote 
3. In 1872, before women were allowed to vote, she famously and illegally voted in the presidential election in Rochester, New York. She was arrested, convicted, and fined.  But she refused to pay the fine!  
4. She is one of many people credited with the creation of the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote in the US, but she died in 1906, 14 years before the law would change.  
5. She fought for the abolition of slavery. In 1856, she served as an American Anti-Slavery Society agent, making speeches, organizing meetings, and distributing pamphlets. She worked closely with Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison on these efforts.
6. She was a prolific author and writer.  She co-authored a six-volume collection of books called "History of Woman Suffrage" with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Matilda Joslyn Gage

Cece: She was a busy lady!  

She was Cece! Susan B. Anthony was an important woman in American history, because she fought hard for the right for women to vote. Which is why her role as a suffragist is remembered today.  

Because this episode is about suffrage we are going to talk about voting a whole lot.  

Listeners, why do you think it is so important to vote?

1. Because it is something to do to keep you busy
2. Voting is when people choose their leaders and make decisions about their communities. 
3. Voting is something the men did so the women just wanted to be like the men

If you said B, you’re right! 

Cece: Voting is an important responsibility and right.  

Voting is when people choose their leaders and make decisions about their communities. 

Back when Susan B Anthony was alive women were not allowed to vote in the United States.  

Cece: How unfair! 

It was, and Women wanted to vote! The laws the elected officials created  impacted them and their lives too.  Not being able to vote made Susan B Anthony really upset because she thought it wasn't fair that men could vote while women couldn’t. She believed that everyone should have a say in their government, no matter if they were a man or a woman. 

Cece: I like that!  

One of Susan's key achievements was organizing a group of women who also wanted the right to vote. In 1848, she and her friends attended the Seneca Falls Convention, which was the first-ever women's rights convention in the United States.  There were lots of suffragists, not just Susan B Anthony.  

We talked about this convention in another episode of the podcast, do you remember which one?  

If you said the episode on Sojourner Truth, you’re correct!  

At this conference the suffragists talked about how women should have equal rights, including the right to vote. This was a big deal because it was one of the first times people publicly discussed the idea of women having equal rights as men. It got a lot of attention and helped many other women start to think about their rights.

Cece: Will I get to vote when I’m older, mama? 

Absolutely Cece.  In the United States the age to vote is 18, so you only have a few more years to go!  

But Susan B Anthony didn’t just fight for women’s rights.  Earlier in her life she also fought for the abolishment of slavery.  

Cece: Oh that's important! 

Susan B Anthony was born in 1820 in Massachusetts.  She grew up in a time before slavery was abolished and before the civil war.  She became active as an abolitionist at a young age, thanks to the influence of her father and her Quaker religion.  Remember abolitionists wanted to get rid of slavery or abolish it.  

Cece: Oh yea 

In 1945 her family moved to New York and her whole family became active in the anti-slavery movement.  She was so active and vocal against slavery there was even an angry mob that targeted her.  

Cece: She sounds really brave 

She was! And she fought for what she believed in.  In1863, Susan B Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucy Stone formed the Women’s Loyal National League to press for an amendment to abolish slavery. Their goal became a reality when the Thirteenth Amendment was ratified  in 1865.

Cece: Remind me what that is? 

Which, ratification or the 13th amendment? 

Cece: Both 

No problem!  Ratification is when a governing body or person signs a document making it official.  The 13th amendment to the Constitution of the United States officially abolished (or got rid of) slavery.  

Cece: Makes sense 

Now you might be wondering why Susan B Anthony was so passionate about Women’s Rights and the ability to vote.  Let me tell you a little story, that is just one reason in a long line of reasons why she fought so hard for women’s rights to vote.  

Cece: Let’s hear it!  

In 1848, Susan B Anthony was working as a teacher in New York and became involved in the teacher’s union.  During her time as a teacher she discovered that male teachers received a monthly salary of $10. 

Do you want to guess how much money the women teachers made to do the exact same job? 

Cece: $7 a month? 

NOPE! Female teachers only earned $2.50 a month to do the same exact job the men were getting paid $10 a month to do! 

Cece: That is ridiculous! 

Absolutely!  But Cece even with lots of progress since the time that Susan B Anthony was alive women are still paid less than men to do the same jobs. People of color or underrepresented populations are also impacted by differences in pay for the same jobs.  So we’ve made a lot of progress, but there is still more to do!  

Cece: Good to know 

I mentioned at the start of the podcast that Susan B Anthony was once arrested for voting.  Let me tell you a little more about that story.  This significant moment in Susan's life happened in 1872. She decided to take action and vote in an election, even though it was illegal for women to do so at that time. 

She was arrested for voting, which means the police took her away because she broke the law. Susan didn't let this scare her; instead, she used her arrest to tell more people about the importance of women voting. She traveled across the country, giving speeches and sharing her ideas with others to inspire them to fight for women's rights, too.  

She had originally hoped to be assigned prison time 

Cece: What? 

Yea, she wanted to be able to appeal the ruling and take her case to the supreme court.  But she was only charged a $100 fine, which she never paid. 

Cece: Good for her!  

Susan B Anthony even met with president Teddy Roosevelt near the end of her life to discuss an amendment for women to vote.  She also had many famous speeches and quotes.  Here is one of my favorites. 

“It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union. And we formed it, not to give the blessings of liberty, but to secure them; not to the half of ourselves and the half of our posterity, but to the whole people - women as well as men. And it is a downright mockery to talk to women of their enjoyment of the blessings of liberty while they are denied the use of the only means of securing them provided by this democratic-republican government - the ballot.” - Susan B. Anthony, 1873

Cece: What a great quote 

In addition to her speeches she worked hard along with other suffragists to document the women’s voting movement.  She co-founded a paper called The Revolution with her good friend and fellow suffragist, Elizabeth Cady Stanton.   And  from 1881 to 1885, Susan B Anthony joined Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Matilda Joslyn Gage in writing the 6 volume History of Woman Suffrage.

Cece: Was there anything she didn’t do?  

She was busy and worked hard until the end of her life for the rights of others.  

Susan B Anthony was an abolitionist, a suffragist, writer, and speaker.  Today you can find her face on the US Dollar Coin, Stamps, books, and in museums across the world.  But her work and views weren’t without their problems.  

Cece: Like what mama? 

She opposed the 15th amendment, which provided votes to black men, and it led her to take on racist views and have a narrow view of suffrage that focused on white women only.   This is why another person we’ve talked about on the podcast, Sojourner Truth, became frustrated with the white suffragists of her time.  They prioritized getting the vote for white women, not all women.  

Cece: That is hard 

It is.  

Although there was some controversy about her approach and focus, Susan B. Anthony was an important figure in the women's suffrage movement in the United States. 

She died on March 13, 1906 from heart failure and pneumonia at her Rochester home.  Although she died before the 19th amendment was ratified, that didn’t happen until 1920, the 19th amendment was sometimes referred to as the Susan B Anthony amendment.   

Cece: Wow!  

At the start of the episode we told you we’d give you a few facts that you can continue to research on your own.  Let’s recap some of our favorite facts about Susan B Anthony to wrap up our episode.  

1. Susan B Anthony was known for her efforts to secure voting rights for women, and she co-founded the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869 alongside her life long friend and fellow suffragist Elizabeth Cady Stanton. 
2. In 1872 she was arrested for illegally voting in the presidential election because women didn’t have the right to vote yet. After her arrest Anthony traveled extensively, delivering speeches and organizing campaigns, which significantly raised public awareness and support for women's suffrage. 
3. Her legacy culminated in the eventual ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920, granting women the right to vote, making her a key architect of this landmark change in American society. She met with president Teddy Roosevelt the year before her death to discuss a women voting amendment- working for women’s rights to vote until the very end of her life.  

Cece: I learned so much! 

Me too!  

Now before we finish this week’s episode on Woman who changed the world Susan B Anthony here is a quick poem we wrote about her.  

Born in Massachusetts, in 1820
Susan B Anthony fought for many.
With eyes on voting equality, she took a stand,
For freedom and women’s rights across the land. 

In 1851, her path intertwined,
With Elizabeth Cady Stanton, their fates aligned.
For women’s voices, they led the suffragist fight,
Determined to claim voting rights. 

She wrote, spoke, and worked for women til she died

Her dream lived when the 19th amendment came alive .
When the Nineteenth amendment came to be,
It was one step towards justice for you and me. 

Thanks for listening to another episode of Check this out!  Here at the “check this out” podcast we know there is a lot of information and it can be overwhelming to find accurate information! This podcast is a tool for you to help you do something called “citing your sources”. As you get older and do projects for school you’ll learn that certain types of websites or information sources aren’t verified or have evidence and documentation to back them up.  On “check this out” we use verified sources to build the stories you hear about.  

Our sources for this week's episode are encyclopedia britannica, women’s history.org, susanb.org, national park service, the smithsonian, and history.com 

Cece: Thanks for listening, see you next episode! Don’t forget to subscribe.