Susan B. Anthony's Bold Stand: Advocating for Women’s Suffrage Before Congress on March 8, 1884

Susan B. Anthony's Bold Stand: Advocating for Women’s Suffrage Before Congress on March 8, 1884

Mar 08, 2025

Looking at March 8th, 1884 during Women's History Month.

On March 8th, 1884, Washington, D.C., was cold and rainy*. Maybe that set the mood for what was to go down in history: a bold and fearless argument pointing out the chill felt by the women of 19th century America.


Just weeks after her 64th birthday, a woman named Susan B. Anthony took a stand for women's suffrage. She was one of the women who brought this chill before the House Judiciary Committee, a body established over 50 years earlier to "consider legislation relating to judicial proceedings." Click here for more on this committee.


This March 8th committee meeting, and Susan's testimony, took place 16 years after the first introduction of legislation to give women a federal 'right to vote.'


(*source: Extreme Weather Watch)


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Spring tulips in Colonial Williamsburg


Who was Susan B. Anthony?

  • Born on February 15, 1820 in Adams, Massachusetts, which is home to her birthplace museum and named after signer of the Declaration of Independence, Samuel Adams.
  • Grew up in New York, where she lived from 1826, until her death in 1906. You can visit her home and official museum at 17 Madison Street in Rochester.
  • Was active in the anti-slavery movement. In fact, her family farm was used for anti-slavery meetings in the 1840's.
  • Co-founded the National Woman Suffrage Association with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who she met in Seneca Falls, New York at an 1851 anti-slavery convention.
  • Multiplied her efforts toward the passage of women's suffrage after the Civil War.


For a full timeline of Susan B. Anthony's life, click here to the National Susan B. Anthony Museum and House's website.


Quote source here.


The rest is history.

Sadly, Susan B. Anthony did not live to see the fruits of her labor. Having died in 1906, after endless speeches such as this one and numerous trips from New York to Washington, D.C., it would be another 14 years before the 19th Amendment came to be.


Here are three dates worth noting:

  • August 18th 1920: what was known as the "Anthony Amendment" was adopted as the 19th Amendment- allowing women to vote.
  • March 8th 1945: the first International Women's Day was celebrated.
  • 1987: the year Congress stopped passing "Women's History Week" resolutions and adopted a law designating March as "Women's History Month." To dive deeper, click here.


RELATED: More posts about women in history on this blog:

Elizabeth Keckley, 19th century America from her perspective

Anne Geddy, 18th century businesswoman

Jane Vobe, Williamsburg tavernkeeper of Colonial Williamsburg

Phillis Wheatley, enslaved poetess who was published


Closing words from history.

My source is a fantastic article on the Library of Congress' website. Click here to read it in full. Here are some of Susan B. Anthony's words as she advocated for women's suffrage on March 8, 1884.


“We appear before you this morning…to ask that you will, at your earliest convenience, report to the House in favor of the submission of a Sixteenth Amendment to the Legislatures of the several States, that shall prohibit the disfranchisement of citizens of the United States on account of sex.”



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There is a huge practical disclaimer to the content on this blog, which is my way of sharing my excitement and basically journaling online.


1) I am not a historian nor an expert. I will let you know I’m relaying the information as I understand and interpret it. The employees of Colonial Williamsburg base their presentations, work, and responses on historical documents and mainly primary sources.

2) I will update for accuracy as history is constant learning. If you have a question about accuracy, please ask me! I will get the answer from the best source I can find.

3) Photo credit to me, Daphne Reznik, for all photos in this post, unless otherwise credited! All photos are personal photos taken in public access locations or with specific permission.