Susan B. Anthony and the struggle for women's property rights
As we celebrate Women’s History Month, it’s important to remember those who have laid the groundwork for equity with their tireless efforts for justice. The City of Rochester has a long history of citizens who have fought for equity and equality, including the infamous Susan B. Anthony. But did you know that her struggle included the fight for the right to own and build equity through homeownership?
For Ms. Anthony, icon of the women’s suffrage movement, voting rights were but just one of the goals she was working to attain. Aside from her tremendous work in the fight to abolish slavery and support equal rights, financial empowerment for women was also an objective.
As she traveled the country to speak and organize at the local level, Anthony advocated for “women’s emancipation,” including the right to own property. At the time, married women were not allowed to own property, keep money that they had earned, or have guardianship of their own children. Anthony worked diligently to address these inequities by agitating for women’s property rights across New York State, circulating petitions and lobbying the state legislature.
In 1853, Anthony wrote:
“Woman must have a purse of her own, and how can this be, so long as the wife is denied the right to her individual and joint earnings. Reflections like these, caused me to see and really feel that there was no true freedom for woman without the possession of all her property rights … This demand must be made by Petitions to the Legislature…”
She helped to organize a series of National Women’s Rights Conventions, including one in 1854 in Seneca Falls, NY where a "woman's social, civil, and religious rights" and a "plan of operation" to secure them were discussed. For her efforts, for both gender and racial justice, she encountered much hostility.
Ultimately, her efforts contributed greatly to the 1860 passage of the Married Women’s Property Act, which gave married women the right to own separate property, enter into contracts, and to have guardianship of their own children. She also worked closely with fellow suffragist, Elizabeth Cady Stanton to campaign for more liberal divorce laws in New York.
Ms. Anthony and her collaborators hoped to chip away at many injustices of the time including racism, economic oppression and legal status of married women. Through these efforts, some American women began to see the substantial benefits that homeownership can imbue – wealth generation, financial stability as well as increased social capital and physical and mental health benefits.
More recently, women have experienced significant economic and social benefits as a result of more equal access and reduced discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing, via the Fair Housing Act of 1968. The legacies of the women whose courage and determination paved the way for a more equitable America must not be forgotten.