LETTER: Autograph letter signed to "Sir," June 12, 1879.
Anthony on an upcoming speaking event
Anthony, Susan B. Autograph Letter Signed “Susan B. Anthony” to “Sir.” Rochester, 06/12/1879; one leaf; 8 x 10 inches; black ink on graph paper; bifolium; closed tear at fold; text smudged but legible; minor soiling and paper deterioration to verso.
Anthony’s letter reads, in full:
Yours of the 9th inst is received. I will give my lecture entitled – “Woman wants Bread; not the Ballot.” On the 27th inst. As you indicated, for Twenty-five dollars and entertainment. If I could [have] three or four other engagements to lecture in your vicinity, I should be able to cut down the price a little. I very well remember my Monroe County canvass of five – no six years ago -- & your hospitable reception of my cause in particular. Our idea has made wonderful growth in the six years.
Anthony was a sought-after keynote speaker at women’s suffrage conventions across the United States, traveling to, attending, and speaking at such events until she was 86, the last year of her life. The speech to which she refers in her letter, “Woman Wants Bread, Not the Ballot!”, was a satirical commentary on the “failure of workingwomen in any significant numbers to participate in the suffrage movement” and was Anthony’s favorite speech, combining “the economic exploitation of woman and her need for the vote in a democratic nation in order to assume some control over the conditions of her life in every sphere” (MacLean, Nancy. The American Woman's Movement. New York: Bedford St. Martin’s, 2008. 138).
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