Courtesy Susan B. Anthony House

history

In 1866, legendary women’s-rights advocate Susan B. Anthony and her family moved to the house at 17 Madison Street in Rochester, New York. The house was to be her home during the remaining forty, and most politically active, years of her life. Throughout that time, distinguished visitors from around the world gathered at the house to meet and plan strategies with Miss Anthony. Although its exact age is unknown, the Horse Chestnut tree (Aesculus hippocastanum) that stands in front of the house was most likely planted by the Anthony family.

The earliest known photograph of the house is dated 1891, twenty-five years after the Anthony family purchased the property. In it, Susan B. Anthony and a group of her fellow campaigners gather on the house's front lawn, under the shade of the young Horse Chestnut Tree. The group including, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, represents some of the movement’s most resolute leaders, those who devoted their lives to the struggle to win the vote for women in America.