10 American Women’s Suffrage Movement Leaders

Women’s rights activists were spread around the world during the 1900s and historians aren’t exactly sure about the beginnings of the suffrage movement. But here are 10 American women’s suffrage movement leaders who changed the future for the better. 

1. The Pankhurst Women

Christabel Pankhurst may be the founder of the suffragettes but Emmeline Pankhurst pushed the movement to greater heights. Though their form of protest was detested by many, the Pankhurst women were considered the official firsts of the suffrage movement. They went by their motto “Deed, not words”.

2. Emily Davison

She was fatally wounded when she stepped in front of the King’s horse in the 1913 Epsom Derby to let the king know about the suffrage movement. 

3. Millicent Garett Fawcett

Fawcett was formerly famous as a writer who concentrated on educating women before she started the suffragist party with over 50,000 members who participated in peaceful protests such as organizing conventions, processions, and hunger strikes to get voting rights. She inspired other women’s rights activists across the world.

4. Ethyl Smith

Smith wasn’t one among the women’s rights movement leaders but she kept things going with her music. She conducted a suffragette song in prison and had also written their anthem “The March of the Women”.

5. Elizabeth Cady Stanton

She was the unofficial mother of the women’s suffrage leaders in the U.S. Her primary goals were to gain the right to own property, get the right to vote. She stood against the ratification of the 15th amendment that allows black men to vote. 

Stanton and members of the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Society thought it to be a degrading act by the constitution to allow black men to vote while white women were protesting for their rights. 

6. Lucretia Mott

Mott was a women’s rights activist who also aimed at abolishing slavery throughout her life. She joined hands with Elizabeth Stanton and delivered speeches in conventions and processions. 

7. Sojourner Truth

White women who fought for women’s rights had overshadowed black Americans’ basic needs, especially black women who were also part of the suffrage. Thus, Isabelle Baumfree AKA Sojourner Truth split from the U.S. suffrage movement and was known for her “Ain’t I a Woman” speech. 

8. Susan B. Anthony

Susan B. Anthony was unofficially the first woman to cast a vote in the 1872 elections. She falsely claimed that the constitution permitted women to vote and was imprisoned for the same when she refused to pay the fine. 

9. Mary McLeod Bethune

Though the black community was allowed to vote eventually, the poll taxes were high. Mary Bethune, an educator, and activist went door to door on her bicycle to raise funds to pay off the taxes. She also conducted night classes to help her community pass the voter literacy test. 

10. Lucy Stone

She was the first of the many next-generation suffrage activists who supported both women’s right to vote and racial equality. Stone directed the suffrage into a more legal approach leading to the success of the suffrage movement in 1920.