Portrait of Susan B. Anthony, 1887.

1881: SBA publishes volume one of History of Woman Suffrage. Volume two is published in 1882, and volume three in 1886. 
1881: SBA forges a closer alliance with the Women's Christian Temperance Union, and faces criticism from Stanton, Gage, and others who fear the Union's conservative influence. 
1883: SBA tours England and Europe with Rachel Foster Avery.
1885: SBA receives bequest from Eliza Jackson Eddy, and uses the funds to publish the third volume of History of Woman Suffrage.
1886: The U.S. Senate votes for the first time on a proposed woman suffrage amendment, and loses 34 to 16.
1888: SBA helps plan and lead the meeting on the International Council of Women.
1889: Negotiates merger of the National American Woman Association and the American Woman Suffrage Association
1890: Attends first convention of the newly organized American Woman Suffrage Association
1890: Campaigns throughout South Dakota for woman suffrage referendum

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History of Woman Suffrage, volume III.

"Men have been faithful about noting every heroic act of their half of the race," observed Susan B. Anthony, "and now it should be the duty, as well as the pleasure, of women to make for future generations a record of the heroic deeds of the other half." To this end she, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Matilda Joslyn Gage began the project of writing the History of Woman Suffrage in 1876. After many interruptions, the first volume appeared in 1881 and the second in 1882. Anthony then purchased the rights from the publisher Fowler & Wells and the third volume was published under her imprint in 1886. With money she inherited from Eliza Jackson Eddy, Anthony was able to fulfill her wish to distribute the volumes free of charge and over the next several years she sent copies of the History of Woman Suffrage to 1,200 libraries in the United States and Europe, to hundreds of schools, and countless individuals. Shown is volume three of the set she presented to the University of Rochester Library in 1903.
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Postcard from Rachel Foster Avery to Susan B. Anthony while abroad, August 17, 1883.

Postcard from Rachel Foster Avery to Susan B. Anthony while abroad, July 27, 1883.

Postcard from Rachel Foster Avery to Susan B. Anthony while abroad, July 11, 1883.

In February 1883 Susan B. Anthony traveled to Europe and Great Britain in the company of Rachel Foster Avery. The two met at a suffrage convention in 1879 and soon established a special bond as co-workers and friends. Avery, who was almost forty years younger than Anthony, referred to her as "Aunt Susan" and Anthony regarded Avery as her "niece." When Avery decided to study abroad in 1883, she persuaded Anthony to make the trip with her. While Avery toured the continent, Anthony spent much of her time in Britain where she met with the feminist leaders of England, Ireland and Scotland. Avery kept Anthony informed of her European travels through a series of postcards some of which are shown here.
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Letter from Susan B. Anthony to her niece, Louise Mosher, December 19, 1883.

On December 19, 1883 Susan B. Anthony writes her niece Louise Mosher about the power of mind over body. Perhaps this is the secret of Anthony’s continued vigor over the years.
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Letter from Susan B. Anthony to Elizabeth Cady Stanton, January 27, 1884.

In January 1884, Frederick Douglass married his second wife Helen Pitts, a white woman who had worked for him while he was U. S. Marshal in Washington, DC. The marriage, which was denounced in both the white and black communities, elicited different responses from Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony and showed the growing disparity between the two women. Stanton retained the broad, liberal views of the early woman’s rights movement and was ready to denounce any social, political or religious ideology that she found offensive. The more pragmatic Anthony, who had spent decades building a suffrage organization, was concerned that endorsing controversial issues would cause harm by offending conservative suffragists and potential supporters. In this lengthy letter written between January 27 and 29, 1884 Anthony implores Stanton not to publicly endorse Douglass’s marriage.
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Sixteenth annual Washington convention of the National Woman Suffrage Association.

The call to the 1884 annual convention of the National Woman Suffrage Association lists the places where women had the franchise including Wyoming, the first state to give women the vote.
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Hand-painted dress buttons believed to be owned by Susan B. Anthony and a needle case made by Anthony, 1835.

Dress buttons owned by Susan B. Anthony, along with a needle case she made at age 15. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Letter from Susan B. Anthony to Rachel Foster Avery, January 20, 1887.

On January 20, 1887 Susan B. Anthony writes Rachel Foster Avery that she has viewed the sculpture of herself by Adelaide Johnson. She also sends suggested wording for the call to the upcoming International Council of Women.
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Photograph of bust of Susan B. Anthony by Adelaide Johnson.

Adelaide Johnson created portrait busts of Susan B. Anthony, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton. These were first displayed at the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. She later incorporated the busts into a large sculpture entitled "The Woman Movement" that now stands in the rotunda of the United States Capitol. The Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired the Anthony bust in 1906 and it is now on loan to the Susan B. Anthony House.
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Letter from Susan B. Anthony to Rachel Foster Avery’s adopted daughter Miriam Alice, June 22, 1887.

Before her marriage in 1888, Rachel Foster Avery and her sister Julia Foster adopted a baby girl. The news greatly distressed Susan B. Anthony who feared that this new responsibility would distract Avery's attention from working for the woman suffrage movement. She expresses her concern in this letter to the baby.
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Letter from Susan B. Anthony to Rachel Foster Avery, November 11, 1887.

Despite Anthony’s fears, Rachel Foster Avery remained a steadfast worker in the woman suffrage cause. She managed many of the details for the International Council of Women and was instrumental in bringing about the reconciliation between the National and the American suffrage associations. Merger discussions began in 1888 and several members of the American group, including Lucy Stone, participated in the International Council. As evident in this November 11, 1887 letter from Anthony to Avery, the negotiations did not always go smoothly and old animosities did not die easily.

When the merger finally occurred in 1890 Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Matilda Joslyn Gage and other members of the National were dismayed, for they feared that the newly reunited organization would adopt the more conservative social and religious agenda of the American association. Even though Stanton continued to serve as president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association until 1892, she attended few of their meetings.
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International Council of Women.

The International Council of Women brought together 80 speakers and 49 delegates representing 53 women’s organizations from England, Ireland, France, Norway, India, Canada, and the United States. The National American Woman Association, the American Woman Suffrage Association, and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union participated as well as many other professional organizations, trade unions, benevolent societies, and arts groups. Susan B. Anthony presided over 8 of the 16 sessions.
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Photograph of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, February 15, 1892.

Susan B. Anthony wears an International Council of Women pin in this photograph with Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
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