Courting Confrontation: The Arrest of Susan B. Anthony

Thursday, November 3, 2022 – Thursday, January 12, 2023
East Rotunda Gallery

On November 5, 1872, Susan B. Anthony and 14 other women attempted to vote in Rochester, New York, challenging section one of the 14th Amendment, which states, â€śNo State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” Allowed by election officials to successfully register and cast their ballots in the 1872 election, they were later arrested and charged for “knowingly, wrongfully, and unlawfully vot[ing] for a representative to the Congress of the United States.”

The U.S. Marshals were directed to take Anthony to jail in December 1872—the only one of the group indicted and brought to trial. During the trial, Judge Ward Hunt instructed the jury to issue a guilty verdict without any deliberation. Anthony was found guilty and fined $100. She later petitioned Congress to review the trial and excuse her fine, believing that she had been denied her right to trial by jury because of the judge’s instructions.

Despite Anthony’s tireless advocacy for a woman suffrage amendment, she would not live to see it enshrined in the United States Constitution. It would take almost 50 more years of civil rights advocacy and confrontation before women would secure an amendment to the Constitution that prohibited states from denying the vote on the basis of sex. Fourteen years after Anthony’s 1906 death, passage of the 19th Amendment, widely known as the Susan B. Anthony Amendment, guaranteed “the right to vote shall not be denied on account of sex.”

Order to U.S. Marshal to Deliver Susan B. Anthony to County Jail, December 26, 1872

This order directed the U.S. Marshals to take Susan B. Anthony to jail on December 26, 1872. In U.S. v. Susan B. Anthony, she argued like many woman suffragists did, that the 14th Amendment gave her the right to vote as a citizen of the United States. Anthony lost her case and was found guilty and fined $100, which she never paid.

National Archives at New York City, Records of District Courts of the United States

Past Featured Records

Freedmen’s Bureau Marriage Records
After the Civil War, the federal government established a War Department agency to help Americans transition from slavery to freedom. The Freedmen’s Bureau (1865–72) issued rations, operated hospitals and helped establish schools and unite families. It worked to resolve labor disputes and negotiate labor contracts. It also presided over and documented marriages between freed couples.
20th Amendment: A New Inauguration Day
From George Washington’s second term through Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first, inauguration day was generally held on March 4. Without cars or computers, the four months between the election and inauguration served a purpose in the late 18th and 19th centuries. It allowed the President-elect time to settle their affairs and journey to the nation’s capital.
Mr. Santa Claus: Romance of the Postal Service
This holiday featured film is one of a series of silent movies produced by the Post Office Department in 1921. The mini melodrama shows how the postal service helps make a happy Christmas for a boy and his sister when their “Dere Sandy Claws” letter is answered by a young married couple.
Bring Them Home, Uncle Sam
Many Americans sought to honor the returning service members with patriotic greetings at the dock, parades to welcome them home, and memorials to honor their service. President Woodrow Wilson proclaimed November 11, 1919, as Armistice Day, creating an annual day to honor those who brought about the end of the “Great War.” Two decades later, America would find itself embroiled in World War II and then in the Korean War, with many more soldiers deserving of honor. In 1954, President Dwight Eisenhower rededicated Armistice Day as Veterans Day to honor all of America’s veterans for their service and sacrifice.
Betty Ford: Raising Breast Cancer Awareness
On Display 10/03/2024 - 10/30/2024 Just weeks after she became First Lady, Betty Ford was diagnosed with breast cancer. On September 26, 1974, doctors discovered a lump in her breast during a routine medical examination. She underwent a mastectomy two days later. Breaking with social conventions of the time, Betty Ford shared her cancer diagnosis with the public. This ...