Top of page

Collection Elizabeth Cady Stanton Papers

Timeline

A chronology of key events in the life of Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902), reformer, suffragist, and feminist.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902)

  1. 1815, Nov. 12

    Born, Johnstown, N.Y.
  2. 1832

    Graduated, Emma Willard's Seminary, Troy, N.Y.
  3. 1840

    Married Henry B. Stanton (1808-1887)

    Attended World Anti-Slavery Convention, London, England
  4. 1846

    Moved from Boston, Mass., to Seneca Falls, N.Y.
  5. 1848

    Organized the first woman's rights convention at Seneca Falls, N.Y.

    Coauthored the Declaration of Sentiments, modeled on the Declaration of Independence, which included the demand for voting rights for women
  6. 1851

    Met Susan B. Anthony; enlisted her in woman's rights cause
  7. 1852

    With Susan B. Anthony and others founded the Women's New York State Temperance Society
  8. 1863

    With Susan B. Anthony and others founded the Women's Loyal National League to agitate for the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ending slavery
  9. 1866

    Petitioned Congress for universal suffrage

    First female candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives
  10. 1868-1870

    Joint editor with Parker Pillsbury of the weekly Revolution
  11. 1869

    Cofounder, with Susan B. Anthony, and first president of the National Woman Suffrage Association to agitate for a 16th Amendment that would outlaw disfranchisement on account of sex; provided leadership of NWSA (usually as president) until its merger in 1890 with the American Woman Suffrage Association
  12. 1870

    15th Amendment outlawing disfranchisement "on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude" was ratified
  13. 1875

    Supreme Court decided in Minor v. Happersett that female citizens were not legally entitled to vote
  14. 1878

    Senator Aaron A. Sargent (R-CA) introduced in Congress the 16th Amendment extending to women the right to vote; became known as the Anthony Amendment, and later the 19th Amendment
  15. 1881-1886

    Published with Susan B. Anthony and Matilda Joslyn Gage, History of Woman Suffrage (New York: Fowler & Wells. 3 vols.)
  16. 1887

    16th Amendment (Anthony Amendment) defeated in U.S. Senate
  17. 1888

    Helped organize the first International Council of Women, Washington, D.C.
  18. 1890

    Elected president, National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA)
  19. 1895, 1898

    Published The Woman's Bible (New York: European Publishing Co. 2 vols.)
  20. 1896

    Fearing a backlash and loss of support for the suffrage cause, NAWSA disassociated itself from Stanton’s condemnation of canon law and her view that churches restricted women’s freedom and retarded their progress
  21. 1898

    Published Eighty Years and More: Reminiscences of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 1815-1897 (New York: European Publishing Co. 474 pp.)
  22. 1902, Oct. 26

    Died, New York, N.Y.