"A Heroic Life": 1901-1906

In 1904, at the age of eighty-four, Susan B. Anthony traveled to Germany to attend another meeting of the International Council of Women. In this June 17, 1904 letter to Mary Lewis Gannett, Anthony describes the banquet.
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Under the auspices of the Rochester Political Equality Club, a party to celebrate Susan B. Anthony’s eighty-fifth birthday was held in the home of William Channing and Mary Lewis Gannett. Recognition was also given to Mary Anthony who had served for many years as the president of the club. In response to all the tributes, Susan B. Anthony replied, "you may compliment women, pet them, worship them, but if you do not recognize their claim to justice, it is all as nothing."

The month before she died, Susan B. Anthony attended the 1906 NAWSA annual convention in Baltimore, Maryland. Already ill when she left Rochester, she was only present at a few sessions, but she did make an appearance at the celebration to honor her 86th birthday. She could not make a formal speech, but she thanked the officers of the national association and then recognized that, "There have been others also just as true and devoted to the cause--I wish I could name every one--but with such women consecrating their lives, failure is impossible." These final three words were the last she would speak in public and they became the rallying cry of those who carried on the suffrage work.
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The Susan B. Anthony House presented an historical reenactment of the funeral at the Hochstein School on March 25, 2006. As they did at the original funeral, University of Rochester students took part in the service.
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