Gordon will discuss what has happened to accounts of Anthony's life in the century since the suffragist's death, examining formal biographies as well the stories told when her name is used for other than biographical purposes, such as placement on a dollar coin.
"Susan B. Anthony's story is a hard story to tell; her work was ephemeral: talking, traveling, meeting, and embodying a cause," says Gordon. "Moreover, she was a single woman whose personal life is elusive. After 20 years of collecting, reading, and editing Susan B. Anthony's papers, I have a great fondness for her and many opinions about what we can and cannot learn about her life."
The Stanton and Anthony Papers Project includes copies of periodicals, newspapers, diaries, journals, correspondence, coverage of lectures and meetings, and miscellaneous documents relating to the work of Stanton and Anthony on women's rights. Gordon, who is also a research professor of history at Rutgers, has written numerous articles on women's history and biography. Her essay "Taking Possession of the Country" appears in the companion volume to the documentary by Ken Burns and Paul Barnes, Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Susan B. Anthony, for which she was interviewed and also served as program consultant.
The Verne Moore Lectures are sponsored by the Department of History and have been funded by a gift from Verne Moore '50 since 1996. For more information, call
x5-2052.
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Historian discusses Anthony's life
nn Gordon, editor of the Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony at Rutgers University, will discuss "Knowing Susan B. Anthony: The Stories We Tell of a Life" at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 30, in the Hawkins-Carlson Room of Rush Rhees Library. Her talk, free and open to the public, is part of the Verne Moore Lecture series and is the keynote address for the conference "Susan B. Anthony and the Struggle for Equal Rights," held at the University March 30 to April 1.
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