New generations continue to be inspired by Rochester’s activist past

Rochester, New York – Rochester has historically served as a gathering place for well-known activists whose contributions have influenced society.

Generations of activists have been inspired and motivated to fight for justice and change by their lasting legacy.

“I grew up in Rochester, in the school district there, so one of our field trips every single year was to go to Susan B. Anthony’s home, and I think that maybe unlike other parts of the country, because of the abolitionist movement, the suffrage movement, so many activists either lived in or came through Rochester, that we were taught to revere them,” said Shannon Watts, an activist and the founder of Moms Demand Action “It made me feel like it was something to aspire to, to be an activist.”

Watts, a mother of five and native of Fairport, started Mom’s Demand Action, a nationwide group that advocates for stricter gun legislation and has 10 million members. The roots of action had been sown long before she founded the organization, even though she was in her 40s.

“I recall that we were instructed to create dioramas. I portrayed Harriet Tubman as a clothespin who led other clothespin slaves to freedom, whereas the other students in my class focused on space or plant life. Accordingly, I believe that this has always been a part of me, and it began when Watts visited Susan B. Anthony’s house.

In addition to her well-known advocacy for women’s suffrage, Anthony was instrumental in granting women admission to the University of Rochester.

According to Stefanie Dunning, director of the Susan B. Anthony Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies at the University of Rochester, “Susan B. Anthony has a strong legacy.”

When Anthony promised her $2,000 life insurance policy in 1900 to support a campaign to let women attend the university, that legacy was born.

Today, as they pass through a tunnel featuring her picture, students are reminded of Anthony’s efforts.

In a 2015 mural by local artist Sarah Rutherford, Anthony is portrayed as both an elderly woman and a youthful woman.

The school flower, dandelions, is represented by Rutherford’s inclusion in the mural.

A photograph of a college-aged lady, representing the upcoming generations impacted and motivated by Anthony’s advocacy, is shown on the wall across from it.

This portrayal acts as a reminder of the Rochester suffragists’ ongoing significance and the long-lasting effects of their work.

According to Dunn, “I do believe that issues pertaining to women’s rights and many other rights that feminists and suffragettes have fought for, for many generations, remain relevant sites of contestation in our society.”