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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Pioneer and crusader Susan Brownell Anthony paved
3the way for the first women's movement in the United States and
4led that movement for more than 50 years, which culminated in
5the adoption of the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to
6vote in the United States; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Susan B. Anthony was born on February 15, 1820 in
8Adams, Massachusetts to Quakers Daniel Anthony and Lucy Read
9Anthony, who shared a passion for social reform; and
 
10    WHEREAS, Susan B. Anthony fought to end slavery and played
11an active role in the Underground Railroad; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B.
13Anthony founded the National Woman Suffrage Association in
141869; they also produced The Revolution, a weekly publication
15that lobbied for women's rights, and a three volume History of
16Woman Suffrage; and
 
17    WHEREAS, Susan B. Anthony was tireless in her efforts,
18giving speeches around the country to convince others to
19support a woman's right to vote; she took matters into her own
20hands in 1872 when she illegally voted in the presidential
21election; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Susan B. Anthony was arrested and tried
2unsuccessfully to fight the charges; she remained determined to
3fight for women's suffrage and argued that "the right women
4needed above every other … was the right of suffrage"; and
 
5    WHEREAS, Susan B. Anthony and the National Woman Suffrage
6Association gathered enough influence to lobby the U.S.
7Congress for a constitutional amendment and saw the
8introduction of the first women's suffrage amendment to the
9United States Constitution in January 1878 which stated, "The
10Right of citizens to vote shall not be abridged by the United
11States or by any state on account of sex."; and
 
12    WHEREAS, The women's suffrage amendment to the United
13States Constitution was introduced in every session of Congress
14for the next 41 years; and
 
15    WHEREAS, Susan B. Anthony died on March 13, 1906; while
16women still did not have the right to vote at the time of her
17death, her last public words were "Failure is impossible"; and
 
18    WHEREAS, It was not until 1920, 14 years after Susan B.
19Anthony's death, that the 19th Amendment to the U.S.
20Constitution, giving all adult women the right to vote, was
21passed; the House of Representatives of the Sixty-Sixth

 

 

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1Congress of the United States passed the 19th Amendment on May
221, 1919, and the Senate passed the 19th Amendment two weeks
3later; and
 
4    WHEREAS, On June 10, 1919, Illinois became the first state
5to ratify the amendment, and, on August 18, 1920, Tennessee
6became the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment to the
7United States Constitution; and
 
8    WHEREAS, In recognition of her dedication and hard work,
9the U.S. Treasury Department placed Susan B. Anthony's portrait
10on one dollar coins in 1979, making her the first woman to be
11so honored; therefore, be it
 
12    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL
13ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we declare February 15,
142019 as Susan B. Anthony Day in the State of Illinois; and be
15it further
 
16    RESOLVED, That we recognize the importance of Susan B.
17Anthony's contribution to the women's suffrage movement and all
18that came after her; and be it further
 
19    RESOLVED, That we will continue to make sure that no
20Illinois citizen's vote will be discouraged based of race, sex,
21religion, or creed.