Birthday Luncheon – National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House

Speaker Announced for Susan B. Anthony Birthday Luncheon

September 26, 2018September 26, 2018 Victoria Brzustowicz

In Need of Some Inspiration? This is the Event–and the Speaker–to Challenge and Recharge You!

Rochester, NY– Celebrating Susan B. Anthony’s birthday is a tradition that began in her lifetime and continues to this day. This 199thbirthday party and fundraiser for the National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House will take place February 13, 2019 at the Joseph A. Floreano Riverside Convention Center, 123 E. Main Street, Rochester, NY.

The keynote speaker for the 2019 Susan B. Anthony Birthday Luncheon will be Dr. Irma McClaurin, co-chair of 2018 Seneca Falls Revisited Conference & Retreat held in Rochester, past president of Shaw University, activist anthropologist, black feminist speaker and author, and diversity champion and consultant. She is alsothe founder of the Irma McClaurin Black Feminist Archive in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

With a focus on inclusiveness, Dr. McClaurin says, “I want to encourage and challenge people to find bonds of commonality; and motivate everyone to leave inspired and committed to acting with integrity, grace, and respect as they move through the world.”

“We are setting the stage for 2020 when we celebrate the centennial of the 19th Amendment, Susan B. Anthony’s 200thbirthday, and the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Anthony Museum,” says Deborah L. Hughes, President & CEO of the National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House. “Dr. McClaurin will challenge us to move boldly into 2020, furthering the causes of human rights that are a cornerstone of Anthony’s legacy.”

You can read more about Irma McClaurin at her web site, irmamcclaurin.com.

2018 Birthday Luncheon Recap

February 23, 2018February 23, 2018 Victoria Brzustowicz

2018 Annual Susan B. Anthony Birthday Luncheon

December 4, 2017February 15, 2018 Victoria Brzustowicz

The National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House

presents the

Annual Susan B. Anthony Birthday Luncheon

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Noon to 1:30 pm

Joseph A. Floreano Rochester Riverside Convention Center

123 East Main Street • Rochester, New York

A New York World reporter once observed that Susan B. Anthony “kept the fun barometer way up! At the Annual Birthday Luncheon on February 14, 2018, there will be much to celebrate. This February 14th is bicentennial of the date that Frederick Douglass chose as his birthday and is a day before Susan B. Anthony’s 198th birthday on the 15th.

Along with celebrating the birthdays of these two human rights activists and friends, the Birthday Luncheon celebrates their accomplishments, reminds us of their unfinished work—and challenges us to “take the wheel.”

The keynote speaker for the 2018 Susan B. Anthony Birthday Luncheon will be Elaine Weiss, journalist and author of The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote, a narrative account of the dramatic climax of the woman’s suffrage movement, which will be published by Viking in March 2018.

“2018 is a bridge year between New York’s suffrage centennial in 2017 and the centennial of the 19th Amendment in 2020,” says Deborah L. Hughes, President & CEO of the National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House. “There is no better time to bring this scholar whose writings explore the road to women’s suffrage to our Rochester audience.”

Weiss’ first book, Fruits of Victory: The Woman’s Land Army in the Great War was excerpted in Smithsonian Magazine online, and featured on C-Span and public radio stations nationwide. Weiss has also given presentations at the Library of Congress, National Archives, Smithsonian Museum of American History, Hull House, the Chautauqua Institution, and many other major libraries, historical societies, and universities.

Reservations are now closed for the 2018 Luncheon, and we look forward to seeing you on February 14th!

Sold Out Crowd for 2016 Susan B. Anthony Birthday Luncheon

February 1, 2016February 1, 2016 DHughes

Rochester, NY – Billie Jean King and Susan B. Anthony have proved a winning combination! Thanks to an overwhelming and enthusiastic response, the National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House is pleased to announce that the 2016 Susan B. Anthony Birthday Luncheon is officially sold out. This milestone, ten days before the event, is the earliest ever for this annual luncheon.

The Susan B. Anthony Birthday Luncheon is held each year in mid-February to celebrate Susan B. Anthony’s February 15^th birthday, to honor contemporary women who continue her legacy, and to raise awareness of the educational and inspirational programs offered by the Museum.

This year’s event will be held on February 10^th at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center at noon.

Questions related to this event may be directed to luncheon@susanbanthonyhouse.org.

Media inquiries may be directed to Sarah Murphy Abbamonte, Director of Communications, at 585/279-7490 x 15 or sarah.abbamonte@susanbanthonyhouse.org.

From our president & CEO…

December 21, 2015December 21, 2015 DHughes

This past year has been one of triumph and challenge. In so many ways, Susan B. Anthony’s life and work seem more relevant than ever as we head into 2016.

The Anthony Museum began 2015 with an exciting Susan B. Anthony Birthday Luncheon focused on the accomplishments of women in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Lynn Sherr addressed a sold out crowd of more than 1,000 guests who were moved and inspired by the life story of Sally Ride, America’s first woman in space. Our theme, “Thanks to Susan B., We Can Reach For the Stars”, inspired many to contribute their own video messages of thanks.

In March, the United States commemorated the March on Selma fifty years earlier, but as the year unfolded, we were confronted with many ways in which racism is a part of our present world, not just a subject to be learned from our history books.

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 also celebrated its 50th anniversary this summer. Susan B. Anthony envisioned a day when no one would face the barriers or injustice of prejudice; however, recent court challenges and new legislation in some states continue to demonstrate what she knew to be true: the vote is so powerful that there are those who will contrive to control it for their own ends.

Thanks to the release of the feature film, Suffragette, this fall, we experienced a surge of international interest in women’s history. The Friends of the National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House hosted a sold-out screening of the film, which was followed by a panel discussion of the history behind its powerful story.

Just this past month, we celebrated the empowerment of women in Saudi Arabia as they cast their ballots and ran for local office for the first time. This despite the fact that Saudi Arabia is still an absolute monarchy that limits many basic rights and freedoms for both men and women. We are reminded of those women in the United States who were enfranchised at the local or state level, but waited another three decades or more before they would have a vote in their national government.

A reporter once asked Susan B. Anthony how she endured the decades of work for woman suffrage with mostly losses to show for her efforts. She responded, “Defeats? There have been none. We are always progressing.”

In that spirit, THANK YOU for helping us keep Susan B. Anthony’s vision alive. The world still needs her message of equality, freedom, and justice for all.

~Deborah L. Hughes, president & CEO

Billie Jean King to deliver keynote address

December 3, 2015February 1, 2016 DHughes

Rochester, NY – The National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House is proud to announce that the keynote speaker for the 2016 Susan B. Anthony Birthday Luncheon is Billie Jean King, sports icon, humanitarian, and champion of equal rights.

The annual luncheon will be held Wednesday, February 10, 2016 at the Joseph A. Floreano Rochester Riverside Convention Center.

A native of Southern California, Billie Jean King has won thirty-nine Grand Slam singles, doubles, and mixed doubles titles during her tennis career. She famously defeated Bobby Riggs in the 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” match. King is the founder of the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative, which seeks to address inclusion and diversity issues in the workplace, and the Women’s Sports Foundation. In 2009, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the country’s highest civilian honor, and, in 2010, was appointed to the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition.

King’s accomplishments, both on and off the court, make her the perfect candidate to speak on the 2016 luncheon theme, Making History, a celebration of the many ways in which women leave their mark and inspire today’s women.

“When Billie Jean King entered the national tennis scene, it was commonly believed that women were inferior as athletes and competitors,” noted Anthony Museum president & CEO, Deborah L. Hughes. “She has been making history and fighting for equal rights for half a century. We are thrilled to bring her to Rochester, to honor her, and to challenge and inspire our audience.”

Questions related to this event may be directed to luncheon@susanbanthonyhouse.org.

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UPDATE 2/1/16: Tickets for this event have SOLD OUT! Thank you for your enthusiastic support!

#ThankYouSusanB Contest Announcement

January 2, 2015November 16, 2015 DHughes

Our 2015 annual Susan B. Anthony Birthday Luncheon will be held on Wednesday, February 11, from noon to 1:30 p.m. at the Joseph A. Floreano Rochester Riverside Convention Center!

The keynote speaker will be award-winning journalist and author, Lynn Sherr. Sherr’s latest book is Sally Ride: America’s First Woman in Space. She is also the author of the 1996 Failure is Impossible: Susan B. Anthony in Her Own Words. Inspired by Sally Ride’s story, this year’s luncheon theme, “Thanks to Susan B, we can reach for the stars!”, is a celebration of the legacy Anthony’s life & work has had on the stellar woman of today.

The public is invited to share the impact of Anthony on THEIR lives as part of our #ThankYouSusanB photo & video contest. Entries may be submitted online via Twitter, using the hashtag #ThankYouSusanB, or Facebook, by posting the submission to the Museum page. Submissions will be accepted through February 4, 2015. Selected entries will be screened at the luncheon on February 11. One entry will be randomly chosen to receive a signed copy of Lynn Sherr’s Sally Ride: America’s First Woman in Space.

2014 Susan B. Anthony Annual Birthday Luncheon

December 13, 2013December 14, 2013 DHughes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Tuesday, December 3, 2013
CONTACT: Ellen K. Wheeler, (585) 279-7490, ext. 15, Director of Public Relations & Communications

National Susan B Anthony Museum & House announces annual birthday luncheon speaker!

Rochester, NY—The National Susan B. Anthony Museum & House proudly announces that its keynote speaker for the Annual Susan B. Anthony Birthday Luncheon, to be held Wednesday, February 12, 2014, is Louise W. Knight, author, lecturer, and historian.

In making the announcement, Anthony House president and CEO Deborah L. Hughes shared that the theme of the 2014 luncheon is “Up and Doing.” It’s a subject Louise Knight knows very well, as she is the author of two biographies on Jane Addams, one of the late 19th-century and early 20th-century activists in moving public perception and attitudes. Prominent in the battle for woman suffrage and a friend of Susan B. Anthony, Addams is perhaps best known as the co-founder of Hull House, the nation’s first settlement house. Knight will focus on Addams’s and Anthony’s ideas about democracy and how each of them put those ideas into action— “up and doing”—for the causes they held dear.

In addition to her Addams biographies, Louise Knight’s writing has been published in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, and the Women’s Media Center website. She is currently working on a book about Angelina and Sarah Grimke, two abolitionists and women’s rights advocates of the 1830s.

The Susan B. Anthony Birthday Luncheon is held each year in mid-February to celebrate Susan B. Anthony’s February 15th birthday, to honor contemporary women who continue her legacy, and to raise awareness of the education and inspiration programs that take place at and through the National Historic Landmark on Madison Street. The luncheon takes place at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center.

Annual Birthday Luncheon Photos

February 26, 2013December 14, 2013 DHughes