HistoricSiteMarkers
Progressive & Modern Era

Anna Howard Shaw (1847-1919)

Upper Providence Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania

Marker Inscription

A doctor and theologian, Shaw was national lecturer for the National American Women's Suffrage Association and a colleague of Susan B. Anthony. As head of the Women's Committee of the US Council of National Defense she coordinated all women's defense activities during WWI and was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal for her efforts. She lived near here from 1908 until her death, just before ratification of the Women's Suffrage Amendment.

Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission

The Story

Anna Howard Shaw was one of the most powerful voices of the American woman-suffrage movement, a trained physician and ordained minister who traveled the country as a lecturer for the National American Woman Suffrage Association alongside Susan B. Anthony. During World War I she chaired the Women's Committee of the U.S. Council of National Defense, organizing women's contributions to the war effort and earning the Distinguished Service Medal. She made her home near this spot from 1908 until her death in 1919—just months before the ratification of the amendment she had fought so long to secure.

Why it matters

Shaw's career shows how the fight for the vote intertwined with women's public service to the nation, and she died on the very threshold of the victory she helped make possible.

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Related people

  • · Anna Howard Shaw
  • · Susan B. Anthony

Related events

  • · Women's Suffrage Amendment ratification

Themes & tags

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