SUSAN B. ANTHONY:  FAILURE IS IMPOSSIBLE

STUDY GUIDE

Written and performed by Cathy Kaemmerlen

Program Description

This program is a one-woman portrayal of Susan B. Anthony, known as Susan B.,  whose life-long fight for women’s suffrage led to our nineteenth amendment, granting women the right to vote. The amendment did not pass until 1920, 14 years after her death.  The program centers on Susan B’s trial of 1872 in which she voted for U.S. Grant for president, testing the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments and whether or not women had the right to vote.  Students and teachers participate in the trial and events in her life’s work by playing parts and learning of her struggles and triumphs. She inspired many women by using the motto:  Failure is impossible.

Students, today we are going to have a performance by an actress/storyteller and author named Cathy Kaemmerlen who is going to portray Susan B. Anthony who worked her whole life towards giving women the constitutional right to vote.  Although our Constitution was written in 1787, women did not have the right to vote until 1920 with the passage of the 19th amendment, called the Susan B. Anthony Amendment.  Ms. Anthony did not live to see this day, although she voted in the 1872 presidential election and was brought to trial for unlawfully voting.  We will participate in this trial and learn more about the life, times, struggles and triumphs of Susan B. Anthony.  Her motto was:  Failure is impossible.

Warm up Questions to set the stage for engaging students and questions to reflect on

--Why do you think it took so long for women to get the right to vote?

--What do you think helped change the mind of our country and legislators?

--What would it be like to spend your whole life working for a single cause?

--Do you think women should be allowed to have the same jobs as men?

--Do you think women should be granted the same pay as men for the same job?

--What do you think Susan B. Anthony’s life-time work did for you?

--Do you think a woman should be President of the United States?

Suffrage:  the right to vote.

Suffragette:  a woman who is in favor and fights for a woman’s right to vote

Woman’s Rights Movement:  the drive to give women the same rights and opportunities as men

Woman’s Suffrage:  a movement that sought a woman’s right to vote

Enfranchisement:  to endow with the rights of citizenship, especially the right to vote

Anti-suffrage:  a movement to prohibit women from gaining the right to vote

Thirteenth amendment: the amendment to our Constitution that prohibited slavery in the United States

Fourteenth amendment:  the amendment to our Constitution that provided all citizens with equal protection under our laws

Fifteenth amendment:  the amendment to our Constitution that prohibited race, color, or previous condition of servitude from denying a citizen the right to vote

Nineteenth amendment:  the amendment to our Constitution that gave women the right to vote

Tyranny: rule or law by someone who abuses power

Verdict: the decision made by a jury at the end of a trial

Chautauqua: and assembly for educational purposes combining lectures and performances and part of a movement started in Chautauqua, New York

.Describe the perfect audience.
.What are some of our class rules for being good listeners?
.How do we show someone we appreciate their visit to our school or classroom?
.How does being part of an audience help make you a good citizen?
.What are some examples of bad audience behavior or attitudes?
.How does a negative audience member effect your enjoyment of a show or performance?
.How would this make the performer feel?
.How do we want the performer to feel when they leave our school or classroom?

--Bohannon, Lisa Frederiksen.  THE STORY OF SUSAN B ANTHONY. Morgan     Reynolds Publishing. 2001.

--Browning, Elizabeth Barrett.  AURORA LEIGH.

--Kendall, Martha E.  SUSAN B. ANTHONY:  VOICE FOR WOMEN’S VOTING RIGHTS.  Historical American Biographies, Enslow Publishers.  1977.

--Stalcup, Brenda, editor.  SUSAN B. ANTHONY:  PEOPLE WHO MADE HISTORY. Greenhaven Press. 2002

--Schlessinger Video Productions.  SUSAN B. ANTHONY:  AN AMERICAN WOMAN OF ACHIEVEMENT.  1995.

--www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrails/anthony/anthonyaddress.html

--National Women’s History Project www.nwhp.org

   “I ask you, is it a crime for a citizen of the United Statesto vote?  Aren’t we women citizens?  It is downright mockery to talk to women of their enjoyment of the blessings of liberty while they are denied the only means of securing them—the ballot.  What rights do women have?  I say more wrongs than rights.”