Susan B. Anthony Day
| Susan B. Anthony Day | |
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Susan B. Anthony
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| Observed by | (1) United States Florida legal holiday, state offices open (2) United States California and Wisconsin educational observance, schools open with related instructions (3) United States Massachusetts Local observance on August 26 (4) United States West Virginia state holiday on Election Day (Tuesday following 2nd Monday in November) |
| Type | Florida legal holiday California and Wisconsin educational observances Massachusetts local observance West Virginia state holiday |
| Date | February 15 |
| Next time | February 15, 2018 |
| Frequency | annual |
Susan B. Anthony Day is a commemorative holiday to celebrate the birth of Susan B. Anthony and women's suffrage in the United States. The holiday is February 15—Anthony's birthday.
The idea of honoring Susan B. Anthony with a holiday has only been around since 2011 when Representative Carolyn Maloney introduced the Susan B. Anthony Birthday Act, H.R.#655. Today, only the U.S. state of Florida has the holiday enacted with state offices closed. In the state of Wisconsin, Susan B. Anthony Day is also an established state holiday, enacted into law April 15, 1976, from the 1975 Laws of Wisconsin, Chapter 307, section 20. In West Virginia, this day is celebrated on Election Day on even years. This holiday is not celebrated at a national level. In 1985, The Seattle Times reported on a campaign to establish the holiday as one celebrated nationally. (Other holidays that are not commemorated on an official federal level in the U.S. but widely observed are St. Patrick's Day and Arbor Day.) The U.S. state of California has also made this day a legal holiday as of 2014. In 2004, New York governor George Pataki signed legislation that made this a holiday in that state.
On February 11, 2011, Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York introduced the "Susan B. Anthony Birthday Act" (H.R. #655) to the 112th session of Congress to honor the birthday as a U.S. national holiday on the third Monday of February. The bill was not enacted and its current status is "dead".
Susan B. Anthony is known for her leadership in the long campaign for women's right to vote in the United States and also abroad. She indicated her interest as early as 1852, when she attended the National Women’s Rights Convention in Syracuse, New York. She was also a vigorous opponent of slavery. In 1863, during the American Civil War, she and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the Women's Loyal National League, the first national women's political organization in the U.S. It collected nearly 400,000 signatures on petitions to abolish slavery in the largest petition drive in the nation's history up to that time.
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