A Real-Life She-ro: Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Elizabeth Cady Stanton grew up in a world where girls were treated as if they had very little value. In spite of the fact that girls were discouraged from any pursuits beyond the most docile and domestic, Lizzie was bright and brave and accomplished. Still her father, whom she idolized, lamented that she had not been born a boy.

How does a girl grow to know her own worth in the midst of such conditions?

I honestly don't know. It seems to me that any girl who perseveres in believing she CAN--surrounded by an environment which perpetually insists that she CAN'T--is already a she-ro.

But Elizabeth Cady Stanton didn't just know her own worth, or just want other girls and women to know their own. She spent her life working to change the laws of the United States so that our voices might be heard with that most fundamental of all democratic rights: the right to vote. Throughout her life she wrote and spoke and traveled the country, withstanding biting criticism and derision at every step, working to change the hearts and minds of Americans so that future generations of women would finally enjoy the rights that are ours.

She did not live to see the prize she sought. Elizabeth died in 1902, just shy of her 87th birthday, and the 19th Amendment recognizing women's right to vote was not ratified until 1920. But because of the vision, courage and stamina of Mrs. Stanton and her fellow soldiers in the battle for women's suffrage, the United States became a freer place. I, for one, am so very grateful to this important she-ro!

(Though I had heard her name in the past, I never knew very much about Mrs. Stanton until I watched the documentary, "Not For Ourselves Alone," by previously featured hero Ken Burns. I highly recommend this look at ECS and her close friend, Susan B. Anthony!)

Elizabeth Cady Stanton on Wikipedia

(Have a real-life hero or she-ro to nominate for this blog? Let me know at misslynn [at] misslynn [dot] com!)