Feminist History Course

Nellie Bly, born Elizabeth Jane Cochrane in 1864, was best known for her travels, documented in her book, Around the World in Seventy-Two Days. In 1896, she met Susan B. Anthony, whose bicentennial birthday we celebrated on February 15, 2020. The following excerpt from “Champion Of Her Sex: Miss Susan B. Anthony,” originally printed in […]

Anne Trow Lohman, aka Madame Restell (1812-1878), was a notorious abortion provider who practiced without formal medical training in 19th-century New York City; the term “Restellism” became synonymous with abortion by the late 1830s. Born in Painswick, England, Lohman worked as a butcher’s maid starting at age 15. Shortly after she immigrated to New York with her first husband, he succumbed to

Men have always played a vital role in the pro-life movement and in the feminist cause. As we approach the Centennial Celebration of the 19th Amendment establishing women’s right to vote, we acknowledge the contributions of men who sought equality for women through suffrage—including some who also worked to protect women and children from abortion. 

By 1912, the women’s suffrage movement had long been underway. Sixty-four years had passed since the first women’s rights convention at Seneca Falls, New York. While women’s suffrage conventions were held routinely during those six decades, suffragists had yet to persuade the general public to take up their cause. Between 1912 and 1919, however, suffragists employed new tactics to reach voters, including suffrage