Table of Contents
Note: Click any verse to read notes, and click again to hide them.
Susan, Mostly B
Upon a birthday season for Bryan, who is not the primary B
Our birthday gifts will oft times boast
It really is the thought that counts
My time is what I value most
In lieu of checks destined to bounce
Time is money so assume this has some value, regardless and irregardless of quality!
For Bryan and for Susan too
This poem have I now composed
Forgiveness I cannot eschew
If by the end you both have dozed
Bryan celebrated his birthday earlier this month. He has been one of my closest friends since Thanksgiving of 1979. Since he taught history, it seemed to be a worthwhile topic to address for his birthday present.
His wife Susan came along much later, special enough that we now overlook Bryan's flaws and thus remain friends due to her. In this poem, however, she is Susan 2 ("too"); Susan 1 will be the primary focus of this word salad.
Susan and Bryan are in the center, naturally
When young girls ask and wonder why
How did we get the right to vote?
Susan can give a quick reply:
Speeches they gave and books they wrote
Our Susan's career was providing students with resources.
Who are these women of the past
Who fought for rights that we now hold?
Upon this coin a bust is cast
Susan B. Anthony’s we’re told
I came to the U.S.A. in 1979 for college, the very year that Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906) appeared on the dollar coin. And now the identity of Susan 1 has been revealed.
She fought for slaves at seventeen
As petitions she did gather
To smash the evil she was keen
And worked herself into a lather
You can start making a difference early in life.
Elizabeth became her friend
Together they would fight for years
They battled hard but to what end
Was worth the hardship and the tears?
Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815 – 1902)
Her early work on a petition
Had prepped her for the like of mind
She offered them abolition
Four hundred thousand people signed
In 1863, Anthony and Stanton organized a petition to abolish slavery, the largest drive the U.S. had seen. About one out of 24 adults in the Northern states signed. The petition encouraged the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, which ended slavery.
The largest of petitions made
The women’s goal was oh so clear
Equal rights for all—black or maid
Should be the law of our land here
Thanks to the Civil War, the 13th Amendment soon passed. Securing rights for women took much longer.
A woman riding on a bike
Caused Susan to rejoice and stand
We find it odd that she would like
Something so common in our land
Quote on bicycling: "I think it has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world. I stand and rejoice every time I see a woman ride by on a wheel...
But in her day such sights were rare
A woman so untrammeled free
The common folk would stop and stare
To see such brazen liberty
... It gives women a feeling of freedom and self-reliance. It makes her feel as if she were independent. The moment she takes her seat, she knows she can't get into harm unless she gets off her bicycle, and away she goes, the picture of free, untrammelled womanhood."
She cast a vote in ’seven two
Arrest came soon, they had a grudge
Found guilty ‘fore the trial was through
“I’ll never pay,” she told the judge
Susan defied the law in 1872 and voted along with several other women. She was the only one arrested and placed on trial. Judge Ward Hunt told the jurors they could not discuss the case, but must immediately declare her guilty and then he fined her $100.
She said her piece though still not free
Her protest strong she would complete
One hundred bucks you will not see
Such outrage I will surely beat
Given the chance to speak at the end, Anthony gave what has been called "the most famous speech in the history of the agitation for woman suffrage". Judge Hunt ordered her to stop, but she ignored him until she was done. Read all about the trial in this PDF.
They did not send her to the jail
Or to a court she could appeal
The movement it could never fail
When suffragettes refused to kneel
The judge knew that if he jailed her, she could appeal to the Supreme Court. Having just been named a Supreme Court justice, he had no desire to face her wrath again and she went free despite not paying the fine.
The years went by, near fifty more
Until Amendment Nineteen passed
Though she had died some years before
The right to vote had come at last
Susan B. Anthony died in 1906 and the Amendment finally passed in 1919 and was ratified the following year.
A debt is owed though few recall
The price so many women paid
Remember Susan when in fall
With ballet cast your choice is made
I wrote this in 2024, a federal election year. Now that I am an American, it is the first time that I have the privilege of voting. I will remember the sacrifices that made it possible for us to vote. When Elizabeth Stanton tried to vote and was denied, she literally cast her ballot at the workers. Now they can go in the box.
And if you wonder at the tale
At West Hills High you now will find
Respect for women without fail
A Susan there has been enshrined
The Susan Arthur Library at West Hills High School in Santee, California honors my friend, and also contains information about Susan B. Anthony. They are both Susan A (Arthur, Anthony) or "A Susan" (see what I did there?) with a B (Bryan, and an initial without a name) and I'm glad they both will be remembered for decades to come!
by Randy Brandt
Written 11 & 14 January 2024
Much love to you both, Susan and Bryan!
To visit the sites on this page,
check out Band of Tours.