Woman's Rights Leader

Quest for Equality.

Born on 12 November 1815, in Johnstown, New York, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was from an early age determined to demonstrate that women were the equal of men and to help them secure better treatment. In her father's law office, she heard the grievances of women whose property passed into the control of their husbands on marriage and whose children were presumptively awarded to the father in divorce proceedings. She later recalled that upon the death of her only brother in 1826 she took motivation from her father's lamentation to her, "Oh, my daughter, I wish you were a boy!" Her education included studies in Greek, Latin, and mathematics as well as development of proficiency in traditionally male activities like horseback riding and chess. In 1832 she graduated from Emma Willard's Troy Female Seminary, perhaps the most influential women's educational institution in...