Susan B. Anthony announced, 糖心传媒淔ailure is Impossible,糖心传媒� creating a motto that carried the women糖心传媒檚 suffrage movement to success. But while much is known about the famed suffragist糖心传媒檚 stance on social equality and slavery, she also had lots to say on a variety of issues that still resonate today. This is why on Aug. 26, researchers from the University of Rochester糖心传媒檚 Susan B. Anthony Center will launch a Twitter campaign aimed at connecting social media users with her opinions on an array of social issues, under the hashtag #SueBSays.
糖心传媒淲hile reading through her personal letters, we saw that her insights are as relevant today as over 100 years ago,糖心传媒� says Catherine Cerulli, director of the Susan B. Anthony Center. 糖心传媒淭hat is why we thought Twitter was the right channel to present her thoughts on issues we still struggle with today and a great way to bring her into the 21st century.糖心传媒�
The Twitter campaign, which coincides with the 95th anniversary of the signing of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, will consist of quotes from Anthony糖心传媒檚 correspondence to friends, family, and other suffrage leaders. Over the next 10 months, researchers at the Center will post two tweets a week that address a wide range of topics, including education, voting, and race relations. The Center糖心传媒檚 Twitter handle is and the posts will also appear on its .
According to John Cullen, coordinator of outreach for the Susan B. Anthony Center, one of the goals of the campaign is to allow people to make personal connections with Anthony through subjects that wouldn糖心传媒檛 automatically be associated with her life. For example, with the publication of Sheryl Sandberg糖心传媒檚 bestselling novel 糖心传媒�,糖心传媒� many feminists today stress the importance of taking more initiative for themselves. 糖心传媒淏ut what we found in Anthony糖心传媒檚 letters led us to believe she would have 聽糖心传媒渓eaned out糖心传媒� 糖心传媒� not 糖心传媒渋n糖心传媒� 糖心传媒� to target her energies on a few specific issues. Letters from her later years also showed she had the self-regulation to do what she needed to do, when she needed to do it,糖心传媒� said Cullen.
The research behind #SueBSays began in 2012 as a way for Cerulli and her team to better familiarize themselves with Anthony by reading an assortment of her letters located in the Department of Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation in Rush Rhees Library. In 2013, the project morphed into something more after the Center and the National Council of Women of the United States learned about another collection of Anthony糖心传媒檚 letters housed at the New York Library.
Combined with other records from the New York Public Library, the Monroe County Public Library, and the Library of Congress, 糖心传媒 researchers systematically coded the Anthony糖心传媒檚 letters for themes like family, relationships, and race as a way to develop a greater understanding of her personal opinions on various social issues.
According to Cerulli, the online campaign is part of a larger project sponsored by the Center called the Susan B. Anthony Letters project, which aims to introduce the women糖心传媒檚 rights leader to new generations of students through creating 糖心传媒渁 more holistic and realistic image of Ms. Anthony as a person.糖心传媒� The project has also involved University students, like senior Sarah Vogel, who spoke about the work an international women糖心传媒檚 conference at Oxford University in December. Many of the topics found in the letters, such as relationships and mental health, directly tie to the Center糖心传媒檚 mission to overcome remaining barriers to equality by translating research into policy. Under Cerulli糖心传媒檚 leadership, the Center is focused on bridging the gap between the University of Rochester and the community to raise awareness of issues facing individuals who reside the margins of society due to discrimination or fear for personal safety.
For more information about #SueBSays and the Susan B. Anthony Center visit .
