Synopses & Reviews
The andldquo;hushandrdquo; of the title comes suddenly, when first Elizabeth Cady Stanton dies on October 26, 1902, and three years later Susan B. Anthony dies on March 13, 1906. It is sudden because Stanton, despite near blindness and immobility, wrote so intently right to the end that editors had supplies of her articles on hand to publish several months after her death. It is sudden because Anthony, at the age of eighty-five, set off for one more transcontinental trip, telling a friend on the Pacific Coast, andldquo;it will be just as well if I come to the end on the cars, or anywhere, as to be at home.andrdquo;
Volume VI of this extraordinary series of selected papers is inescapably about endings, death, and silence. But death happens here to women still in the fight. An Awful Hush is about reformers trained andldquo;in the school of anti-slaveryandrdquo; trying to practice their craft in the age of Jim Crow and a new American Empire. It recounts new challenges to andldquo;an aristocracy of sex,andrdquo; whether among the bishops of the Episcopal church, the voters of California, or the trustees of the University of Rochester. And it sends last messages about woman suffrage. As Stanton wrote to Theodore Roosevelt on the day before she died, andldquo;Surely there is no greater monopoly than that of all men, in denying to all women a voice in the laws they are compelled to obey.andrdquo;
With the publication of Volume VI, this series is now complete.
Review
"Ann Gordon's shrewd selections, meticulous editing, and deeply researched annotations make these volumes an extraordinary gift to historians for generations to come."
Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains
Review
andquot;Ann Gordonandrsquo;s brilliance in unearthing and preserving the Stanton-Anthony heritage will inform feminist scholarship for generations.and#160; These volumes
are our history: factual, fair, and like the women themselves, often very funny.and#160; Read them with pride.andquot;
and#160;
Review
andquot;A handful of women ignited and fueled one of the world's most significant, ongoing revolutons, and thanks to Dr. Gordon's insightful and rigorous scholarship, these women come alive to challenge us today.andquot;
Review
andquot;The final volume in this momumental project
An Awful Hush, 1895 to 1906 features the same richly detailed editorial work that Ann Gordon brought to the entire series and that makes it an indispensible resource.andquot;
Review
andquot;Volume 6 marks the completion of an ambitious historical editing project thirty years in the making. This series is a scholar's dream. Annand#160;D. Gordon has presented researchers with a treature trove of the most significant documents in the history of the U.S. women's rights movement, organized chronologically and expertly annotated with all the typical mysteriesandmdash;genealogical, temporal, geographical, and politicalandmdash;that absorb precious archival time neatly solved. The six volumes offer scholars of American history a comprehensive selection of primary documents tracing the lives and political careers of the two central figures in the movement for women's rights.andquot;
Review
andquot;Ann Gordon'sand#160;shrewd selections, meticulous editing, and deeply researched annotations makeand#160;these volumes an extraordinaryand#160;gift to historians for generations to come.andquot;
Review
andquot;This final volume to the Selected Papers of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony examines the closing years of their lives and the end of their collaboration for womenandrsquo;s suffrage [illustrating] Anthonyandrsquo;s concern over the preparedness of the next generation of suffrage activists and Stantonandrsquo;s expanding view of womenandrsquo;s rights. This six-volume collection is a valuable addition not only to our knowledge of Stanton and Anthony, but of nineteenth-century womenandrsquo;s activism as well.andquot;
Synopsis
Volume 6, An Awful Hush, is about reformers trained andldquo;in the school of anti-slaveryandrdquo; trying to practice their craft in the age of Jim Crow and a new American Empire. It recounts new challenges to andldquo;an aristocracy of sex,andrdquo; whether among bishops of the Episcopal church, voters in California, or trustees of the University of Rochester. And it sends last messages about woman suffrage. As Stanton wrote to Theodore Roosevelt on the day before she died, andldquo;Surely there is no greater monopoly than that of all men, in denying to all women a voice in the laws they are compelled to obey.andrdquo;
Synopsis
The "hush" of the title comes suddenly, when first Elizabeth Cady Stanton dies on October 26, 1902, and three years later Susan B. Anthony dies on March 13, 1906. It is sudden because Stanton, despite near blindness and immobility, wrote so intently right to the end that editors had supplies of her articles on hand to publish several months after her death. It is sudden because Anthony, at the age of eighty-five, set off for one more transcontinental trip, telling a friend on the Pacific Coast, "it will be just as well if I come to the end on the cars, or anywhere, as to be at home."
Volume VI of this extraordinary series of selected papers is inescapably about endings, death, and silence. But death happens here to women still in the fight. An Awful Hush is about reformers trained "in the school of anti-slavery" trying to practice their craft in the age of Jim Crow and a new American Empire. It recounts new challenges to "an aristocracy of sex," whether among the bishops of the Episcopal church, the voters of California, or the trustees of the University of Rochester. And it sends last messages about woman suffrage. As Stanton wrote to Theodore Roosevelt on the day before she died, "Surely there is no greater monopoly than that of all men, in denying to all women a voice in the laws they are compelled to obey."
With the publication of Volume VI, this series is now complete.
About the Author
ANN D. GORDON is a research professor in the department of history at Rutgers University and the editor of this six-volume series. She is the recipient of the 2012 Silent Sentinel Award presented by the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial Association.