Susan B. Anthony Personified
Dear Friends,
Today was an exciting day! We attended a presentation about Susan B. Anthony, champion of women’s rights, equality and the right to vote. Actress Sally Matson dressed up in period costume, in a high collar, long dress, and bloomers, made by a former colleague at the American Textile History Museum. She gave a flawless and flowing performance to students, faculty, and guests, for 45 minutes. One could have heard a pin drop in the audience.
She provided many details about the events in Miss Anthony’s life as noted in her letters, diaries and other ephemera. Such information included correspondence with her associates, especially her famous friend, Harriet Cady Stanton, Susans’s objections, in court, to a judge’s ruling, and her cross country travels to present 149 talks each year, in the cause of Suffrage.
Matson also travels extensively to bring the work of Anthony to the public eye, once again. She offers this dramatization to groups such as corporations, schools, churches, libraries, retirement homes, and others places. Her chatty, first person account of the life of Susan B. Anthony is a glimpse into another world, a time when women were simply thought to be baby makers, house decorations, or at worst, “brainless.”
The talk triggered my memory bank to recall the “Cult of True Womanhood,” a.k.a. “The Cult of Domesticity.” The concepts surrounding these so called “cults” involved the ideal behaviors of women, according to William Ruskin and other nineteenth century British philosophers. Picture a demure woman in a rocking chair, knitting booties, crocheting a doily, or sewing. All is just-so in her world, one that is not weighted down by any concerns of the world, including voting, something for which she is too stupid, anyhow.
In costume, Sally Matson becomes a believable “Susan B. Anthony.” Sally’s research for this program was carried out at “the Huntington, Schlesinger, and Boston Public Libraries,” according to her lecture brochure. She graduated from Northwestern University School of Communication, and her resumé of interpretive work in reenacting Anthony’s life includes a program for the Department of Defense. She has worked for Connecticut Cable TV as a writer and interviewer, and has had a career as an actress, as well.
In her presentation, one that is far more exciting than I am able to impart to you with mere words, and/or without “giving” the show away, Matson shares facts and information about her subject, but moreover, she shares insight into the “character” of Susan B. Anthony, and has some thoughts on how important it is for women to vote in elections, these days. She reminded us all to “VOTE!”
I was thrilled to be back on campus again. Jim and I both attended UNH. Seeing the (new to us), Memorial Union Building was quite a pleasant shock. It’s beautiful, spacious, and ambient, with elevators, snack vendors, the UNH Bookstore, student lounges, etc., a far more luxurious area for students than in the 1960s/early 1970s! We both love the campus and have very fond memories of our studies there. We came home feeling quite happy, and very eager to share Sally Matson’s website with you, in case your group is ever seeking a wonderful presenter of historically-based material.
Sally Matson, e-mail: Ssmatson at aol.com, or visit: www.susanbanthonytheinvincible.com
Patricia Cummings, Quilter’s Muse Publications
