Description:

Susan B. Anthony
Riggs Hotel, Washington, D.C., January 2, 1884
Susan B. Anthony PSA GEM MINT 10 Quoting Alexander Hamilton!
AQS

An autograph quotation signed by Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906), pioneer crusader of the woman's suffrage movement, as "Susan B. Anthony" near the bottom. January 2, 1884. Riggs Hotel, Washington, D.C. Above her signature, Anthony has carefully penned, "Give to a man a right over my subsistence and he has power over my whole moral being," which is a paraphrase of a line in Alexander Hamilton's Federalist Papers No. 79, written under the pseudonym Publius, "A power over a man's subsistence amounts to a power over his will." Inscribed on an oblong slip of paper. Encapsulated and PSA/DNA graded GEM MINT 10. Expected wear including a flattened transmittal fold near the top edge not affecting any text, else near fine. The slip measures 5.375" x 3.25" and the slab measures 7.25" x 4.25." Provenance: Ex-William Burger, 1969.

Anthony wrote in full:

"'Give to a man a right over my subsistence and he has power over my whole moral being.' Alex. Hamilton -

Susan B. Anthony

The Riggs House
Washington D.C. - Jan. 2. 1884."

Susan B. Anthony had referred to Hamilton's quote - sometimes varying the exact wording - since the late 1850s. The quote is referenced within Anthony's correspondence and in public addresses up through the mid-1890s. Anthony's woman's suffrage ally, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, also used the same Hamilton quote in the late 1860s. The idea of economic liberation and empowerment greatly appealed to these civil rights leaders.

Anthony was in Washington, D.C. in early 1884 lobbying Congress to revisit the issue of woman's suffrage. In late January, for example, Anthony wrote and distributed a circular to absentee Congressmen inquiring how they would have voted on the issue of establishing a committee investigating woman's suffrage. Anthony was still busily occupied in the nation's capital two months later, preparing for the 16th Annual Convention of the National Woman Suffrage Association, held on March 3-6, 1884.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: slabbed: 7.25" x 4.25"
  • Medium: AQS

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