Anna E. Hendley
Anna E. Hendley | |
|---|---|
 Anna E. Hendley, from a 1917 publication. | |
| Born | Anna Elizabeth Mills September 1865 Washington, D.C. |
| Died | October 9, 1945 Washington, D.C. |
| Occupation(s) | Suffragist, clubwoman |
Anna E. Hendley (September 1865 – October 9, 1945), born Anna Elizabeth Mills, was an American suffragist, founder and leader of the Anthony League, later the Susan B. Anthony Foundation.
Early life[edit]
Anna Elizabeth Mills was born and raised in Washington, D.C.,[1][2] one of the six daughters of Sarah F. Sydnor Mills (1848–1924) and Albert W. Mills Sr. (1841–1885).[3]
Career[edit]
In 1912, Hendley founded the Anthony League to preserve the history of the woman's suffrage movement, and to build support for a memorial to Susan B. Anthony in Washington, D.C.[4] The group also took positions on education, child labor, marriage laws, and prison reform.[5][6] During World War I, she led the group's knitting drive for the troops.[7][8] She was president of the organization for fourteen years; it changed its name to the Susan B. Anthony Foundation in 1925.[9][10][11]
Hendley was also a founder and officer of the Society of Natives of the District of Columbia.[2] and the first president of the District of Columbia Woman's Suffrage Association.[1] In 1916, she co-founded a chautauqua series in Atlantic City.[12] After suffrage was won, Hendley turned her attention the District of Columbia voting rights, hoping to win the vote for residents of the District.[13] "I have seen so many seemingly impossible suffrage hopes and desires come true in my lifetime that my faith is as great as my hope," she told an interviewer in 1938.[1]
Hendley owned Susan B. Anthony's gavel, given to her by Lucy Anthony at a victory convention in Chicago in 1920.[1] She also owned a large 1890 portrait of Anthony by S. Jerome Uhl,[14] and hung it at the Foundation's headquarters in the Shoreham Hotel. The painting was presented to the League of Women Voters by 1932,[15] and to Woodrow Wilson High School in 1938; it has since disappeared.[16]
Personal life[edit]
Anna Elizabeth Mills married federal employee Julian Paul Hendley in 1882. They had three children, Marion (1883–1929), Albert (1885–1975), and Victor (1890–1896).[17] She was widowed in 1943, after 61 years of marriage, and she died in 1945, aged 80 years, in Washington, D.C.
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d Evans, Jessie Fant (1938-01-23). "Mrs. Anna E. Hendley, Suffrage Leader, Hopeful for D. C. Vote". Evening Star. p. 13. Retrieved 2020-08-05 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b United States Congress House Committee on the Judiciary (1938). Hearings. p. 115.
- ^ "Mrs. Sarah F. Mills Dies". Evening Star. 1924-07-29. p. 2. Retrieved 2020-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Moque, Alice Lee (April 7, 1917). "Who's Who in Suffrage". The Woman's Journal. 48: 83.
- ^ "Re-Elected Leader of Anthony League". Evening Star. 1924-05-02. p. 17. Retrieved 2020-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Hendley, Anna E. (1914-05-20). "Truths by Women Who Know". The Washington Times. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "She Commands Capital Knitters". The Oklahoma City Times. 1918-06-18. p. 5. Retrieved 2020-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "The Anthony League". The Washington Post. 1918-02-10. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Susan B. Anthony Foundation, Washington, D.C., records. Retrieved 2020-08-05 – via Library of Congress.
- ^ "Statement of Mrs. Nannette B. Paul" House Committee Hearing on the Representation of the District of Columbia in Congress and the Electoral College, 1921. page 110.
- ^ "The Susan B. Anthony Foundation". Evening Star. 1927-05-15. p. 23. Retrieved 2020-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "How Two Local Club Women Organized a Chautauqua". The Washington Times. 1916-09-23. p. 8. Retrieved 2020-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Talks on Voteless D.C." Evening Star. 1922-05-06. p. 28. Retrieved 2020-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Life Size Oil Portrait of Miss Anthony". The Woman's Journal. 48: 87. April 7, 1917.
- ^ "Susan B. Anthony is Eulogized Here". Evening Star. 1932-02-16. p. 5. Retrieved 2020-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Arnsberger, Anna (November 18, 2019). "Wilson used to own a masterpiece. Now it's lost". The Wilson Beacon. Retrieved 2020-08-05.
- ^ "Died". Washington Times. 1896-06-15. p. 5. Retrieved 2020-08-06 – via Newspapers.com.
