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Early Life and Marriage
Mrs. Susan Dyer was born Susan Hart Palmer on September 22, 1853 in Rochester, NY to Oliver Hazzard Palmer and Susan Augusta Hart Palmer. She was one of five children. On March 31, 1875 in Manhattan, NY, she married US Naval Academy graduate George Leland Dyer, who became a naval commander and the Governor of Guam from 1904-1905. The couple had three children, George, Dorothy, and Susan. Their daughter, Susan “Daisy” Dyer, was an accomplished musician and composer who also participated in the suffrage movement.

Travels and Early Suffrage Activities
The Dyer family traveled extensively due to George Dyer’s military career, including to Cuba, Spain, Germany, the West Indies, Guam, and the Philippines. While stationed in Guam, Mrs. Susan Dyer advocated for educational opportunities for the Native children and worked to establish a local hospital for women and children. When stationed in Washington, DC. Susan participated in the Cobweb Club, a women’s literary organization. She attended lectures by Susan B. Anthony and Clara Barton and met with government officials on behalf of the women’s suffrage movement

Florida Suffrage Movement
In 1908, upon George’s retirement from the Navy, George and Susan Dyer settled permanently in Winter Park, FL at their estate, the Anchorage. Susan became more active in the suffrage movement, both locally and nationally.

In 1914, she was elected vice president of the Florida Equal Suffrage Association. She served as a delegate for the Florida Equal Suffrage Association to the National Suffrage Convention in Washington, DC in 1915. As the chairwoman of the local women’s committee of the State Council of Defense, she worked to raise funds for the Young Women’s Christian Association. She spoke at the Women’s Department of Food Administration meeting in order to promote education about food handling safety and food security. Susan was elected president of the Woman’s Club of Winter Park in 1918, and she served as president until her death in 1921. As president, she created a committee of the club dedicated to women’s suffrage and sent a petition to the Florida legislature advocating for women’s voting rights. In 1919, several members of the Woman’s Club of Winter Park voted in a municipal election despite it being illegal for women to vote at that time.

Death
Susan Dyer died February 21, 1921 in Winter Park, FL at the age of 68