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
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
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
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
- ^ 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". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2020-08-05.
- ^ "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.
