Susan B. Anthony did not play with toys or dolls as a child. Her strict Quaker upbringing and the influence of her abolitionist father inspired her to become a disciplined, reflective young woman with a deep belief in the civil rights of all men and women. She spoke out against what she saw as the ills of society, against the institution of slavery and in favor of a woman’s voice in government through the right to vote.

“I do not demand equal pay for any women, save those who do equal work in value. Scorn to be coddled by your employers; make them understand that you are in their service as workers, not as women.”

Born Susan Brownell Anthony in 1820 in Adams, Mass., the future civil-rights leader was one of eight children. Her father removed her from the district school when she was denied mathematical education because of her gender, and set up a home school for her and her sisters.

In spite of social opposition to a woman with strong political opinions, Anthony was an early activist, collecting anti-slavery ballots at the age of 16 and participating in abolitionist meetings at her home. She learned early on that making the right choice was more important than making the popular choice.

In 1846, Anthony accepted a teaching post at Canajoharie Academy, which was near her family’s home in Rochester, N.Y. She taught for an annual salary of $110 and was headmistress of the girls’ department when she left in 1849. Her experience in the workforce inspired her later fight for equal pay for female teachers, who were earning fourtimes less than male teachers for the same duties.

“I am a full and firm believer in the revelation that it is through women that the human race is to be redeemed. And it is because of this faith that I ask for her immediate and unconditional emancipation from all political, industrial, social and religious subjection.”

Anthony became secretary, and later president, of the Rochester branch of the Daughters of Temperance, which called attention to the effects of drunkenness on families and petitioned for stronger liquor laws. At 29, she felt herself a poor public speaker, but the passion of her beliefs inspired her to be persistent.

The self-conscious Anthony became a regular presence at conventions and gatherings, soon speaking on topics of temperance, prostitution and women’s suffrage. In 1853, when the Sons of Temperance refused to let her speak at their state convention in Albany, she left the meeting and called her own, where she spoke with eloquence and determination.

“I want you to understand that I never could have done the work I have, if I had not had this woman at my right hand.”

Anthony was introduced to feminist Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1851, and the two formed a lifelong bond. The pair traveled the country together giving speeches on women’s equality. “If there is one part of my life which gives me more intense satisfaction than another, it is my friendship of more than 40 years standing with Susan B. Anthony,” Stanton said. Their friendship was a constant source of encouragement and comfort during often tumultuous times, and they were both eager to give credit to the other when praised for their accomplishments.

In 1868, Anthony and Stanton published the first weekly edition of The Revolution, a journal dedicated to women’s and African-American suffrage, equal pay for equal work, equality in marriage and divorce, and other women’s issues. Years later, Anthony, Stanton, Matilda Joslyn Gage and Ida Husted Harper collaborated to write the four-volume The History of Woman Suffrage, published from 1884 to 1887.

“The men and women of the North are slaveholders, those of the South slave owners. The guilt rests on the North equally with the South.”

Anthony’s father was an abolitionist, and one of her brothers became active in the Kansas anti-slavery movement. In 1856, she became an agent for the American Anti-Slavery Society of New York. She spoke frequently for African-American rights and was a longtime friend of civil-rights leader Frederick Douglass.

However, in 1869 when the American Equal Rights Association, founded by Anthony, Douglass and Stanton, voted to support the 15th Amendment to the Constitution granting suffrage to black men only, Anthony realized she must narrow her focus to the establishment of women’s rights.

“We assert the province of government to be to secure the people in the enjoyment of their unalienable rights. We throw to the winds the old dogma that government can give rights.”

With the help of Stanton, Anthony formed the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) and served as vice president of the organization until she was elected president in 1892. In 1890, the NWSA merged with the more conservative American Woman Suffrage Association, creating the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).

Anthony had stepped fully into the limelight as a public spokesperson for women’s rights. Unlike Stanton, she felt a moderate stance was the most likely to accomplish her fundamental goal. “We number over 10,000 women and each one has opinions… we can only hold them together to work for the ballot by letting alone their whims and prejudices on other subjects,” Anthony said. She believed a united front of moderate demands had a greater chance for success than some of the more radical causes pushed by Stanton and others, which Anthony felt should be postponed until the first big step had been taken toward a voice for women.

“Cautious, careful people, always casting about to preserve their reputation and social standing, never can bring about a reform. Those who are really in earnest must be willing to be anything or nothing in the world’s estimation.”

In 1872, Anthony was arrested by the U.S. deputy marshal for voting in the presidential election. She was tried and convicted in 1873, despite her eloquent citation of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which guarantees privileges of citizenship to “all persons born or naturalized in the United States.” She was fined but refused to pay the penalty. She used the arrest and subsequent conviction as a platform to reach a wider audience, sacrificing her reputation and potentially her freedom for the cause of justice.

“Failure is impossible.”

Anthony spoke these words at her 86th birthday celebration in 1906. Throughout her lifetime, she had traveled throughout the United States and Europe, delivering up to 100 speeches a year advocating women’s rights. She passed away one month after giving her final speech. Adult American women were granted the right to vote by the 19th Amendment 14 years later.

Susan B. Anthony’s persistence, passion and unwavering dedication to her beliefs effected a change in American society that she did not live to see, but her legacy survives in the daily lives of countless women who, today, have a voice.