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Primary sourceDocument28 June 1873

Record of the Conviction of Susan B. Anthony

Charles Mason · 28 June 1873

The 1873 U.S. District Court record documenting Susan B. Anthony's conviction for illegally voting in the 1872 election.

This is the official record of Anthony's conviction for illegally voting, a defining moment in her activism.

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Handwritten legal record on aged paper, with three punch holes at top, signed by Charles Mason, Clerk, naming Susan B. Anthony in the court proceedings and noting a fine of one hundred dollars and costs.
Charles Mason, Record of the conviction of Susan B. Anthony, U.S. District Court, Northern District of New York, 28 June 1873.

About this source

What it is

This is an official handwritten legal record from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, signed by Clerk Charles Mason in 1873. It documents the conviction of Susan B. Anthony, who was fined one hundred dollars plus costs.

Why it matters

Anthony was arrested for voting in the 1872 election in Rochester, New York, at a time when state law allowed only men to vote. This court record is direct evidence of the legal consequences she faced for her activism, and it shows how the justice system of the time enforced laws that excluded women from voting.

Look closer

  • Why would a court keep such a detailed written record of this case?
  • What does the size of the fine tell you about how seriously the court treated this act?
  • What questions does this document leave unanswered about Anthony's trial itself?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Susan B. Anthony on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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