Union Congregational Church
14 North Main Street, Churchville, New york | Unmarked Location
On Tuesday, May 2, 1905, Churchville's Union Congregational Church hosted a county-level woman suffrage convention whose guest speaker list would have done justice to one of the annual statewide conventions held by the New York State Woman Suffrage Association (NYSWSA).
The event was sponsored by the Monroe County Political Equality Club. (Monroe is the county of which Rochester is the seat and principal city.) Political Equality Clubs served as informal local chapters of NYSWSA, sometimes organized at the county level and sometimes as the city level. The Monroe County Political Equality Club's fourteenth annual convention at Churchville boasted a speaker lineup comparable to that of some NYSWSA annual conventions.
Speakers included nationally prominent suffragists Susan B. Anthony of Rochester and Anna Howard Shaw, a physician and the first woman minister ordained by her denomination; Harriet May Mills, a leading regional suffrage activist from Syracuse; and Jean Brooks Greenleaf, a significant activist from Rochester who had been elected president of NYSWSA in 1890.
Union Congregational Church
Union Congregational Church looks little different today than it did in 1905.
Union Congregational, Angle View
Angled view of Union Congregational Church, where the 1905 Monroe County suffrage convention was held.
Convention program cover
Cover of the program for the Monroe County Political Equality Club convention held at Churchville on May 2, 1905. Special thanks to William Keeler of the Rochester Historical Society.
Convention Program
Participating speakers included Jean Brooks Greenleaf, Harriet May Mills, Anna Howard Shaw, and Susan B. Anthony, delivering the keynote address. Special thanks to William Keeler of the Rochester Historical Society.
Jean Brooks Greenleaf
Jean Brooks Greenleaf of Rochester was an accomplished suffrage activist who served for several years as president of the New York State Woman Suffrage Association.
