Osborne House Hotel
65 State Street, Auburn, New York | Unmarked Location
The Osborne House, one of Auburn's most elegant hotels, served as the headquarters for the thirty-sixth annual convention to the New York State Woman Suffrage Association (NYSWSA), held on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, October 17–20, 1904. Keynote speakers included the nationally prominent suffragists Susan B. Anthony and Anna Howard Shaw.
Plenary sessions were held at Music Hall. Business meetings were held at the Osborne Annex, the former Burtis residence at the corner of Genesee and Green Streets. In addition, on Monday, October 17, there was a reception at the home of local suffrage leader Eliza Wright Osborne, widow of prominent Auburn industrialist David Munson Osborne.
The site is now occupied by a branch of the Empower Federal Credit Union. In a nod to the long-demolished Osborne House, the bank's design includes details based on the Osborne's design.
Osborne House Hotel
The Osborne House as depicted in an early twentieth-century postcard.
NYSWSA Program Page
Title page of NYSWSA 1904 Convention program lists the Osborne House as Convention headquarters.
Anna Howard Shaw
Nationally prominent suffrage leader Anna Howard Show, a licensed physician and an ordained minister.
Osborne House, 1920s
Period photo of the Osborne House, probably late 1920s.
Osborne House Site Today
A branch of Empower Federal Credit Union occupies the site of the Osborne House hotel today.
Empower FCU, alternate angle
Alternate-angle view of the Empower Federal Credit Union on the Osborne House site.
Empower FCU Details
The credit union building bears old-style details meant to salute the Osborne House Hotel's design.
Rotary Club Marker
Historical marker placed by Auburn Rotary Club verifies that this is the site of the historic Osborne House Hotel.
Associated Causes
Associated Historical Events
Thirty-Sixth NY State Suffrage Convention
October 17–20, 1904