Did you know Susan B Anthony's grave is in a cemetery in Rochester where it's become a tradition to visit on Election Day and place 'I Voted' stickers on her headstone?

150 years ago, 50 years before women won the right to vote, Susan B. Anthony cast her ballot in the 1872 presidential election a few miles from her final resting place at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Rochester. She was arrested, tried, convicted, and fined $100. She vowed she wouldn't pay the penalty. And she never did.

President Donald Trump pardoned Anthony on the 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution giving women the right to vote.

Susan B Anthony's grave can be found in Section C, Plot 93 at Mount Hope Cemetery, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. But if you're headed there to add your 'I Voted' sticker to the headstone, just follow the crowd. People stand in long lines on election day to take part in the tradition.

Photo Credit - John Kucko
Photo Credit - John Kucko
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In 2016, Lovely Warren, the mayor of Rochester, put a red, white and blue sign next to Anthony's grave the day after Hillary Clinton obtained the nomination at the Democratic National Convention. The sign stated, "Dear Susan B., we thought you might like to know that for the first time in history, a woman is running for president representing a major party. 144 years ago, your illegal vote got you arrested. It took another 48 years for women to finally gain the right to vote. Thank you for paving the way."

The city of Rochester put pictures of the message on social media and requested residents go to Anthony's grave to sign it.

In 2020 a plastic shield was placed over the gravestone to protect the marble from the sticker glue and chemicals used to remove it.


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