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Anna Howard Shaw

Anna Howard Shaw
Artist
Unidentified Artist
Sitter
Anna Howard Shaw, 14 Feb 1849 - 2 Jul 1919
Date
c. 1915
Type
Photograph
Medium
Brown-toned gelatin silver print
Dimensions
Image/Sheet: 24.6 × 18.1 cm (9 11/16 × 7 1/8")
Mat: 45.7 × 35.6 cm (18 × 14")
Topic
Home Furnishings\Furniture\Table
Interior\Studio\Photography
Anna Howard Shaw: Female
Anna Howard Shaw: Religion and Spirituality\Clergy
Anna Howard Shaw: Medicine and Health\Physician
Anna Howard Shaw: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Activist\Civil rights activist\Suffragist
Anna Howard Shaw: Society and Social Change\Reformer\Temperance
Portrait
Credit Line
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of University Women's Club, Inc.
Restrictions & Rights
CC0
Object number
NPG.82.81
Exhibition Label
Anna Howard Shaw, who grew up in hardship after her father abandoned her mother and siblings in an unfinished cabin in Michigan, vowed never to be dependent upon another person again. A gifted orator, Shaw lectured for temperance and women’s suffrage. Known for her boundless energy, she became president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) in 1904, a position she held until 1915.
While Shaw was lauded for her beautifully moving speeches, she did not have the organizational talents for a nationwide movement. Moreover, she was hostile toward Alice Paul and other militant suffragists, whom she considered “un-American.” Under pressure to step down from her leadership of NAWSA, Shaw eventually resigned, but she continued to speak for the cause. During World War I, she led the Woman’s Committee of the Council of National Defense, an important federal agency founded to support the war effort.
Anna Howard Shaw, criada en la pobreza luego de que su padre abandonara a su madre y hermanos en una cabaña a medio construir en Michigan, juró que jamás volvería a depender de otra persona. Oradora talentosa, se dedicó a dar conferencias a favor de la templanza y el sufragio femenino. Conocida por su energía inagotable, fue presidenta de la Asociación Nacional Americana Pro Sufragio de la Mujer (NAWSA) desde 1904 hasta 1915.
Aunque admirada por sus discursos conmovedores, Shaw carecía de talento organizativo para un movimiento de nivel nacional. Además, sentía hostilidad hacia Alice Paul y otras sufragistas militantes a quienes consideraba “antipatrióticas”. Presionada para que abandonara la dirección de la NAWSA, a la larga renunció, pero siguió expresándose a favor de la causa. Durante la 1ra Guerra Mundial, Shaw lideró el Comité de Mujeres del Concilio de Defensa Nacional, una importante agencia federal creada para apoyar el esfuerzo bélico.
Data Source
National Portrait Gallery
Location
Currently not on view