"Justice to Women" Convention, 1854

The First Albany Convention was held at Association Hall by the state's Woman's Rights Convention. Reform leaders met on February 14 and 15, 1854 to discuss the movement for women's rights and prepare resolutions to present to the New York State Legislature. During this convention Elizabeth Cady Stanton delivered her first major speech.

In 1854 Elizabeth Cady Stanton presided over the New York State Woman’s Rights Convention at Albany, NY. Also known as the “Justice to Women” Convention, reform leaders met at Association Hall to discuss the women’s rights movement and present a series of resolutions. During the evening session of the convention, Elizabeth C. Stanton read an address she prepared for the state legislature. This address was then distributed in print form to each state legislator along with 6,000 petitions gathered in support of advancing women’s rights. Stanton’s “Address to the Legislature of New York” is considered her first landmark speech. Her remarks were part of an effort to lobby the New York State Legislature to change the Married Women’s Property Law to allow women more financial and legal freedom and the ability to conduct business and be joint guardians of their children. This change was passed in 1860.

Officers of the Convention:

President: Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Vice-Presidents: Rev. S. J. May, Ernestine L. Rose, Hon. William Hay, William H. Topp, Lydia A. Jenkins, Lydia Mott, Mary F. Love

Business Committee: Rev. Antoinette L. Brown, W. H. Channing, Catherine A. F. Stebbins, Phebe H. Jones

Secretaries: Susan B. Anthony, Anna W. Anthony

Convention presenters: William Henry Channing, Samuel J. May, Mrs. Nichols, Mrs. Rose, Mrs. Love, Miss Brown, Miss Anthony, Mrs. Jenkins, Hon. William Hay. And Giles B. Stebbins. 

Skinnell, Ryan. “Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s 1854 ‘Address to the Legislature of New York’ and the Paradox of Social Reform Rhetoric.” Rhetoric Review 29, 2 (2010): 129-144.

Stanton, Elizabeth Cady, Susan B. Anthony, and Matilda Joslyn Gage, ed. History of Woman Suffrage: In Three Volumes, Vol 1 (1848-1861). Rochester, NY: Charles Mann, 1889. Google Books. Accessed July 1, 2021.

"The Story of the Women's Suffrage Movement in Albany--Part I; The Mothers of Invention." Friends of Albany History. January 6, 2018. Accessed July 1, 2021. https://friendsofalbanyhistory.wordpress.com/2018/01/06/the-story-of-the-womens-suffrage-movement-in-albany-part-i-the-mothers-of-invention/.

“Women’s Suffrage in New York State.” New York Assembly—files of Assemblyman N. Nick Perry. Accessed July 1, 2021. https://nyassembly.gov/member_files/058/20090226/.