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Anna Howard Shaw

Dr. Shaw

14 February 1847—2 July 1919

Emmeline B. Wells

Born 14 Feb. 1847 at Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, England.1 Daughter of Thomas Shaw and Nicolas Stott.2 Immigrated to the United States aboard the John Jacob Westervelt, spring 1851.3 Family moved to Lawrence, Essex Co., Massachusetts, and then settled in northern Michigan, 1859.4 Preached her first sermon at age twenty-three at Ashton, Osceola Co., Michigan, 1870.5 Attended Albion College in Albion, Calhoun Co., Michigan, 1873–1876.6 Admitted to the Boston University theological school, Feb. 1876.7 Both Albion College and Boston University have centers named in her honor.8 Ordained in the Methodist Protestant Church, Oct. 1880, becoming the denomination’s first female minister.9 Resigned her pastorate, 1885, to devote her life to fighting for temperance, suffrage, and social purity; lectured for the Massachusetts Woman’s Suffrage Association, 1886–1892.10 Earned a medical degree from Boston University, 1886, but never practiced medicine.11 Visited Utah Territory with Susan B. Anthony, arriving 12 May 1895; attended a celebration in her honor planned and hosted by EBW.12 President of the National American Suffrage Association, 1904–1915.13 Appointed chair of the woman’s committee for the Council of National Defense, Apr. 1917; awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, 1919.14 Toured with former president William Howard Taft and others, seeking support for President Woodrow Wilson’s League of Nations.15 Died 2 July 1919 in Upper Providence, Delaware Co., Pennsylvania.16

The First Fifty Years of Relief Society

Born at Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, England; daughter of Nicolas Stott and Thomas Shaw. Immigrated to the United States, 1851. Lived at Lawrence, Essex County, Massachusetts; moved to Michigan, 1859. Became a licensed Methodist preacher, circa 1870. Studied at Albion College, 1873–1876. Graduated from the Boston University theological school, 1878. Ordained in the Methodist Protestant Church, 1880. Became a lecturer for the Massachusetts State Suffrage Association, 1885. Graduated from Boston University Medical School, 1886. Appointed the superintendent of franchise for the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, 1886. Served as vice president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association, 1892–1904, and as president, 1904–1915. Served as the chair of the woman’s committee for the Council of National Defense, 1917–1919; awarded the Distinguished Service Medal. Died at Moylan, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. 17 (See Document 4.27)

Footnotes

  1. 1 Anna Howard Shaw, The Story of a Pioneer (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1915), 7. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 20 Mar. 2018), Anna Howard Shaw (K4VT-JMR).

  2. 2 Edward T. James, ed., Notable American Women 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971), 3:274. Anna Howard Shaw, The Story of a Pioneer (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1915), 7–8.

  3. 3 Anna Howard Shaw, The Story of a Pioneer (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1915), 7–8.

  4. 4 Anna Howard Shaw, The Story of a Pioneer (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1915), 12, 20.

  5. 5 Anna Howard Shaw, The Story of a Pioneer (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1915), 62. Edward T. James, ed., Notable American Women 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971), 3:275.

  6. 6 Albion College History Timeline, Albion College Library, http://campus.albion.edu/library/archives-and-special-collections/histories-and-timelines/albion-college-history-timeline/. Anna Howard Shaw, The Story of a Pioneer (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1915), 66, 82.

  7. 7 Albion College History Timeline, Albion College Library, http://campus.albion.edu/library/archives-and-special-collections/histories-and-timelines/albion-college-history-timeline/. Anna Howard Shaw, The Story of a Pioneer (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1915), 82.

  8. 8 “About Anna Howard Shaw,” Boston University School of Theology, Anna Howard Shaw Center, https://www.bu.edu/shaw/anna-howard-shaw/. “Welcome to the Anna Howard Shaw Women’s Center,” Albion College, https://www.albion.edu/student-life/student-affairs/offices-and-programs/anna-howard-shaw-womens-center.

  9. 9 “Anna Howard Shaw,” Britannica Online Encyclopedia, https://www.britannica.com/print/article/539038. Anna Howard Shaw, The Story of a Pioneer (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1915), 122–129.

  10. 10 “Anna Howard Shaw,” National Women’s Hall of Fame, https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/anna-howard-shaw/. Edward T. James, ed., Notable American Women 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971), 3:275.

  11. 11 “Anna Howard Shaw,” National Women’s Hall of Fame, https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/anna-howard-shaw/. Edward T. James, ed., Notable American Women 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971), 3:275.

  12. 12 Carol Cornwall Madsen, An Advocate for Women: The Public Life of Emmeline B. Wells, 1870–1920 (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2006), 293–294. EBW, Diary, 13 May 1895. “Local News,” Salt Lake Herald-Republican, 11 May 1895, 4. “Miss Anthony and Party,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Apr. 1895, 4.

  13. 13 Edward T. James, ed., Notable American Women 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971), 3:276.

  14. 14 Edward T. James, ed., Notable American Women 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971), 3:276–277. Wil A. Linkugel and Kim Giffin, “The Distinguished Was Service of Dr. Anna Howard Shaw,” Pennsylvania History: A Journal of Mid-Atlantic Studies 28, no. 4 (Oct. 1961): 372–384.

  15. 15 Edward T. James, ed., Notable American Women 1607–1950: A Biographical Dictionary (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1971), 3:277.

  16. 16 Certificate of Death, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics, file no. 76384/125, Anna H. Shaw, 2 July 1919. “Death Claims Dr. Anna Shaw,” Salt Lake Herald, 3 July 1919, 1.

  17. 17 Taken from “Shaw, Anna Howard,” in Dictionary of American Biography, ed. Dumas Malone (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1964), 9:35–37.