Susan B. Anthony museum objects to Trump pardon

The Susan B. Anthony House on Tuesday objected to President Trump’s pardon of its namesake, saying it “validated the proceedings” that led to her conviction for attempting to vote in the first place.

The suffragist leader “was outraged to be denied a trial by jury. She proclaimed, ‘I shall never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty,’” the museum’s account tweeted. “To pay would have been to validate the proceedings. To pardon Susan B. Anthony does the same.”

To pay would have been to validate the proceedings. To pardon Susan B. Anthony does the same.

— S. B. Anthony Museum (@SusanBHouse) August 18, 2020

If one wants to honor Susan B. Anthony today, a clear stance against any form of voter suppression would be welcome. Enforcement and expansion of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 would be celebrated.

— S. B. Anthony Museum (@SusanBHouse) August 18, 2020

Trump announced the pardon on Tuesday, the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment.

“It was a monumental victory for equality, for justice, and a monumental victory for America,” he said.

Anthony was convicted by an all-male jury in 1873 after illegally voting the previous November. Anthony, who died in 1906, was fined $100.

The Rochester, N.Y., museum was Anthony’s home for four decades and the site of her arrest.