By the time she was five, her family had emigrated to America and settled in Lawrence, Massachusetts. There, the Shaws adopted the cause of Abolition and hid runaway slaves in their house.

In 1859, Anna's father uprooted part of his family and resettled them in the wild Michigan woods. The heavy burden of carving out a homestead fell upon his wife, an invalid who had trouble walking, and his youngest children. Mr Shaw and his family were re-united a year and a half later but not for very long; He and his eldest sons joined the Union Army when the Civil War broke and did not return for years.

Anna earned a theology degree from Boston University in 1878, the only woman in her class, and became a church minister.

But Anna's life's work truly began when she embraced the cause of women's rights, especially helping them win the right to vote. She became a close colleague of leading suffragette Susan B. Anthony and replaced Anthony as president of the National American Woman Suffrage Movement at Anthony's death. Anna worked tirelessly for the cause for many years and made thousands of lectures on its behalf.

All contents copyright Don Brown 1999, 2000, 2001,2002, 2003, 2004, 2005