Susan B. Anthony II | |
|---|---|
 Anthony in 1949 | |
| Born | Susan Brownell Anthony II July 26, 1916 Easton, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | July 8, 1991 (aged 74) Boca Raton, Florida, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Susan Lewis, Susan McAvoy |
| Citizenship | United States United Kingdom |
| Alma mater | University of Rochester (BA) American University (MA) Saint Mary's College (PhD) |
| Occupation(s) | writer, journalist, educator, substance abuse counselor, activist |
| Political party | Democrat |
| Spouse |
Clifford Thomas McAvoy
(m. 1949; div. 1951)Aubrey John Lewis
(m. 1954; div. 1960) |
| Relatives | Susan B. Anthony (great-aunt) Daniel Read Anthony (great-uncle) Mary Stafford Anthony (great-aunt) |
Susan Brownell Anthony II (July 26, 1916 – July 8, 1991) was an American journalist and writer, activist and substance abuse counselor. She grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania, and attended the University of Rochester, graduating in 1938. During her schooling, she became an activist in progressive causes, but she also struggled with alcoholism. She supported pacifism, the anti-fascist movement, housing desegregation, and women's rights, including advocacy to remove the poll tax as an obstacle to women's suffrage, as well as childcare centers for working mothers. She worked as a reporter for The Washington Star and completed a master's degree in political science in 1941 at American University.
In the 1940s, Anthony began publishing books on women's issues and hosted a women's radio program in New York City. She joined Alcoholics Anonymous and gained her sobriety. In 1949, she hosted a program in Boston for WORL designed to educate people about alcoholism and its treatment as a disease. Moving to Florida in the early 1950s, she worked as a journalist at the Key West Citizen, but her relationship with liberal causes and activists brought her to the attention of the House Un-American Activities Committee. To avoid testifying, she took British citizenship, as her husband was a British planter living in Jamaica. While living on the island, she worked as a journalist for The Gleaner.
When Anthony divorced in 1960 and tried to move back to the United States, she was threatened with deportation by officials who claimed she had renounced her US citizenship. After a nine-year battle, during which she earned a PhD in theology and began teaching in Florida, her citizenship was restored. Traveling throughout the US, Anthony lectured on women's rights issues and sobriety. In 1975, she co-founded the Wayside House in Delray Beach, Florida, to assist other women in maintaining their sobriety. She was honored for her work with alcoholics by the US Senate Committee on Alcoholism and Drugs. She continued publishing books, including her autobiography, through the 1980s. Anthony died from bone cancer in 1991, donating her papers to the University of Rochester.