Antoinette Brown Blackwell’s Birthday Read Into Congressional Record

On Tuesday, May 20, New York Congressman Joseph Morelle read the following into the Congressional Record of the 119th Congress of the House of Representatives:

ANTOINETTE BROWN BLACKWELL

  (Mr. MORELLE asked and was given permission to address the House for

1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)

  Mr. MORELLE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today on the 200th anniversary of

the birth of Antoinette Brown Blackwell, a trailblazer born in my

district in Henrietta, New York, and the first woman ordained as a

mainstream Protestant minister in the United States.

  Antoinette dedicated her life to justice, equality and faith. She

captivated audiences as a lecturer on women’s rights and temperance and

preached wherever she was welcome. In 1850, she proudly stood at the

first National Women’s Rights Convention.

  Committed to voting rights, she lobbied President Theodore Roosevelt

for suffrage and remained a steadfast advocate for women. At age 95,

she cast her very first vote, proof her decades of advocacy helped

transform our Nation.

  She was a minister, a reformer, a writer, and, above all, a woman of

courage and conviction. We remember Antoinette Brown Blackwell not just

for what she achieved but for the path she paved for generations to

follow.

  Let us honor her on her 200th birthday and follow in her footsteps as

we fight to protect every American’s right to vote.