A diary from the Maurice Leyden Collection in the Libraries’ Special Collections is featured on a New York (NY) Heritage online exhibit called Recognizing Women’s Right to Vote in New York State. The online exhibit charts the development and evolution of the Women’s Suffrage movement in New York State. “In the long fight for suffrage, women in New York had many motivations and tactics they used to achieve their goal.”
A page from Leyden’s 1873 diary is featured in the Civil Disobedience by Voting, 1868-1873 section of the exhibit. The section provides three examples of women voting illegally as an act of civil disobedience. The exhibit description of the diary page is as follows:
“Diary of Maurice Leyden, 1873, p. 79. In his diary, Maurice Leyden writes about his experiences living in Rochester, NY. His wife, Maggie Leyden, proceeded to vote with Susan B. Anthony and a group of women. This page discusses Anthony’s trial: “Maggie & I went to Canandaigua this morning to attend the trial. Weather very hot. Miss Anthony was convicted, also the Inspectors – by the voting of judge.”
To view the entire 1873 diary, click on the exhibit’s diary page image to view the NY Heritage site or visit Diary of Maurice Leyden, 1873.
Maurice Leyden was a Rochester, NY dentist, businessman, banker and politician. His wife, Maggie Leyden, took part in the women’s suffrage movement. The Maurice Leyden Collection consists of 52 diaries, 37 letters,24 envelopes, 28 financial documents (mostly receipts and ledgers), 13 photographs and assorted other items. There are a total of 190 pieces of archival material.