Dress, Susan B Anthony's black (Utah) silk dress, 1900

For her 80th birthday in 1900, a group of Mormon women from Utah sent Susan B Anthony a bolt of black silk brocade to thank her for helping them win the vote in Utah territory. Creation of silk was a cottage industry for some Mormon women in the nineteenth century who did everything from importing mulberry trees and silkworms to dyeing and weaving the fabric. Susan B Anthony had her fabric made into this two-piece dress. She wore the dress with great pride because of what it represented. (National Susan B Anthony Museum & House Collection, a gift from Ann Anthony Bacon, Susan B Anthony's niece.)