Herald Citizen: Danvers' Anne L. Page was a trailblazer. Now, she's honored with a Women’s Suffrage trail marker.

Editor's note: The following story originally appeared in the Herald Citizen.

Two women wearing purple sashes stand outside smiling.

First of five state Suffrage markers on National Votes for Women Trail

COURTESY OF SUFFRAGE100MA/DANVERS HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Danvers Historical Society and Suffrage100MA unveiled an historic Women’s Suffrage marker honoring the legacy of educator Anne L. Page May 26 at the Page House, 11 Danvers St., Danvers Square.

The marker celebrates Page’s work for women’s rights as a founder of the Danvers Women’s Association, and became one of five new Massachusetts suffrage markers on the National Votes for Women Trail. This national suffrage marker project is funded through a grant by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, sponsored by the National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites (NCWHS)’s National Votes for Women Trail (NVWT), and coordinated in Massachusetts by Suffrage100MA.

“We’re excited to celebrate the extraordinary legacy of Anne L. Page with this marker, right outside the home where she lived her entire life,” said Laura Cilley, development coordinator, Danvers Historical Society. “This site will also help educate the Danvers community and visitors about the vital role she served to promote women’s suffrage and childhood education in this country.”

Anne L. Page

Anne L. Page was born in 1828 in Danvers, and lived in the same Danvers house (https://tinyurl.com/434hubya) until her death in 1913. (The Page House also once was home to her grandfather, Jeremiah Page, a Revolutionary War hero, after whom the house was named.) Page was a founder of the Danvers Women’s Association, a suffragist group headquartered at the Page House throughout her lifetime, and hosted many suffrage meetings.

Page also was a pioneer in the field of education for children and women. Around 1850, she established one of the first kindergarten schools in the United States in her home. Page, along with Elizabeth Peabody and Mary Mann, founded the American Froebel Union in 1877 to advance early childhood education. In 1885, she started the Page Normal School to educate women to become kindergarten teachers. Many of her students became suffragists and educators (including Edith Lesley, who founded Lesley College in Cambridge.

Sadly, Page did not live to see the 19th amendment pass in 1920.

In honor of her achievements, the Danvers Historical Society annually awards the Anne L. Page Scholarship to a Danvers High School student.

“It is our privilege and duty to honor Anne L. Page and the remarkable history of Women’s Suffrage in Danvers,” said state Sen. Joan B. Lovely, D-Salem. “Let us remember the hard- fought battle towards equal voting access and the importance of protecting voting rights for all our country’s citizens.”

“By dedicating her life to lifting up others, quite literally in her own home here in Danvers, Massachusetts, Anne L. Page helped secure new opportunities and freedoms for future generations,” said state Rep. Sally Kerans, D-Danvers. “Her marker is taking its rightful place as part of the National Votes for Women Trail.”

Sponsored by the National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites, the National Votes for Women Trail seeks to recognize and celebrate the enormous diversity of people and groups active in the struggle for Women’s Suffrage. The trail consists of two parts: 1. A database with 2,364 sites on a digital map and 2. A program of historical markers for over 200 women’s suffrage sites across the country, funded by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation’s National Women’s Suffrage Marker Grant Program.

The Anne L. Page marker is the first of five Massachusetts markers that will be unveiled this spring and summer. The others are Maria Baldwin (Cambridge), Remond Family
(Salem);, Sojourner Truth (Northampton) and Sarah E. Wall (Worcester).

“We are delighted to celebrate Anne L. Page in Danvers with the first of five suffrage markers coming to Massachusetts to highlight the history of Women’s Suffrage in Massachusetts," said Suffrage100MA founder and president Fredie Kay, the Massachusetts state coordinator of the National Votes for Women Trail. "Each marker honors the lives of those who bravely worked to advance women’s voting rights, with more than half of these markers dedicated to women and men of color. These markers are the result of more than two years of dedicated collaboration between municipal leadership, passionate community historians, Suffrage100MA, the Pomeroy Foundation (https://tinyurl.com/4nbj2zvr), the NCWHS and NVWT.”

Four women stand outside laughing wearing purple sashes.

For more information about the Danvers Historical Society, visit https://tinyurl.com/3kfmbnur. For more information about Suffrage100MA, visit https://tinyurl.com/3hapebpz.

Group of people wearing purple sashes stand outside smiling.