Anna Howard Shaw (1847–1919) was a leader in the women’s suffrage movement. She had overcome poverty and misogyny to become a Methodist minister in 1873, and she earned an M.D. from Boston University in 1886. Shortly afterward, Dr. Shaw became proactive in temperance and women’s suffrage organizations, being elected president of the National Women Suffrage Association. She served in this capacity until 1915. During her tenure of office, she made numerous speeches. She was particularly renowned for her oratory, and this short address, delivered during the early months of her presidential administration, answered those critics who maintained that giving women voting rights would work to the detriment of their effectiveness as mothers and homemakers. It also mirrors some of the societal reform principles of the progressive movement of the time.