Skip to main content

Susan B. Anthony Square Park

39 King Street
Rochester, NY 14608
United States

Image
Photo of the "Let's Have Tea" statue in Susan B. Anthony Square Park.

Located off West Main Street just west of downtown, the park is situated close to the home of Susan B. Anthony. It is a perfect place to rest after a visit to the Susan B. Anthony Museum

The park's focal point is a bronzed sculpture called "Let's Have Tea." The work portrays Ms. Anthony and Frederick Douglass, two early local champions of civil rights. The famous suffragist and abolitionist were close friends who shared the common goals of social justice and civil rights. Now they share a proud place in Rochester's history.

Image
Susan B. Anthony Park

"Let's Have Tea" was created by Rochester sculptor Pepsy Kettavong and erected in 2001 -- at the behest of the Susan B. Anthony Neighborhood Association -- across the street from the Susan B. Anthony House Museum.

Susan B. Anthony was raised in New York as a Quaker. She taught for a few years at a Quaker seminary and then became a headmistress at a women's school. At 29, she became involved in abolitionism and temperance. 

A friendship with Amelia Bloomer led to a meeting with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who became her lifelong partner in political organizing, especially for women's rights and women's suffrage. Frederick Douglass — who sits across from Ms. Anthony as they sip tea in the park's sculpture — was a foremost leader in the abolitionist movement, which fought to end slavery within the United States in the decades prior to the Civil War.