of Woman Suffrage_ came off the
press in May 1881, she proudly and lovingly scanned its 878 pages
which told the story of women's progress in the United States up to
the Civil War.

She was well aware that the _History_ was not a literary achievement,
but the facts were there, as accurate as humanly possible; all the
eloquent, stirring speeches were there, a proof of the caliber and
high intelligence of the pioneers; and out of the otherwise dull
record of meetings, conventions, and petitions, a spirit of
independence and zeal for freedom shone forth, highlighted
occasionally by dramatic episodes. As Mrs. Stanton so aptly expressed
it, "We have furnished the bricks and mortar for some future architect
to rear a beautiful edifice."[346]

The distribution of the book was very much on Susan's mind, for she
realized that it would not be in great demand because of its cost,
bulk, and subject matter. Nor could she at this time present it to
libraries, as she wished, for she had already spent her savings on the
illustrations. "It ought to be in every school library," she wrote
Amelia Bloomer, "where every boy and girl of the nation could see and
read and learn what women have done to secure equality of rights and
chances for girls and women...."[347]

So much material had been collected while Volume I was in preparation
that both Susan and Mrs. Stanton felt they should immediately
undertake Volume II. After a summer of lecturing to help finance its
publication, Susan returned to Tenafly to the monotonous work of
compilation. "I am just sick to death of it," she wrote her young
friend Rachel Foster. "I had rather wash or whitewash or do any
possible hard work than sit here and go there digging into the dusty
records of the past--that is, rather _make_ history than write
it."[348]

Yet she never entirely gave up making history, for she was always
planning for the future and Rachel Foster was now her able lieutenant,
relieving her of details, doing the spade work for the annual
Washington conventions, and arranging for an occasional lecture
engagement. Susan would not leave Tenafly for a lecture fee of less
than $50.

She took this intelligent young girl to her heart as she had Anna E.
Dickinson in the past. Rachel, however, had none of Anna's dramatic
temperament or love of the limelight, but in her orderly businesslike
way was eager to serve Susan, whom she had admired ever since as a
child she had heard her speak for w