Henrietta, New York

Emily Burton Ketcham, born in Grand Rapids in 1838, spent three decades as one of Michigan's most influential — and least recognized — leaders in the fight for women's right to vote. A former teacher, she became active in suffrage work in 1873, helping push Michigan's original campaign to remove gender as a voting requirement and forging a lasting friendship with Susan B. Anthony. She served as president of the Michigan Equal Suffrage Association four times during the 1890s and led numerous local suffrage and civic organizations in Grand Rapids.

Ketcham's reach extended well beyond the state: she spoke by invitation at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, addressed the U.S. Congressional Judiciary Committee in 1894, and successfully brought the National American Woman Suffrage Association's 1899 convention to Grand Rapids — the only time the group met in Michigan. Historians credit her organizational skill and advocacy with helping build the national momentum that eventually secured women's suffrage.