Beware of the Internet

The photo below appears all over the internet and is often captioned, "Susan B. Anthony being arrested after voting."

But it's not.

This is Ada Wright being arrested after being knocked to the ground during a women's voting rights protest in London in 1910.

Just because an image appears online and is captioned does not mean that it's accurate.

The facts, briefly, are these. Anthony and 14 other women were arrested for voting in Rochester, New York, in the 1872 election. Only Anthony was brought to trial (though the election inspectors that did not prevent them from voting were arrested, convicted, and jailed before Pres. Grant pardoned them). At the trial, in 1873, the judge ordered the jury to deliver a guilty verdict. Later this controversial move was ruled illegal. He fined Anthony $100, but she announced that she would not pay the fine and he released her anyway. This served both Anthony’s cause—to gain publicity for the women’s rights movement—and the judge’s, because under those circumstances the court decision could not be appealed to higher courts and the case was closed.

Historians, first and foremost, need to establish and report (and then consider and analyze) facts.