Guest Blog: Lucy Burns, Packer Suffragist Whose Name You Must Know

This blog is a guest post. It is based off of work done for the 2024-2025 Packer Institute Advanced Topics course, History: Archival Research. Packer and the Center for Brooklyn History collaborate on this course, in which high school students conduct research in the The Packer Collegiate Institute records and other archives across New York City.

In 2025, Lucy Burns, Packer Class of 1899, seems more relevant than ever. A trailblazer in the fight for women’s suffrage, Burns is a source of inspiration for many feminists across the globe. Yet, Burns’ name and story remains unfamiliar to many within our Brooklyn community. As a Packer Collegiate student, I came across Burns in History Teacher Becca Zimmerman’s Advanced Topics course, History: Archival Research, and am forever changed.

As a part of the 2023-24 Archives class, I dug deep into both Packer’s and Vassar College’s archival collections. Many women, including Lucy, matriculated to Vassar from Packer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. I discovered the connection between the two institutions while flipping through the pages of a 1901 college ledger, with Packerclearly serving as a feeder school. I then discovered through letters, diaries of her friends, and student newspapers that Burns, a Co-Founder of the National Woman’s Party, was a force of nature, fighting tooth and nail for a woman’s right to vote. Burns’ courage and determination hooked me. Elsie Ripley Clapp, Burns’ best friend and fellow 1899 Packer graduate once wrote, “At Packer Lucy Burns showed the brilliance of mind and the lovable and erratic ways that made her a legend there, as they did later at college.” Clapp recalled how Lucy had been advocating for women’s voting rights from the age of 12.

I was convinced Burns’ fiery passion would inspire others, so I gave a presentation for interested alumni and students on Oct. 29, 2024, entitled “The Making of a Suffragist, Lucy Burns, Class of 1899: A Virtual Presentation.” This presentation marked the first of my efforts to engage the wider Packer community with Burns’ story. 

On Nov. 3, 2024, the Sunday before the presidential election, a select group of Packer students and alumni packed into Midtown Manhattan’s Music Box Theater for a matinee of the Broadway musical Suffs. While most of the audience was there for a history lesson on the suffrage movement, we were there for Burns. Director of Alumni Ronnette Hope, who organized the event, said, “We are committed to Packer students being lifelong learners, and I’m always seeking opportunities to bring alums and students together, using the city as a classroom.” It was not just a history lesson; watching women of all ages engage with the story of the suffrage movement was powerful. Lucy’s fight for equality felt as urgent as ever. “It was definitely a success. I had a waitlist,” Ms. Hope added.

For Erica MacKenzie (‘06), Suffs was a stark reminder of how far we have come—and how far we still have to go. “The story and takeaway from Suffs is still true. You have to continue to fight for equality and for rights. Unfortunately, it takes a long time and it takes more than passing laws. Suffs reminds me to keep pushing through for equality.” 

Burns’ story also serves as a reminder that greatness can come from the same classrooms that Packer students continue to inhabit today. Gabriel Fassler (‘26) said, “When you hear stories of people like Lucy who originated in your environment, it makes you feel like you can make a difference, too.” Lucy would be pleased to know we have had four consecutive female Student Council Presidents and numerous student-run clubs that advocate for women’s rights. Millie Lane (‘25), who attended Suffs, said, “It was very emotional, sitting there watching it, sitting next to my Co-Leader Amelia Weinhouse of [the] Pelicans for Choice [club].” Millie continued, “There was a moment when we were holding hands and watching the actors march…It’s a shame that we have to keep fighting for our rights, not far off from what they were fighting for.”

As I graduate from the same institution that Burns did more than 100 years ago, entering adulthood in a political climate where I worry for my rights as a woman, especially since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, I turn to Lucy Burns as inspiration for how and why I have to continue fighting. After reading this article, it is my sincerest objective that now you can turn to her too.