Rev Anna R. Woodbey

This is Rev. Anna R. Woodbey (1855-1901) of Ebenezer Baptist Church in North Omaha.

Anna Woodbey was born in February, 1855, in Pennsylvania.  Her family moved from there to Ontario, then to Michigan, and finally to Kansas.  The couple met and married, in 1873, in Emporia, Kansas. 
     Anna became a well-known public speaker on woman suffrage and prohibition while young.   She travelled widely in Nebraska, lecturing, and by newspapers was awarded the sobriquet “distinguished lady orator of Omaha.”  She joined the Omaha WCTU in 1885 and by the 1890s was its president.
    When Mrs. Woodbey ran for Nebraska State University Regent in 1895, she was the first Negro woman nominated for state-level office by any party.
     Anna Woodbey died in Omaha, in 1901.

Anna Woodbey was the first Black woman to appear on an election ballot anywhere in the United States.

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