From collection Candidates
Cynthia Leonard, mother of the famed entertainer Lillian Russell, after separating from her husband, brought two of her daughters to New York City where she established herself as a reform activist. She took particular interest in working for woman suffrage. In 1888 she met with Belva Lockwood, the presidential candidate of the Equal Rights Party. Leonard joined Lockwood in working for suffrage by campaigning as a candidate. In 1888 she ran, perhaps only symbolically, for mayor of New York City.
