Steve Orr

@SOrr1

The modest grave site of suffrage icon Susan B. Anthony, now a shrine to women's rights, is drawing overflow crowds Tuesday as voters consider choosing the nation's first female president.

Special measures are being put in place to handle the throngs of people expected throughout the day today at Mt. Hope Cemetery in southern Rochester. Hours have been extended, guides and security will be on hand and lights will be placed to help people make their way to the Anthony family grave site after dark.

That grave site, up a slight hill from the cemetery's northern entrance, has been the focus of the quaint Election-Day practice of placing red-and-white "I Voted Today" stickers on Anthony's headstone.

Though attaching a sticker to a grave marker is against Mount Hope rules, no one objected when a few showed up on Anthony's stone each Election Day. But this year, thanks to nationwide publicity about the tradition plus the historic candidacy of Democrat Hillary Clinton, there could be hundreds of stickers in play — or maybe more than that.

The city will allow the tradition to continue, though officials also are erecting large commemorative poster boards on which people can place their stickers and write a message of thanks to Anthony. From time to time, workers will move the stickers from stone to board so the marker isn't overloaded.

The influx of large numbers of people to Mt. Hope Cemetery seeking Anthony's burial plot first occurred in April, when Clinton's victory in the New York state presidential primary excited voters.

"I was there the day of the primary. People were coming and going all day long, into the evening," said Marilyn Nolte, president of Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery, a volunteer group that helps care for and promote the 178-year-old burial ground.

Visitors are being encouraged to enter the 196-acre cemetery through the northern gate, opposite Robinson Drive. There, they'll be greeted by a welcome tent erected by the Friends organization. Members will dispense historical nuggets and directions to the grave site, which should be a big help, Nolte said.

"During the primary, we got our first experience with this. People came in and they don't know where to go, what to do," she said.

Members of the organization will be at the tent and at the grave all day long. City employees will be there as well.

Mt. Hope normally closes at 5 p.m. but will remain open until 9 p.m. Tuesday. Only the north gate will be open after hours.

When visitors reach the Anthony family plot, they'll find a small collection of headstones surrounding a small monument. A dozen family members are buried there, including Susan's parents and three sisters.

The appearance belies Anthony's historical importance. "They were Quakers. They didn’t believe in anything ostentatious. Their gravestones are very simple," Nolte said. "People wonder why we don’t have gardens around it, but Susan B. Anthony didn’t want that. She wanted it to be very plain and simple. There is one small yellow rose bush in front of her gravestone. I think she would forgive us for that."

Anthony, who was born in Massachusetts and moved to the Rochester area in 1849, was a crusader first for temperance and then for women's rights. She co-founded the National Woman Suffrage Association, which worked to give women the vote. Anthony famously was arrested in Rochester in November 1872 and convicted of illegal voting, though she refused to pay the $100 fine.

She died in March 1906, 14 years before the 19th Amendment to the Constitution gave women the right to vote.

The most direct route to Anthony's grave site is up a cobblestone road that can be difficult for less nimble pedestrians, and Nolte said people can choose to drive up that road during the daytime. Cars will be barred from interior roadways after 5 p.m., city officials said, though workers will be on hand to offer assistance negotiating the hill.

The city has installed fences to control crowds and will bring in lights for use Tuesday night. Visitors should bring their own flashlights as well.

Everyone's welcome, Mayor Lovely Warren said in a statement.

"We are proud of the unique legacy in the fight for equality that Ms. Anthony, along with Frederick Douglass and others, has given our city and I can imagine she would have wanted to be a part of the significant history this year's election holds for women. It's only proper that we invite Ms. Anthony to be a part of this important moment."

SORR@Gannett.com

Map of Mount Hope Cemetery and Susan B. Anthony's grave site

Live from Susan B. Anthony's grave site

The Democrat and Chronicle will be at Anthony’s grave to document the day Tuesday. We will be streaming live video at 8:30 a.m., noon and 4 p.m. on our Facebook page: facebook.com/DemocratandChronicle.