Steve Orr

@SOrr1

Huge crowds queued into the night to pay their respects at Susan B. Anthony's headstone in Rochester's historic Mt. Hope Cemetery.

One by one, they stepped forward to place their "I Voted Today" stickers on Anthony's time-worn headstone — partaking of an Election Day tradition that has gained new meaning with the candidacy of Hillary Clinton, the former senator from New York.

"I'm voting for the first woman president. As a woman I can vote because of the sacrifices she made," said Jillian Paris of Brighton, who affixed her sticker to Anthony's marker about 7 a.m., shortly after sunrise. It was her first visit to Anthony's grave, which made the occasion "a little more special."

By early evening, city officials estimated that around 7,000 people had made it to the Anthony family plot since dawn. Many were women and girls. Those standing in line — some waiting for over two hours — were willing to endure the wait for the chance to approach the simple burial site that has become a shrine to women's rights.

Gravesite visit turns into a social event

"I am shocked at the number of people who are here today. I never expected this," said Janice Schwind of Rochester, after making it through the line. "I thought I could come in, throw my sticker on there and run off to work. I'm an hour late so far.

"It's making me all choked up to see all the people," she said.

The air was crisp and clear, and the Anthony family plot, atop one of Mt. Hope's hills, was framed by stately trees with their autumn foliage brilliant in the sun. Floodlights and torches lit up the grave site as darkness came, and evening rain didn't deter visitors who came to celebrate Anthony's contribution to U.S. voting as we know it.

Nearly everyone who honored Anthony had friends, or strangers, take their pictures in front of the headstone — which was plastered with "I Voted" stickers, with only her name visible. Yellow flowers, a symbol of women's suffrage; American flags and photos were heaped at the grave stone's foot.

Shortly before noon Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren and then U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter of Fairport visited the grave site, shaking hands, offering encouraging words and posing for photographs with a parade of voters and their children. "I'm glad to be here to see it," said Slaughter, a Democrat whose district includes Mt. Hope. "And the crowd — I don't think I expected anything like this."

Warren, who called the turnout incredible, passed out commemorative "replacement" stickers bearing Anthony's image and the words "I voted today because of women like her." Slaughter was coaxed into reading aloud the beginning of the Declaration of Sentiments and Resolutions from the groundbreaking 1848 women's rights conference in Seneca Falls

The gathering had the festive air. Many people smiled and laughed in delight at the occasion. Others wept.

Johanna Rehbaum had tears in her eyes as she slung her 14-month-old daughter Grace into a carrying pack. "I want her to know that she was part of this," said Rehbaum, who is eight months pregnant. "When Hillary wins," she added with a smile, "I want her to be part of it."

Jodi Atkin of Irondequoit, who visited the grave site early in the morning, said she was overcome when she went to vote.

"I never cried when I filled out my ballot before. But I realized my daughters — and I have three of them — have the right to vote for a woman. It made my cry," said Atkin, who trekked to the grave site with daughter Jessie. Both were clad in white, which many women chose to wear on Tuesday to honor those who, like Anthony, helped secure their right to vote.

"It's crazy because the first time I came to Susan B. Anthony's grave was on a fourth-grade field trip," said Jessie Atkin. Years later, as a graduate student in Washington, D.C., she taught about Anthony in a class on protest writing.

Voters thanking Susan B. Anthony before Tuesday's election

"To come full circle and be able to come back here after having learned about her and taught about her, to be able to participate here, was really cool," added Jessie, who now lives in Rochester.

Anthony, who died in 1906, was a crusader for temperance, abolition of slavery and women's rights. She co-founded the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869 and made earning women the right to vote her major cause. She was arrested in Rochester in November 1872 and convicted of illegal voting, though she refused to pay the $100 fine.

The 19th Amendment to the Constitution, known as the Anthony Amendment, gave women the right to vote in 1920.

"If it wasn't for her and the people that worked with her, we wouldn't be voting today. It's as simple as that," said Sherry Gilchrist of Penfield moments after she added her sticker to the headstone at midmorning.

Susan B. Anthony's headstone was thick with multiple layers of stickers by the evening. Others had been placed on her sister Mary's grave marker, on commemorative plaques supplied by the city and on a historical marker nearby.

Review: 1872 Cafe now serves pizza, coffee, history

The crowd grew once rush hour passed, and city officials began making room for the queue and doing their best to move people along. Officials offered to take photographs for visitors as they crouched behind Anthony's headstone, and used several electric carts to ferry people from far-off parking areas. A city employee moved through the crowd offering free bottles of water. Children played among the headstones in the rain while waiting their turn.

Outside, traffic was bumper to bumper in both directions of Mt. Hope Avenue, and nearby side streets were filled with parked cars.

Patricia Corcoran, a volunteer from Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery who was at the grave site before dawn to greet people, said the scene was touching and uplifting. She was struck by the fact that so many young people accompanied their parents to the cemetery.

"You can see it was important for people to bring their children," she said.

"I feel so proud to be a woman today. And I'm proud to bring my daughter here," said Aly Lefkowitz, who brought her 20-month-old daughter Claire with her to Mt. Hope. "You come here with such immense gratitude and hope."

Nora Rubel, who is director of the Susan B. Anthony Institute at the nearby University of Rochester, was another of the many parents who wanted to share the experience with their children.

"I have two daughters. We went to the polls together and we wanted to come here together and put our stickers on the grave," Rubel said. "It's a historic time to choose to come. It's an amazing moment."

SORR@Gannett.com

More election stories

►Trump wins the presidency

►Monroe County election results

►Adam Bello elected county clerk

►Clinton cruises to victory in New York

►Schumer easily wins re-election

►This time, Slaughter easily beats Assini

►House Republican incumbents re-elected

►State Senate winners: Helming, Ranzenhofer

►Republicans winning key state Senate races

►Errigo, Bronson, Johns win in Assembly

►GOP sweeps contested judgeships

►Results from Irondequoit, other Monroe County towns

►Turnout shows dropoff among city voters

►Andreatta: Got the blues? You'll feel better