Susan Brownell Anthony II was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, on July 26, 1916. Her parents were Luther Burt Anthony, an aspiring playwright, and Charlotte Anthony. Anthony attended the University of Rochester and received a BAin 1938. In 1941 she received an MA from American University in Washington, DC. From 1942 to 1943 she was a reporter for the Washington Star. In 1965, she received a PhD at Saint Mary's College where she was a controversial commentator on WMCA-Radio. After finishing her doctorate, she went on to be an assistant professor of theology at Marymount College in Boca Raton, Florida. Subsequently, she became the substance abuse coordinator at the South County Mental Health Center in Delray Beach, Florida.

Anthony II was the grandniece of the pioneer suffragist Susan B. Anthony and was, in her own right, a powerful proponent of the women's rights movement. Anthony devoted her life to the causes of equal rights, temperance, and Christianity. In 1943 she published a shocking commentary on the state of the feminist movement in the United States,Out of the Kitchen-Into the War. Her third book, an autobiography,The Ghost in My Life (1979), is a moving self-analysis of her postmortem relationship with her namesake and the expectations she fought to live up to. Anthony was blacklisted in 1954 for her beliefs and was almost deported. She devoted the rest of her life to her faith; she became one of the first 15 Catholic laywomen with a doctorate in theology, and she counseled recovering alcoholics.

Anthony II was involved in many groundbreaking feminist organizations, temperance movements, and Christian groups. In 1965, she co-founded the national prayer group movement of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1975 she co-founded and chaired the Board of Wayside House. Anthony lectured with the National Council on Alcoholism from 1976 to 1991, and in 1997 she was the delegate from Florida to the National Woman's Conference.

Susan Brownell Anthony II died of cancer on July 8, 1991, in Boca Raton, Florida.