July is the month to remember the 1848 Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York. Follow the audio podcast series of “Trouble in Seneca Falls” with Elizabeth Cady Stanton. She lays out the story from when she moved to Senena Falls through the convention days and after. An easy way to learn history. Selections from “Eighty Years and More.” Audio by Librivox. The entire seven audio podcast series.
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“Trouble Brewing in Seneca Falls”: A seven audio podcast series
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The story of how suffrage activists crashed the 1876 centennial on July 4th!
There are some treasures in the national storytelling archives of our nation, and one of them is about how suffrage activists crashed the national centennial celebration in Philadelphia on July 4th in 1876. Check out the story in an audio file. It’s quite amazing.
Last year on July 1st the “Spirit of 1776” suffrage campaign wagon celebrated the centennial of its first journey on the road in 1913 with Edna Kearns, Serena Kearns, and Irene Davison. There’s an effort underway to get the old wagon out on the road again in 2017, and we’d like you to be involved. Just send an email to: suffragewagon at gmail.com and you’ll be brought up to date on how you can help. You can subscribe to Suffrage Wagon NewsChannel for regular campaign updates.
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Video about how activists marched from NYC to Albany, NY 100 years ago…
One hundred years ago Rosalie Jones and a determined band of suffrage activists marched from New York City to Albany, NY, the state capitol. This video highlights another example of the ways to which these women (and men) put themselves on the line for freedom. SPECIAL VIDEO: Short feature about Rosalie Jones with images from her career. Jones led a “hike” from New York to Washington, DC in 1913 to join the big suffrage parade there.
She also led a 1912 hike” to Albany and traveled with activist Elisabeth Freeman in a horse-drawn wagon trip to Ohio to campaign for the cause there.
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Does Andrew Cuomo choice of Kathy Hochul for lt. gov. on ticket raise hopes for 2017 suffrage centennial?
The question of improved chances for New York State celebrating its 2017 suffrage centennial was raised recently with the nomination of Kathy Hochul who has a spot as Lieutenant Governor for Andrew Cuomo’s reelection ticket. Of course NYS voters still must decide in November 2014, but there’s a possibility with Hochul’s focus on upstate economic development and tourism. Keep a sharp look at the prospects. If you’re a New Yorker, ask the hard question about 2017 of both candidates on the campaign trail.
While you’re at it, why fret over how you and your organization will celebrate an upcoming suffrage centennial? Start now before the rush and consider all options. Suff buffs in the UK are smack in the middle of production on a suffrage movement major motion picture to be released in January 2015. This will push the topic of the suffrage movement far out into the public domain. By comparison, suff sit-com “Up the Women” in the UK has been pleasing audiences over the past year. And what about your local community –your friends and associates who are itching to get started with the 2017 planning in NYS and everyone else who can put the national 2020 suffrage centennial on their “to do” list. Check out the Bloomsbury book on suffrage plays.
A theatrical production, “The Stone that Started the Ripple,” is a fascinating angle on the suffrage movement, as evidenced by the recent production by Patricia A. Nugent that features a modern-day reunion of suffrage activists: Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Sojoufrner Turth and Lucretia Mott. It would be an excellent candidate for any upcoming centennial celebration. The one-act play has been performed to sold-out audiences on four occasions. The appeal, perhaps, is the way in which the four women comment on today’s political climate using their quotes from history. The play was underwritten by a grant from Soroptimist International of Saratoga County, and proceeds benefitted the League of Women Voters of Saratoga County in upstate New York.
SuffrageCentennials.com celebrates its first birthday in June 2014. We’ve been setting the table for the birthday celebration party the last few weeks. Check out the video and follow us on Twitter and email subscription. Video is posted on YouTube with about 40 educational videos highlighting the suffrage movement.
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Centennial of release of “The Militant Suffragette” by Charlie Chaplin
One hundred years ago Charlie Chaplin released “The Militant Suffragette.” Chaplain played the nutty woman, which suggested his point of view about what happened when women became crazy about voting.
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SuffrageCentennials.com is one year old in 2014: Happy Birthday!
Suffrage Centennials is celebrating its first birthday in 2014. Check out the video and follow us on Twitter and email subscription. Video is posted on YouTube with about 40 educational videos highlighting the suffrage movement.
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Upcoming suffrage centennial in Ireland
On May 25, 2014 it’s the centennial observance of the passing of the Government of Ireland Act that not only addressed the so-called “Irish Question,” but it also made women’s suffrage possible. The public record of women voting in Ireland can be traced back to the 1860s, and an article published in “Woman and her Sphere” by Elizabeth Crawford (researcher, writer, dealer in books and ephemera) is worth linking to directly because it’s a wonderful way to touch into everything you ever wanted to know and then some.
Elizabeth Crawford publishes a list of books available for sale that has suff buffs (and others) drooling. And when it comes to certain suffrage history, her articles contain a mountain of information that makes all the time spent reading worth reading it. Her article “We Believe That The Rousing of the Irish People Had Best Be Left to Irish Women” is one such example.
The article is lengthy and detailed, though it can be summed up in one of Crawford’s sentences: “The conflict between nationalism and suffragism haunted the Irish suffrage campaign.” But this sentence leaves out many fascinating facts. Did you know that Hanna Sheey Skeffington and others broke windows of government buildings in Dublin? I didn’t. Four received prison sentences and they went on a hunger strike. The story includes the background of how the English militant suffragettes spread their organizing efforts to Ireland. There are some hair-raising tales, including a hatchet with a suffrage message that one suffrage activist threw into the coach of the English prime minister on his visit to Ireland. Winning the vote in both Ireland and England required more than ladies’ tea receptions. It was uphill all the way, and a suffrage centennial is a perfect time to appreciate what may appear today to be a simple victory. Thank you, Elizabeth Crawford, for the persistence that’s involved in some of your history gems.
“In 1922, six years before women in Britain, Irish women over 21 were granted the vote, albeit reluctantly, by the Irish parliament. In the final stage of the Irish suffrage campaign it was most certainly the effort of Irishwomen, still led by Hanna Sheey Skeffington, that achieved the final victory.” Further reading: E. Crawford, The Women’s Suffrage Movement in Britain and Ireland: a regional survey, Routledge, 2008 (paperback).
Photo: Hanna Sheehy Skeffington, from Crawford’s article, a must read!
Follow SuffrageCentennials.com for news about suffrage centennial events and why it’s important to begin planning now for your centennial observance. Subscribe by email or Twitter.
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What’s a suffrage centennial without a pot of hot tea?
The suffrage movement activists relied on tea parties and receptions to build their movement, both in the US, England and other parts of the world. With this in mind, it’s fascinating to find a tea company in India building a mass social movement using tea advertising and worthy causes. And women voters are the target audience. With ongoing suffrage centennials in two states (Montana and Nevada), the urge to plan an upcoming state centennial for New York in 2017 and the national suffrage centennial in 2020, it’s only common sense to start planning now.
Tea parties and receptions are perfect for suffrage celebrations in your own home and community. Ken Florey has a two-part series on the importance of tea parties and receptions in the suffrage movement. Take a look: Part #1. Part #2. Did you know that suffrage leader Alice Paul had a teahouse, the Grated Door, in Washington, DC.? Watch a video about picketing the White House and the importance of taking time at the Grated Door to unwind. Why all the focus on tea? Teas are still important fundraisers for women’s organizations and those organizations promoting women’s history today. And the internet has vintage cookbooks from the suffrage movement that are fascinating to use for reference. Join others who are gearing up to rock the “Cradle” of the U.S. women’s rights movement on LetsRockTheCradle.com
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Will the United States be ready to celebrate its 2020 suffrage centennial in Seneca Falls, NY?
Clues to an answer to the above question may be found in the release of the first administrative wrap up of the history of the Women’s Rights National Historic Park in Seneca Falls, the key location for any celebration of 100 years of women voting in the United States. The 450-page publication, “‘All Men and Women are Created Equal’: An Administrative History of Women’s Rights National Historic Park” has been researched and written by Dr. Rebecca Conard, Professor of History and Director of the Public History Program at Middle Tennessee State University. The book cites interviews with park officials, park records and federal agency archives to document the beginnings and growth of the national park in Seneca Falls and Waterloo, N.Y. between 1976 and 2011. The book includes maps, photographs, charts and appendices. An electronic summary is available.
The report abstract noted: “
The report is a welcome contribution for those of us supporting and promoting the celebration of suffrage centennials. It should be noted, however, that New York State has not yet started planning its 2017 state suffrage centennial, and there is no official commitment (so far) to make it a priority. In addition, projects requiring Congressional funding have come to a standstill. They include the creation and funding of a Harriet Tubman national park and the “Votes for Women” federal heritage trail located in the Finger Lakes region, or what is also referred to as the “Cradle” of the U.S. women’s rights movement.
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Planning a suffrage centennial celebration? Be part of a national network. What about planning for a memorial?
Are you planning a suffrage centennial? This summer, the National Women’s History Project will begin expanding its website to make it a digital hub for information about women’s history. The goal is to leverage work around the nation and expand the impact of women’s history on an individual, local, state, and national level. If you’d like to be included in this digital hub, email your contact information along with a firty-word description of your work to nwhp@nwhp.org. The goal is to have the information online by the end of the summer of 2014. Network members will organize planning meetings throughout the country to develop plans for promoting women’s history. Contact the National Women’s History Project, 730 Second Street #469, Santa Rosa, CA 95402 http://www.nwhp.org (707) 636-2888.
Although statues and memorials can be expensive for suffrage centennials, it’s always possible to build a movement around the fundraising and all the associated stages up to and including the unveiling. Plenty of examples are out there. One excellent example is the statue of Susan B. Anthony and Frederick Douglass having tea, just down the street from the Susan B. Anthony House in Rochester, NY. A nearby plaque suggests the dynamic process that transformed this small park into a tourist destination.
See article about the National Susan B. Anthony Museum and House in New York State History Blog by Marguerite Kearns
Photo: The statue, “Lets Have Tea,” featuring Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony having tea, is in a small park down the street from the Susan B. Anthony House, 17 Madison Street, Rochester, NY.
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