Edna knew that the women of New York were making history. And when a pageant was held at the Armory in New York City involving 500 performers and broad, vast and innovative subject matter, she made sure the news was spread through her writing.
Both Edna Buckman Kearns and daughter Serena Kearns were featured in the New York Herald’s April 1914 coverage of the event. Serena played a child, and Edna, a nurse. The production, “The American Woman: Six Periods of American Life” by Hazel MacKaye was not only ambitious, but it was considered a milestone in the suffrage movement’s production of pageants with significant social commentary. Inez Milholland played the woman of the future. Susan B. Anthony would have been proud.
This blog post is yet another episode of “The Adventures of Edna Buckman Kearns,” the news about her suffrage campaign wagon (now in the collection of the NYS Museum), and another example of how my grandmother dedicated her life to bring about Votes for Women. Stay tuned!
6 Responses
Most of the suffragettes like Edna Kearns will never be remembered. That’s why this news channel is interesting. It’s like Edna is the prototype suffragist in the front lines.
And to think the suffrage pageants attracted huge crowds.
We don’t do pageants so much anymore.
“Women have come a long way,” said Rachel Krinsky of the League of Women Voters. “They fought hard for their right to vote, and today, they fight for places in office.” The League of Women Voters was formed immediately after the passage of the 19th Amendment by those who fought for suffrage.
The information on this site is useful.
Serena played a child quite well. It looks like the role was made for her!