Features suffrage wagon at the Long Island Museum
Keeping the suffrage issue constantly in front of the public was a daunting task. Grandmother Edna Kearns got news coverage when standing on a street corner and speaking about suffrage. Here’s an example from a Long Island local paper:
Continue ReadingAn article appeared in The Monroe County Mail (Fairport, NY) on October 21, 1915 that’s worth taking a look at. The piece meant the news traveled from Long Island to upstate New York with information about my grandmother’s “can can” campaign. It was intended to prove that a woman could both “can” and make a…
Continue ReadingThe New Agenda is sponsoring a mentor exchange. This is an important part of building leadership among younger people. Can you help with The New Agenda’s program? Or continue with what you’re doing already. The suffragists demonstrated leadership in their “can do” attitude and persistence in seeing an issue through to its logical conclusion, which…
Continue ReadingThe Brits have come through royally with their recent media coverage of the English suffrage movement. Especially with the first broadcast of audio interviews of suffragettes recorded back in 1977 by prominent British historian Brian Harrison. This past weekend’s BBC radio special, “The Lost World of the Suffragettes,” reveals the character, political context, and personalities…
Continue ReadingI love it when examples pop up on the web where the suffrage legacy of our ancestors is cited. Kristi Rendahl says this in her Op Ed piece about her suffragist great-grandmother: “My great-grandmother is but one example of strength. I surround myself with pictures and memories of family members–men and women alike–who have shown…
Continue ReadingThe suffrage torch has been passed to the next generation, and young people are running with the flame. This week’s NYT article on change.org spells it out. And a new video on You Tube by two young women (Sylvia Ashley and Ane Grytten) presents archival suffrage images and original lyrics featuring the suffrage movement as…
Continue ReadingAlva Belmont It makes you wonder, doesn’t it? So when in doubt, step back and listen to the record. Alva Belmont worked with Grandmother Edna Kearns on the Long Island suffrage campaign. While it wasn’t unusual for women of wealth to contribute to the woman’s suffrage movement, Alva Belmont distinguished herself by becoming a radical…
Continue ReadingLots of eggs and not much flour! This recipe is from a 1915 suffrage cook book, and it sure is fun dragging out these old recipes to bring us just a little closer to the tastes and rituals of our grandmothers and great-grandmothers. Only 11 eggs, flour, sugar, cream of tartar, vanilla and salt. Great…
Continue ReadingEdna not only put herself out in public, but she documented herself every step of the way. A conversation with an attorney became a newspaper column in four-part harmony. Poor guy. He admitted that voting might be okay for Edna, but not for his wife. He wouldn’t let her vote. And so on. See the…
Continue ReadingThe Kearns motor car company manufactured different models over the years, and my grandfather Wilmer R. Kearns made the family automobile business a focus after he married my grandmother Edna and they moved to New York City in 1904 from the Philadelphia area. Building wagons and horse-drawn buggies ran in the Kearns family, so it…
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