Features suffrage wagon at the Long Island Museum
Rosalie Gardiner Jones of Long Island drove a yellow horse-drawn wagon that on occasion campaigned with Edna Kearns and the “Spirit of 1776” campaign wagon. Among Long Island’s suffragists, Rosalie knew how to reach out to the movers and shakers. She also networked with other grassroots activists ands reached out to the public by standing…
Continue ReadingThe fall is a terrific time for travel, and the blogging bus headed to the Cradle of the women’s rights movement in the US is ready to hit the road. Join us! Sign up for the free tour. Enjoy a road trip through upstate New York, the “Cradle.” While it’s still warm outside, squeeze in…
Continue ReadingIt has been a great week and there’s more to come. One hundred years ago the “Spirit of 1776” suffrage wagon made a “stir” with the coverage of its first journey in the New York Times. And one hundred years later, almost to the week, the wagon made a stir at the New York State…
Continue ReadingState of New York Legislative Resolution (Senate: 2421, Assembly: 642) Whereas, New York State is the cradle for the women’s rights movement in the United States and it is critically important to celebrate women’s history as well as support programs that build economic development through cultural and heritage tourism, including the development of a New…
Continue ReadingThis coming week both houses of the New York State Legislature are expected to pass a special resolution honoring Grandmother Edna Kearns’ wagon and its centennial and designating July 1, 2013 as the “Spirit of 1776” Wagon Day. Members of the bipartisan New York State Legislative Women’s Caucus that sponsored the resolution about the wagon’s centennial…
Continue ReadingWhat was Grandmother Edna Kearns doing in June 100 years ago? Grassroots organizing at every opportunity. There were meetings –outdoors, indoors, up on soapboxes, standing on automobiles, out with the “Spirit of 1776” wagon on the beach, and anywhere a crowd gathered. Such is the nature of grassroots organizing. You get out the message however…
Continue Readingby Marguerite Kearns The first week in July of 1913 represented a high point in bringing the issue of Votes for Women to the public. This is when the campaign suffrage wagon, the “Spirit of 1776,” left the Manhattan office of the New York State Woman Suffrage Association at 108 Madison Avenue in the care of…
Continue ReadingHave a cup of tea with your suffrage stories and fortune cookies by Marguerite Kearns PART I: The suffrage movement was big news in 1913, but Votes for Women activists had their eye on Long Island well before the turn of the 20th century. Women, in general, organized themselves into a complex web of local…
Continue ReadingThis appeal sent to Edna Buckman Kearns sparked the desire to get in line in the procession. It’s the first time in her writings that Edna mentions speaking to Alice Paul on the parade route where they shared concerns about the crowd that was out of control. Edna and Serena Kearns marched in the Quaker…
Continue ReadingNew York City and Long Island suffragist Edna Kearns wrote Votes for Women columns for the newspaper and she responded to letters to the editor! Here, she answers a man who writes to the paper about how women have it good and they should stop complaining. In another piece (below), Edna refers to the big…
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