Features suffrage wagon at the Long Island Museum
VIDEO: This posting is a reminder about where the “Spirit of 1776” wagon has been and where it is headed –to 2017 and 2020 suffrage centennial celebrations. In upcoming elections, ask ALL candidates their thoughts on how the present day is linked to the long struggle for equality and justice. Reinforce how it is critical to…
Continue ReadingThe new music video, the “Spirit of 1776,” has a companion video about the history of the wagon and its role in suffrage grassroots organizing. It covers the weeks leading up to the first journey of the “Spirit of 1776” wagon on July 1, 1913. The video featuring archival evidence of the wagon’s history showcases…
Continue ReadingThe first stage is the dream, and then comes the planning and reality of a New York State suffrage centennial celebration in 2017. The facts are being collected and the dreamers called into action. Every month I’m on a conference call with others who are stepping up to the plate in terms of making sure…
Continue ReadingDo you love dress ups like I do? Suffrage blogger Antonia Petrash spent an afternoon at a vintage clothes shop on Long Island and blogged about the experience. I dressed in my grandmother Edna’s dresses at about age ten. Here’s what I wrote about the experience: “Bonded from wearing Grandmother Edna Kearns’ dresses.” In recent news…
Continue ReadingNo one’s openly planning for New York’s 2017 suffrage centennial. Centennial awareness is out there, however, bubbling under the surface. What are the signs? How about a groundbreaking in Seneca Falls, New York for the National Women’s Hall of Fame that’s taking over the old Seneca Mill along the Cayuga-Seneca Canal, a historical location in…
Continue ReadingSome people swear by Downton Abbey. Others are yawning and wondering if the series will take on more life than reruns of the same themes, issues and personalities. Like the novelty of the chauffeur marrying into the family has worn off, and the family is adjusting, though slowly, to the end of a way of…
Continue ReadingWhen we traveled on the blogging tour of the “Cradle” last fall, Olivia Twine and I documented the importance of storytelling about winning the franchise for women. We heard terrific stories in Johnstown, NY, the birthplace of Elizabeth Cady Stanton; the Harriet Tubman home in Auburn; the Matilda Joslyn Gage Center in Fayetteville; the Quaker meeting house…
Continue ReadingI did some baking recently and then put my feet up to watch “It’s a Wonderful Life” that many believe was set in Seneca Falls, NY. #1. #2. The resulting article was published this week in “New York History.” It highlights the town and its cottage industry, including the Frank Capra film and women’s rights…
Continue ReadingEvery year in early December there’s another birthday for Suffrage Wagon News Channel. Now it’s number four! We’ll be celebrating 350 posts this month, and that’s quite an accomplishment. Back in the early days it wasn’t clear just how long I could keep up with blogging on a subject as focused as my suffragist grandmother…
Continue ReadingThe suffrage movement or “women’s suffrage” may seem like a niche topic, yet the news items concerning Votes for Women events and activities increase by the day. Here’s a sampling: Statewide conference planning underway for 2017 suffrage centennial of women voting in New York State by CRREO (the Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach)…
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