The dates for Convention Days in Seneca Falls, NY: July 20-21, 2019. At the Women’s Rights National Historic Park, 136 Fall Street, Seneca Falls, NY 13148. Call 315-568-2991 for more information. 9-5 p.m. Free. There’s lodging suggestions, restaurants, and sites to visit online on the Convention Days website.
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CONTROVERSY—on the Six O’Clock Program of News Channel! from Vimeo.
NEWS: The Gazette for the National Women’s History Alliance is preparing its next issue highlighting the diversity of the first wave of the women’s rights movement in the US.
Historic road markers funded by the Pomeroy Foundation are in the planning stages for 2020 across the nation. Some have already been installed under this innovative program.
The City of Long Beach, NY is planning for an unveiling of a historic votes for women marker during June 2019. The city is funding this marker itself, commemorating the visit of Edna Kearns and the “Spirit of 1776” suffrage wagon in July of 1913. This is another example of the word spreading and many organizations and individuals taking the initiative. Details about the ceremony to be announced.
As 2020 approaches, there are more programs being announced by groups and organizations across the nation. The buildup has been accelerating over the past few years from behind the scenes by individuals and organizations. This has been a recognition of the importance of not letting the centennial observance of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution pass without some awareness of where we have been and where we are headed.
And along with this comes criticism that includes that the movement wasn’t perfect, that it should have been better, with more volunteers, more diversity, more funding. And there has also been a recognition that without the first wave, there couldn’t have been a second wave, and so on. One measure of the momentum is in the number of local, state, and national organizations hopping on the bandwagon for 2020.
One digital platform recording this has been Suffrage Wagon News Channel that is in its 10th year of publication. Suffrage Wagon is a sister site of SuffrageCentennials.com
A video highlighting the first wave of the women’s rights movement in the US.
Women have been marching for their rights for over 100 years. And that’s what the Long Island Woman Suffrage Association is doing this year. They will be seen and heard. And news is coming in from all over the nation about the special events, celebrations, and programming scheduled for 2020, the 100th anniversary of women winning the rigfht to votes in the United States.
Join those who are being seen and heard during the Memorial Day weekend. And follow SuffrageCentennials.com
Suffragists used tunes from commonly known songs or hymns and added their own lyrics tocreate anthems of the women’s rights movement. These songs addressed women’s status, relationships, and shared their dreams and goals. Women’s Rights National Historical Park has lined up on May 18, 2019, 1-4 p.m. a presentation of the music of the suffrage movement.
“Music in Your Park” event includes The Rochester Oratorio Society and the Albany Symphony in the Wesleyan Chapel, located at 126 Fall Street in Seneca Falls, NY.
Resonanz Vocal Ensemble will present a suite of suffragist anthems, newly restored and arranged from century-old sources by Eastman School of Music faculty member and pianist Jeannie Guerrero. The program also contains a stirring musical profile of suffrage pioneer and Underground Railroad conductor, Harriet Tubman, by Robert DeCormier, the longtime arranger for Peter, Paul and Mary, and “I’m Told I’m A Citizen,” from Mrs. President, by New York composer Victoria Bond. Eric
At 2 p.m. the park will present a ranger-led orientation talk in the Chapel discussing the park and its various properties, the societal shifts that led to the 1848 Convention, the relationships among the organizers, and the importance of place and time at the start of the suffrage movement.
I AM I AM I AM is brought to us by the Albany Symphony. I AM I AM I AM is a collective dedicated to examining traditional gender norms and roles and addressing the ways in which society and specifically classical music perpetuate stale stereotypes about the place of women in the twenty-first century. They strive to celebrate the autonomy of the female body and being, shedding light on the role of women in our industry and society at large. I AM I AM I AM will perform at 3 p.m.
This event is free and open to the public. For more information about Women’s Rights National Historical Park, including hours and upcoming programs, please visit the website at www.nps.gov/wori or call (315) 568-0024. Follow on Facebook(@WomensRightsNPS) and Twitter (#WomensRightsNPS).
The ratification by Tennessee of the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution has been getting a great deal of publicity this year with the announcement of a film scheduled for release in 2020 based on the 2018 book by Elaine Weiss, The Woman’s Hour (Viking Press). The ratification vote in Tennessee caused a sensation all over the nation, so much so that 100 years later, in 2020, we’ll be able to witness some of the drama.
CHECK OUT THE BOOK, “THE WOMAN’S HOUR”
The Woman’s Hour is an excellent read. It’s difficult to make a historical event a page turner, but this has been accomplished. And the number of women’s suffrage events for 2020 is so extensive we’re having trouble keeping up with the crunch. And it’s an excellent feeling to know that the work of hundreds of volunteers over the past decade is finally paying off.
Do you have a women’s suffrage commission in your state? Are you taking advantage of the national program by the National Collaborative for Women’s History Sites and the William G. Pomeroy Foundation to erect free historic road markers across the nation? Are you planning a summer trip in 2020 to visit some of the many special programs and exhibits?
Follow SuffrageCentennials.com from now to 2020!
Suffrage centennials can creep up on anyone, even those following the topic. And wearing period dress is one way to deal with this challenge. I am looking for something simple, like a cape and a hat, because dressing in period costume can turn into a project. But between now and 2020, there’s a great deal to consider. Do a search online and many web sites with a period style theme pop up. Or you can make something yourself. I’ve seen some great outfits at women’s rights conferences.
The images posted here are from a web site called Recollections. I’m on their website newsletter list. Right now there’s a sale going on. My suffrage activist grandmother, Edna Buckman Kearns, would have dressed herself in clothes from the Eduardian period.
Period films seem to have a knack for modifying period dress and merging it with contemporary tastes. I have enough photos of suffrage activists over the 72-year period it took for women to win the right to vote to enroll in a community college class to adapt styles from the past. And there are historical patterns on the market too. Will I do it? That’s still to be seen.
Have fun with dressing up. The year 2020 will be the time to strut your stuff.
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2020 WOMEN’S RIGHTS CENTENNIAL IS A NATIONAL FOCUS
Here’s one organization—2020Centennial.org—that’s taken the mission and gone all the way with it. The web site is publishing news on a regular basis. And it’s not alone. Back in 2013 when Marguerite Kearns and Olivia Twine took a blogging tour of the “Cradle” of the women’s rights movement in the United States (upstate New York in the Finger Lakes region), they couldn’t have imagined the interest and initiative that would be associated with planning and getting the word out.
YOU MAY BE A SUFFRAGE DESCENDANT AND NOT KNOW IT!
If you are a hidden votes for women activist descendant, you aren’t alone. Tens of thousands of women and their allies spent decades working for the right to vote from 1848 (and before) through 1920. They have descendants. And like you, and many others, we haven’t yet uncovered all of this part of our family history.
That you may be descended from the first wave of American voting rights activists shouldn’t be passed over lightly. Many families didn’t mention this association and organizing priority to their children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and other descendants.
Are there interests you have and activities that you’ve not mentioned to friends and family members? Of course.
AN IMPORTANT PART OF OUR NATION’S LEGACY…THE 2020 SUFFRAGE CENTENNIAL!
Even if you can’t prove a direct family connection, the first wave of the women’s rights movement in the United States is an important and essential part of our national legacy and history…whether you’re a young person, woman, man, or wherever you find yourself on the gender continuum.
The chances are excellent that you are descended, either directly or by interest, to the tens of thousands of voting rights activists and their allies who worked and sweated for decades to win the right to vote during the first wave of the women’s rights movement. If you aren’t directly related, you may be a descendent in some other way—spiritual or because of your interests and concerns.
There are many citizens who define themselves as first wave women’s rights descendants simply because they are passionate about this part of American history. By combining the accomplishments of all the waves of rights activists through today, we find ourselves standing on strong shoulders.
Our place in history will be celebrated during 2020. We want to make sure you’re part of this turning point in time. Some people call this coming year the celebration of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution. It’s also known as the women’s vote centennial, the suffrage centennial 2020, and the votes for women centennial.
Celebrate women’s freedom to vote during 2020. That’s why you’re being contacted now… we’ll be ready during 2020 to be heard, loud and clear.
SuffrageCentennials.com has been publishing since 2013.