Tag Archives: Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Moving forward on Central Park statue that features suffrage movement movers and shakers

November 12th marks the 199th anniversary of the birth of women’s rights leader Elizabeth Cady Stanton. In celebration, the Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony Statue Fund Inc. officially announces its campaign to create a statue in New York City’s Central Park honoring Stanton, Anthony and all those who fought for women’s right to vote. It will be the first statue in Central Park’s 160 year history built to honor real women. Pam Elam, President of the ECS and SBA Statue Fund, stated: “There are statues in Central Park of Alice in Wonderland, Mother Goose, Juliet (with Romeo), and numerous representations of the female form (like angels, nymphs and allegorical figures), but statues celebrating the vast and varied contributions of real women to this city, state, and nation are no where to be found.” Elam added: “We intend to break the bronze ceiling by honoring these women and their work for equality and justice.”

The statue fund sent a Letter of Intent, as required by NYC Parks Department guidelines when donating works of art, to the Mayor and Parks Department Commissioner in February. On September 19, 2014 representatives of the Statue Fund held its first meeting to discuss the proposal with representatives from the Parks Department and the Central Park Conservancy.

Coline Jenkins, Vice President of the Statue Fund and the great, great granddaughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, said that “… by honoring Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and those who fought for the vote, New York City will also be honoring the largest nonviolent civil rights revolution in the history of our nation.” The statue will hopefully be completed before or in time for the 2020 votes for women centennial when American women will have been voting for 100 years. In addition to honoring Stanton and Anthony, a list of the names of those whose work was crucial to the success of the struggle will be inscribed around the statue’s base.

Jenkins noted that important historical milestones regarding Stanton, Anthony, and the right to vote will be celebrated in the near future such as the 200th anniversary of the birth of Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 2015; the New York State Woman Suffrage Centennial in 2017; the national woman suffrage centennial in 2020; and the 200th anniversary of the birth of Susan B. Anthony in 2020. “By creating this statue, New York City paves the way for a nationwide celebration of the United States Constitution’s 19th Amendment,” Jenkins said.

The Central Park statue project has the support of the 15-member Women’s Caucus of the New York City Council and many prominent endorsers. If you’re interested in supporting the statue campaign, by volunteering or pledging, contact the Statue Fund at StantonandAnthonyStatueFund@gmail.com or ECS and SBA Statue Fund, Post Office Box 1500, Gracie Station, New York, NY 10028. A website is under construction and supporters are welcome to follow the Statue Fund on Facebook and Twitter.

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200th birthday for Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 2015

November 12th is Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s birthday. And in 2015 she will be 200 years old. At the same time, there’s a proposed Stanton/Anthony statue project in the works for Central Park in New York City. Perfect to announce the Stanton Bicentennial National Tour with pioneer feminist historian/activist/performer Sally Roesch Wagner. The program is called “Sowing Winter Wheat” based on Stanton’s quote: “We are sowing winter wheat, which the coming spring will see sprout, and other hands than ours will reap and enjoy.” Hear Stanton’s words about a woman’s right to control her own body; social and economic justice; natural childbirth and children’s rights; divorce reform; women’s equal legal rights, including the right to vote; the abolition of capital punishment; and the removal of “offending passages” from the Bible. This is a great program for suffrage centennials and special events in 2015, as well as the 2020 votes for women centennial.

Sally Roesch Wagner presents a 35-minute monologue as Stanton, followed by audience interaction with the 19th-century feminist’s bold wit and brilliant logic and she concludes with a conversation with the “scholar beneath the wig.” Wagner says: “Having performed as Elizabeth Cady Stanton for 26 years, I have grown old with her. I am drawing on my 40 years of Stanton research to offer a celebratory gift – the seasoned Stanton at her witty, brilliant, and iconoclastic best.” Sally Roesch Wagner, Ph.D., is the founding director of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation in Fayetteville, NY. She’s an adjunct faculty member at Syracuse University. For information, call 540.533.0733.

 

 

 

 

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Radio program for young people with 2020 suffrage centennial in mind

With the upcoming November election in mind, the story of Susan B. Anthony’s trial for illegal voting will be the focus on a program on 51%, WAMC’s nationally and internationally syndicated show. The program will air on Thursday, October 30, 2014 at 8 p.m. and on Wednesday, November 5, 2014 at 3 p.m.

Susan Zimet of Votes for Women 2020 will read an essay, “Susan B. Anthony Votes- Did You?” It tells the story of how Susan B. Anthony was arrested and convicted for voting illegally in the 1872 presidential election. Ironically, it was the only time Anthony ever voted. The essay is geared towards educating young women 18-29 about the hard fought battle and many sacrifices our suffragist mothers undertook to win women the right to vote, with the goal of motivating young women to vote in higher proportions than in recent elections. Votes for Women 2020 is a non-profit organized to celebrate, educate and inspire all women, but specifically young women and young adults, about the efforts of their forbearers in securing the vote.

Upcoming: Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s birthday on November 12th. Follow SuffrageCentennials.com for news of centennials and celebrations.

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NYC Central Park statue proposed: 2020 suffrage centennial is in mind

A call for support is circulating with the goal of creating a statue in NYC’s Central Park honoring Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and those who fought for woman’s suffrage.  There are no statues honoring real women in Central Park.  There are statues of Alice in Wonderland, Mother Goose, and Juliet (with Romeo), but no tributes to the real women who played significant roles in the shaping of the nation. Numerous representations of the female form (like angels, nymphs and allegorical figures) are part of the park landscape, but statues celebrating the vast and varied contributions of real women are nowhere to be found. By creating this statue honoring Stanton, Anthony and women who fought for the vote, New York City women’s advocates would like to position New  York in the center of the nationwide woman suffrage celebration spotlight in 2020. So the planning is underway now with the woman suffrage statue as an important step. With this statue, New  York’s women’s history will be accessible to the 40 million people who visit Central Park each year. Support is needed to rectify an injustice to women that has lasted for over 150 years. To respond to the call for support, visit the link that lays out all the details, including a long list of people who have already signed on to give their support.

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Centennial year of destruction of Margaret Fuller memorial on Long Island

Margaret FullerOne hundred years ago a huge storm on the Long Island coast destroyed the memorial erected to author, reporter, activist Margaret Fuller. She was an important influence to the suffragists of Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s generations and many women after that.  If there was a film to be made between now and 2020 (the centennial of women voting in the US), it should be about Margaret Fuller. Several excellent books have been published in the last few years to reviews of acclaim. Commentators note that Margaret Fuller’s story has romance, great characters, and all the elements of a good film, as well as having the potential of being a significant contribution to American history. The only problem is that not many people know about Margaret Fuller, and a potential film doesn’t fit the action genre. There are no car crashes, but there is a boat wreck at the end. Margaret not only rubbed elbows with Horace Greeley, Thoreau, Hawthorne, and Emerson, but they admired her mind and ideas and benefitted from knowing her. Several called her an inspiration.

So the idea of a film is out there circulating around. Anyone taking it on will have an uphill project, and a great film in the end. Another possibility is re-establishing the memorial to Margaret Fuller. A memorial to Margaret was established on the Long Island coastline at the turn of the 20th century, and it was destroyed in a big storm in 1913. So, it’s the centennial of the wrecking of the memorial. Seems like this could go on someone’s “to do” list for the upcoming 2017 New York State suffrage centennial. Raising money for some sort of a memorial would go a long way to bringing Margaret’s story to life if no one steps up to the challenge of a film about Margaret Fuller. And it would be a draw on Long Island for visitors and cultural tourism.

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The Women’s Protest at the 1876 Centennial Celebration in Philadelphia: Part I

This reading by Amelia Bolen is Part I of the story about how suffrage activists didn’t pass up the opportunity to attend the 1876 centennial celebration of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1876. In this first person account by Elizabeth Cady Stanton from her memoir, we’re treated to a visual blow-by-blow description of how these activists worked together to make their point and deliver a reminder that the nation’s women citizens would not rest until they’d made their point that the American Revolution remained unfinished as far as women were concerned. This audio recording is a suffrage centennial special. Image: Library of Congress.

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