100th Anniversary
Centennial: Women Get the Vote
Women won the right to vote in
New York State in the election of
November 6, 1917. It had taken them
nearly 70 years—since the nation’s
first women’s rights convention
in Seneca Falls in 1848—to raise
consciousness and convince male
voters to come down on their side. It
would be another three years before
the 19th Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution was ratified, granting
suffrage to women across the United
States.
New York was not only home
to the women’s rights movement
itself, it was home to several
pioneers of the women’s suffrage
movement—Susan B. Anthony,
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Matilda
Joslyn Gage and others—and a
number of their homes and meeting
places have become museums
and working centers for the on-
going effort supporting women’s
equality and civil rights. Numerous
celebrations, here and elsewhere
throughout the state, will mark the
2017 centennial year.
VoteTilla,
July 16 - 22, 2017, is one of the biggest and most exciting celebrations of the women’s suffrage centennial.
Participants will travel in canal boats from Seneca Falls to Rochester, where VoteTilla Week concludes with a
celebration at the Susan B. Anthony Museum, which is spearheading the celebration. Along the way, the boats will dock at towns and
villages for historic re-enactments, theatrical performances, speeches, music, crafts, food, and good fun, co-hosted by local groups and
partner organizations such as the Canal Society of New York State, Seward House and the University of Rochester’s Susan B. Anthony Center
for Women’s Leadership. While in Rochester, visitors can stop by the Central Library of Rochester, which will be honoring the centennial with
an exhibit titled "Because of Women Like Her," a collaboration between a number of partners, including local museums and colleges that
aims to draw visitors into the history and its contemporary implications. susanbanthonyhouse.org/VoteTilla/
The Women’s Rights National
Historic Park in Seneca Falls still
reverberates with the thrill of that
first women’s rights convention. It
incorporates the home of suffragist
leader Elizabeth Cady Stanton, where
the convention was planned; the
McClintock House, where the Declaration
of Sentiments was drafted (and a station
on the Underground Railroad); and the
Wesleyan Chapel, where the convention
was convened. Guided tours are
available. nps.gov/wori
84 | 2017 in new york: A yeAr of milestones
The National Susan B. Anthony Museum
& House in Rochester provides a window into
the life of this legendary civil rights leader who,
among her other accomplishments, was arrested
in 1872 for daring to vote. Her spirit lives on in
its programs, which aim to help people to make
positive differences in their lives and communities.
susanbanthonyhouse.org National Women’s Hall of Fame
in Seneca Falls, created in 1969, shines
a spotlight on the accomplishments of
women. By telling the stories of great
American women through exhibits and
educational resources, the Hall strives
towards a future in which all members of
society are fully valued. womenofthehall.org
Matilda Joslyn Gage House in Fayetville honors the
memory and principles of a woman whose gravestone
reads, “There is a word sweeter than Mother, Home
or Heaven; that word is Liberty.” This suffrage pioneer
was a staunch abolitionist whose home was a stop on
the Underground Railroad. The House also highlights
Wizard of Oz author, L. Frank Lloyd Baum, Gage’s son-
in-law, who lived in the home for a period of time and
whose views and writings were greatly influenced by
Gage. matildajoslyngage.org Convention Days in Seneca Falls, July
14-16, 2017, is an annual event honoring
the 1848 convention. Though centered
around the Women’s Rights National
Historic Park, events are presented at
venues throughout the town, making it a
true community-wide commemoration.
For details of the films, music, talks,
tours and panels to be held, check
conventiondays.com.