Suffrage auto video plus article & News Notes from all over (Part I)

Part I of Kenneth Florey’s article of suffrage automobiles is available NOW: “Suffrage Autos: A new form of freedom.” Automobiles became hot items during the suffrage movement because grassroots organizing became more efficient. Ken Florey makes this point. He’s the author of an upcoming book on suffrage memorabilia, and he’s also the Suffrage Wagon columnist who has documented the connection between tea and the Votes for Women movement.  Coming Soon: Part II of Ken Florey’s article about when the suffrage movement got wheels.

The new one-minute Suffrage Wagon video highlights the suffrage automobiles Ken writes about. Many of the images are from his suffrage postcard collection. If you’re receiving this posting by email, you might not be able to see the video player that’s embedded here. Click through on the link above! Just a minute of your time. It will be worth it. I promise.

When things are heating up on the suffrage front –like they are– I’m struggling to keep up with suffrage news notes. I’m behind (again), but there’s more to come in the next few postings.

News notes in this first round of May include: Norway’s women celebrate 100 years of women voting. #1. #2. Women still can’t vote in the Vatican. #1. #2. One hundred years ago in Troy, NY. #1. #2. South Dakota native Carey Graeber stands up for Dorothy. #1. #2. Another great block for the suffrage quilt project. #1. #2. Another try at getting a Congressional medal for suffragist Alice Paul. #1. #2. Alice Paul’s copy of Betty Friedan book. #1. #2. Margaret Thatcher and suffragettes in one breath. #1. #2. Susan B. Anthony birthplace attracting visitors. #1. #2. A pitch to visit the Susan B. Anthony House in NYS. #1. #2. Telling women’s stories at historic sites. #1. The importance of storytelling. #1.Women’s exhibit at New York State Capitol. #1. #2. 

Check in with our magazine platform. You’ll see that the content changes often. And if an overview of Suffrage Wagon is what you crave, we have this as well. Suffrage Wagon’s videos can be found on Vimeo and YouTube.

Suffrage News Notes: March 2013

Women’s History Month means that it has been a busy and active month for suffrage buffs. Also, the suffrage centennial parade march and events the first week in March has had the digital circuits buzzing. Start with the suffrage parade in Washington, DC. Link #1. Link #2. The 1913 march that made history. Link #1. Link #2. Ms. Magazine coverage of suffrage parade. Link #1. Link #2. ”Brimstone, Booze, and the Ballot” is launched by Susan B. Anthony House, The Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation, and Votes for Women 2020: Link #1. Link #2.

Tribute to Alice Paul, Lucy Burns, Alice Stevens. LINK. Alice Paul given her due. Link #1. Link #2. A Congressional Medal for Alice Paul? Link #1. Link #2. Fashions at the time of the suffrage movement. Link #1. Link #2. Women and anti-lynching campaigns. Link #1. Link #2.  Women’s e-news. Link #1. Link #2. Suffrage Map. Link #1. Link #2. Vision 2020. Link #1. Link #2.  Black women’s history. Link #1. Link #2.  Will there ever be an end to Women’s History Month? Link #1. Link #2. Smithsonian document dive. Link #1. Link #2. Birthdays and special dates from women’s history from the National Women’s History Project. LINK. Votes for Women 2020′s web site and blog. Link #1. Link #2.

Masterpiece Theatre fans of “Downton Abbey” might like the suffrage angle on the “Mr. Selfridge” TV series that starts March 31st. Link #1. Link #2. Kudos for Inez Mulholland. Link #1. Link #2. Oxfam’s reports on top corporations’ record on women. LINK. Photos from Anthony luncheon. Link #1. Link #2. Women underrepresented in politics. Link #1. Link #2.  Safiya Bandele’s new multi-media presentation on suffragist and activist Ida B. Wells. LINK.

The quilt project representing women’s rights. Link #1. Link #2. The Constitution Center during Women’s History Month. Link #1.  Point of view on Presidential Proclamation for Women’s History Month. Link #1. Concern about problem of sexual slavery. Link #1. Link #2.  Reproductive freedom. Link #1. Link #2.

Find out more about Suffrage Wagon News Channel. LINK.  Subscribe.

Performance highlights why one suffrage leader was written out of history

 BRIMSTONE, BOOZE AND THE BALLOT

Provocative program explores why one suffrage leader was written out of history 

Women voters and lovers of American history will discover the inside story of two of the suffrage movement’s founders during Women’s History Month when the background struggle between suffrage leaders Susan B. Anthony and Matilda Joslyn Gage is revealed on stage.

The dialogue performance will be at the Rosendale Theater in Rosendale, NY on Friday, March 22, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.

Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton are celebrated as two of the founding mothers of the women’s suffrage movement. But who was Matilda Joslyn Gage? In her time she was considered a “founding mother” along with Anthony and Stanton. However, Gage was written out of history.

The background drama will be explored by Sally Roesch Wagner, executive director of the Gage Center in Fayetteville, NY, and Deborah Hughes, president & CEO of the Anthony House in Rochester NY, who will present a compelling dialogue that explores the split between two of the three suffrage movement founders. The event is a joint presentation of the Susan B. Anthony House, The Matilda Joslyn Gage Center, and Votes For Women 2020.

Matlda Joslyn Gage

The rupture between Anthony and Gage will be revealed by the reading of correspondence between them. In a unique juxtaposition, Sally Roesch Wagner (Gage director) will read Susan B. Anthony’s letters while Deborah Hughes (Anthony House director) will bring Gage’s correspondence to light.

After the performance, the audience is invited and encouraged to join the dialogue.

Deborah L. Hughes is a strong advocate for human rights and equal opportunity for all, especially those who suffer discrimination based on gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or economic circumstance. As an ordained minister and theologian, she brings a depth of knowledge and breadth of experience to this dialogue and special program.

Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner is one of the first women to receive a doctorate in the US for work in women’s studies and is a founder of one of the country’s first women’s studies programs. An author and lecturer, Dr. Wagner appeared in the Ken Burn’s PBS documentary “Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony for which she wrote the accompanying faculty guide.

Tickets are priced at $20.20 (tax-deductible) and are available at www.rosendaletheater.org or the box office.

For more news items like this, subscribe to Suffrage Wagon News Channel.

The buzz has started about the suffrage centennial parade on March 3, 2013

Suff buffs and citizens in general have been hearing a great deal these days about the centennial parade planned for Sunday, March 3, 2013 in Washington D.C.  The parade celebrates the spectacular suffrage procession of March 3, 1913, a key date in women’s rights history. It was a significant show of strength for suffragists, and a galvanizing point for the Votes for Women movement.

It’s also the centennial of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, organizer of the 2013 parade as part of their festivities.  When a troop of fearless young black women from the  new Howard University sorority joined the all-white parade in 1913, they boldly challenged the segregationist policies that might have excluded them.  Now, one hundred years later, the sorority leads the parade!

The parade was specifically designed for its aesthetic value. It’s remembered as both a political marvel and a brilliant spectacle, including a pageant and an astonishing procession of divisions of hundreds of women in coordinated color costumes arranged by profession, organization, and state.  Floats highlighted women in American history and many marchers carried vibrant banners and flags. Following the 1913 parade, the special care devoted to the planning by suffragist Alice Paul became recognized and appreciated.

After the parade of over 5,000 women and men had marched more than a mile from the Capitol, intoxicated opponents demonstrated.  Crowds surged forward and blocked the marchers.  Women on foot and on the floats were insulted and accosted.  Troops on horseback drove the crowds back so the shaken suffragists could complete their parade.

It’s a pivotal event to remember. March is National Women’s History Month.  Commemorate the occasion by joining or supporting the parade on March 3, 2013 in DC. There’s a full schedule of events and exhibits. In addition to Delta Sigma Theta, national coalition members planning events include the National Women’s History Museum, Sewall-Belmont House & Museum, American Association of University Women, and National Women’s History Project.

For more information, visit unitewomen.org  Check in with Suffrage Wagon’s videos and postings. LINK.

Susan B. Anthony DANCES as part of One Billion Rising!

VIDEO SPECIALS: A tribute to Susan B. Anthony who joins One Billion Rising across the United States and around the world. Susan’s video tribute. LINK. Susan dances with One Billion Rising. LINK.

It’s Valentine’s Day, a day of love and caring and respect for those who are special. It’s a perfect day for One Billion Rising which unites many different types of people in a rising of spirit, action, energy and determination. Let’s put an end to violence to women and girls.

Dance with Suffrage Wagon today. RSVP at suffragewagon at gmail dot com

February 15th is Susan B. Anthony’s birthday, a day celebrated by suffrage advocates and allies during Aunt Susan’s life time that continues to this day. Many women over the years called themselves Susan’s nieces. And it seems fitting to continue the tradition.

Susan’s smiling on February 14, 2013. Join us for One Billion Rising!

WE LOVE YOU, AUNT SUSAN!

Keep up to date with Suffrage Wagon News Channel.

Action: Join One Billion Rising with us!

Women are rising all over the world. Join the demonstration of women and the men who love them. Visit Suffrage Wagon News Channel on Thursday, February 14, 2013 and be part of our virtual party during One Billion Rising.

Last-Minute Holiday Gift Ideas: Marguerite’s Musings

Huddling under the covers mornings until the last minute like me because it’s so cold? Still trying to dig your way out of the snow in the driveway? Needing some last-minute gift ideas for the suffrage buff in your life?

It’s freezing here and the snow hasn’t cleared from my back yard. But more gift ideas are coming in. One idea is the music CD by Bob Warren featuring Susan B. Anthony. “Only the Message Mattered” is available on CD Baby and Amazon. You can listen to mp3 samples online. For more information.

Check out our special page with gift ideas for the suffrage buff in your life.

Find out about Grandmother Edna’s birthday on December 25th. She’ll be 120 years old.

Video wishing Suffrage Wagon News Channel a happy third birthday during December 2012.

Subscribe to Suffrage Wagon News Channel and don’t miss updates during 2013. Don’t forget to check out our regularly-updated magazine page.

Artist from Seneca Falls, NY passionate about the suffrage Big Three

Katherine Pfeffer Pross is an artist and painter from Seneca Falls, New York who considers herself “intensely concerned about equal rights and peace in the world.” She says: “I create works that are thought provoking with messages of inspiration and enlightenment.” One of her favorite movies is “Iron Jawed Angels.”

In this painting Pross features Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Matilda Joslyn Gage, who are considered The Big Three movers and shakers of the American suffrage movement. You may have heard about Anthony and Stanton. Matilda Joslyn Gage is less well known, although her participation and commitment to the cause is increasingly coming to the forefront. This is due, in great part, to the work of scholar Sally Roesche Wagner, director of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation in Fayetteville, New York.

Susan B. Anthony is a corker! Find out for yourself!

Cartoon of Susan B. Anthony

They called her Aunt Susan and she had so many adopted nieces, people couldn’t keep count. That’s why this post features a ten-minute audio clip from “Jailed for Freedom” by Doris Stevens, published back in Grandmother Edna’s day, that gives you a feeling of almost being there.

Susan B. Anthony died before the ratification of the 19th amendment that gave women the right to vote in 1920. So when August 26th comes around this year, at a time when people aren’t usually thinking about Aunt Susan, consider the possibility of having a party. There are lessons to be learned by putting on a skit about Susan. How about courage? Vision. Inner strength. She had her eye on the prize of women voting and wouldn’t give up. These themes are eternal.

I didn’t even have a script when I directed and produced my own Susan skit back in 2010. I went to the primary sources, lifted lines straight from the record, recruited the cast, and everyone had a blast with dress ups. The audience got the point.

So if you’ve been toying with the idea of putting on a program for August 26th (Women’s Equality Day) or a special fundraiser or other event for your friends, organization, or club, try Susan B. Anthony’s arrest in 1872 and her trial for voting. The trial was a hit at the Susan B. Anthony birthday party I organized in February of 2010, and it’s especially relevant for other special events because it’s an example of nonviolent civil disobedience. Susan was arrested for voting, and everyone knew back then that women couldn’t vote.

The audio clip on this post is a wonderful resource, plus the internet is a great resource for finding quotes from Susan, as well as her speeches, for reading out loud.  Here’s Susan B.’s petition to Congress in January of 1874. And resources from Susan’s trial record. Think about it! It’s a great way to introduce young people to Aunt Susan and there are great parts: Susan, the officer who arrests her, the district attorney, and the judge. Drama, conflict, plenty of action. Great lines.

Now –see how you do on a quiz about Susan B. Anthony.

Valentine’s Day stories about suffrage, PLUS a composer who used a toothbrush to conduct a song!

The Brits have come through royally with their recent media coverage of the English suffrage movement. Especially with the first broadcast of audio interviews of suffragettes recorded back in 1977 by prominent British historian Brian Harrison. This past weekend’s BBC radio special,  ”The Lost World of the Suffragettes,” reveals the character, political context, and personalities of these gutsy activists. This coverage adds much to the rich collection of Votes for Women stories.

The BBC television pieces entitled Christabel Pankhurst: “I wanted to assault a policeman”  and another recent segment called “Fight to clear Derby suffragette Alice Wheeldon’s name” are worth the five minutes or so you’ll spend watching. The BBC news magazine even has an article raising the question of whether or not the English suffragettes were regarded as terrorists in their day.

Note the valentine illustration above by American artist Ellen Clappsaddle. There’s no doubt where she stood on the issue of Votes for Women!

Stories of the suffrage movement can also tickle your funny bone. A favorite of mine is about the well-known British composer, Dame Ethel Smyth,  imprisoned for the suffrage struggle in England. When serving time in Holloway prison, Smyth leaned out of her cell and used her toothbrush to conduct the suffragettes in the prison yard singing “The March of the Women,” the work Smyth composed.

You can hear Smyth’s own voice on a special podcast from the BBC. Come on, now. This podcast is only three minutes long. Painless. And don’t forget that Susan B. Anthony’s birthday is February 15th! This link to the Susan B. Anthony Day notes the opposition to it becoming a national holiday though Susan’s day is observed or celebrated officially in several states.

How could a wealthy woman like Alva Belmont be a radical Votes for Women advocate?

Suffragists picked up their soapboxes and went to town!

Not only did the suffragists march in huge parades, but in some events they even carried portable soapboxes (such as in the photo below) in the event an opportunity arose for them to stand up on a street corner and speak. It was a novelty for women to speak in public back then as Susan B. Anthony knew well. And it was equally daring to climb up on a soap box and speak for as long as a crowd gathered to listen. This took considerable courage. The suffragists had to duck water thrown on them and smile in the face of insults and worse. The men who marched in suffrage parades also faced jeers and insults. Critics accused them of tagging after the “girls.” One man anonymously wrote a book entitled How it feels to be the husband of a suffragette. It’s not only funny, but you get the point. And it’s free for the download.

Grandmother Edna Kearns had her fingers in many suffrage pies

Edna knew that the women of New York were making history. And when a pageant was held at the Armory in New York City involving 500 performers and broad, vast and innovative subject matter, she made sure the news was spread through her writing.

Both Edna Buckman Kearns and daughter Serena Kearns were featured in the New York Herald’s April 1914 coverage of the event. Serena played a child, and Edna, a nurse. The production, “The American Woman: Six Periods of American Life” by Hazel MacKaye was not only ambitious, but it was considered a milestone in the suffrage movement’s production of pageants with significant social commentary. Inez Milholland played the woman of the future. Susan B. Anthony would have been proud.

This blog post is yet another episode of “The Adventures of Edna Buckman Kearns,” the news about her suffrage campaign wagon (now in the collection of the NYS Museum), and another example of how my grandmother dedicated her life to bring about Votes for Women. Stay tuned!

Citizen reporters and grassroots organizers have ancestors in the suffrage movement

The suffragists didn’t wait for the editors of big newspapers to recognize them. When it happened –great. But the suffs weren’t satisfied with sitting around and biting their nails. When the number of Long Island newspapers expanded at the turn of the 20th century, the women took advantage of it. Grandmother Edna Kearns was in the forefront of citizen reporters who generated a hefty amount of suffrage material to fill the news holes of local papers.

The suffs hit the ground running at a time in history when it took considerable effort for a woman to land a reporter’s job in a news room.  So they documented their own news and distributed it. The South Side Observer, for example, set aside 500 extra copies of the suffrage special issue, which the women clipped and saved. Grandmother Edna was instrumental in collecting quotes for this special issue from prominent community members who favored Votes for Women.

Suffrage advocates also published their own newspapers and newsletters; they arranged with photographic agencies to cover their events. They lobbied editors for special issues, wrote letters to newspaper editors for publication, prepared and distributed their own press releases, wrote leaflets in a variety of languages for distribution among immigrant communities. When this wasn’t enough, they carried soapboxes into the street, stood up on them, and commanded the attention of anyone who passed by.

All of this constitutes sophisticated grassroots organizing. So, for those who believe that Saul Alinsky invented community organizing, history should be rewritten to say that he stood on the shoulders of the suffragists and others. The suffs operated from outside the political system and they were brilliant in finding ways to impact it.

A “Votes for Women” Teapot Means Celebrations!

I’m planning a Susan B. Anthony birthday celebration next month. More about this soon! And there’s news from Velya Jancz-Urban who always wanted a “Votes for Women” tea pot to go with her china set that has been stored away. Here’s what she said about it. Now the entire set will be coming out of storage just in time for afternoon tea party season. February 15th is Susan B. Anthony’s birthday and a perfect opportunity for Velya to use the “Votes for Women” dish set, which by the way, is available at the gift shop at the Susan B. Anthony House, among other places. Photo: Velya opens her teapot gift during the holidays.

Suffrage News from All Over!

Women remember the jailing of suffragists. “Iron Jawed Angels” is still being talked about. College student speaks about apathy and the value of voting. Reflections on Alice Paul. Washington State resident shares about her great-grandmother who was a suffragist. One hundred years of voting in Washington State. Scholar and biographer discusses Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Newspaper columnist reviews the history of women voting. British women use 1912 suffrage theatre performance as a fundraiser. New Mexico had a woman governor for two weeks in 1924. A detailed Woman’s Suffrage Timeline.

In other news, the League of Women Voters of Saratoga County (NY) is holding a celebration of the 90th anniversary of woman’s suffrage on Friday, November 12, 2010 (7:30-9:30 p.m.) at the Saratoga Music Hall at City Hall, 474 Broadway. There will be a dramatic reading of the “Declaration of Sentiments” written by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and read by Coline Jenkins, the great great granddaughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. The 19th amendment to the US Constitution, written by Susan B. Anthony, will be read by Shirley Anthony Carman and Beverly Marx, first cousins, four times removed from Susan B. Anthony. There will be a champagne toast to the suffragists, a musical tribute, and food. $20 members and $25 non members.

Suffrage News Roundup

Philadelphia Inquirer review of a new book about Alice Paul by Mary Walton. Review in a New Jersey paper. Columnist Jack Levine writes about his grandmother voting and her involvement in the suffrage movement. Susan B. Anthony letter on sale for $15,000. News article about how women’s history doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. US president Obama mentions woman’s suffrage in a September 29th speech. Program features suffragist in Massachusetts program. In New York program.

Grand Opening of Matilda Joslyn Gage Center

The grand opening of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Center in Fayetteville, New York is scheduled for the weekend of October 8-10, 2010. This is an incredible opportunity to find out more about a key suffragist in the movement, Matilda Joslyn Gage. There’s a very full weekend of activities –both educational and entertaining. Visit the newly-restored Susan B. Anthony house in Rochester, NY on a bus tour. Be part of the open house at the Gage home with special exhibits and features. Enjoy an evening of music and the special opening ceremony. For more information.