After a group of women and men gathered in 1848 for the First Women's Rights Convention, they didn't leave their sentiments in Seneca Falls. They took those ideas to the various states and territories to sew the seeds of suffrage.
Jill Connor / The Citizen
On the cover: A photo of Elizabeth Cady Stanton sits next to the chair pictured in the photo. The picture and chair are situated in the Elizabeth Cady Stanton House in the Women's Rights National Historic Park of Seneca Falls. The house opens its doors to visitors this weekend in celebration of Women's History Month.
On the cover: A photo of Elizabeth Cady Stanton sits next to the chair pictured in the photo. The picture and chair are situated in the Elizabeth Cady Stanton House in the Women's Rights National Historic Park of Seneca Falls. The house opens its doors to visitors this weekend in celebration of Women's History Month.
Beginning this weekend, visitors of the Women's Rights National Historic Park will be able to learn more about one of the women who took the ideas all the way to the West Coast. And for days, they can also tour the home of one of the giants of the Women's Suffrage movement.
An exhibit will open at the park Saturday dedicated to Catharine Blaine. A Varick, N.Y. native, Blaine signed the Declaration of Sentiments during the 1848 conference.
Catharine Blaine married a minister named David E. Blaine before moving to Seattle, where she became the city's first schoolteacher.
While she lived in Seattle, she spread the ideas of women's suffrage to the community. Blaine was one of the few women to vote in Washington as a territory before it became a state in 1889 and did approve suffrage, said Vivien Rose, chief of cultural resources for the national park.
Rose said the small exhibit will chronicle Blaine's early trips west with her husband. The exhibit was funded and put together in cooperation with the Washington State Historical Society.
Rose said the many signatories of the Declaration of Sentiments, like Blaine, took the message from the influential conference to wherever they settled.
“The ideas from here moved out there with the Blaines and the information they brought out there with them,” Rose said.
The Catharine Blaine exhibit is not the only thing opening Saturday. The day marks the kickoff for the Women's Rights National Historic Park's spring and summer season. It also marks the first weekend of Women's History Month.
To celebrate both occasions, the park will hold a two-day open house at the Elizabeth Cady Stanton House. The house, which is where the famous voice from the suffrage movement lived, will be open to the public Saturday and Sunday.
Normally, visitors can only view the Stanton House during ranger-led tours at 11:15 a.m. or 2:15 p.m.
Lee Werst, chief of interpretation for the national park, said this week that similar parks often hold off until the weather is better to kick off the spring and summer season. But March is a special month in Seneca Falls because of its distinction as Women's History Month.
While the weather in upstate New York is not always kind in March, Werst said many of the visitors who come during this month have an added interest because of the site's relevance to women's history.
“It's a happy coincidence for us. It happens to coincide nicely,” Werst said.
But that doesn't mean the interest dies down come April, he said.
“Every day is Women's History Month here,” Werst said.
Christopher Caskey
253-5311 ext. 282
christopher.caskey@lee.net
If you go.
What: “Catharine Blaine: Seneca Falls and the Women's Rights Movement in Washington State” opening and Elizabeth Cady Stanton House open house
When: Exhibit opens at 9 a.m. Saturday, March 7; open house from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 7 and 8
Where: Exhibit: Women's Rights National Historical Park Visitor Center, 136 Fall St., Seneca Falls; Open house: Elizabeth Cady Stanton House, 32 Washington St., Seneca Falls
Info: Call 268-0024 or visit www.nps.gov/wori
An exhibit will open at the park Saturday dedicated to Catharine Blaine. A Varick, N.Y. native, Blaine signed the Declaration of Sentiments during the 1848 conference.
Catharine Blaine married a minister named David E. Blaine before moving to Seattle, where she became the city's first schoolteacher.
While she lived in Seattle, she spread the ideas of women's suffrage to the community. Blaine was one of the few women to vote in Washington as a territory before it became a state in 1889 and did approve suffrage, said Vivien Rose, chief of cultural resources for the national park.
Rose said the small exhibit will chronicle Blaine's early trips west with her husband. The exhibit was funded and put together in cooperation with the Washington State Historical Society.
Rose said the many signatories of the Declaration of Sentiments, like Blaine, took the message from the influential conference to wherever they settled.
“The ideas from here moved out there with the Blaines and the information they brought out there with them,” Rose said.
The Catharine Blaine exhibit is not the only thing opening Saturday. The day marks the kickoff for the Women's Rights National Historic Park's spring and summer season. It also marks the first weekend of Women's History Month.
To celebrate both occasions, the park will hold a two-day open house at the Elizabeth Cady Stanton House. The house, which is where the famous voice from the suffrage movement lived, will be open to the public Saturday and Sunday.
Normally, visitors can only view the Stanton House during ranger-led tours at 11:15 a.m. or 2:15 p.m.
Lee Werst, chief of interpretation for the national park, said this week that similar parks often hold off until the weather is better to kick off the spring and summer season. But March is a special month in Seneca Falls because of its distinction as Women's History Month.
While the weather in upstate New York is not always kind in March, Werst said many of the visitors who come during this month have an added interest because of the site's relevance to women's history.
“It's a happy coincidence for us. It happens to coincide nicely,” Werst said.
But that doesn't mean the interest dies down come April, he said.
“Every day is Women's History Month here,” Werst said.
Christopher Caskey
253-5311 ext. 282
christopher.caskey@lee.net
If you go.
What: “Catharine Blaine: Seneca Falls and the Women's Rights Movement in Washington State” opening and Elizabeth Cady Stanton House open house
When: Exhibit opens at 9 a.m. Saturday, March 7; open house from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, March 7 and 8
Where: Exhibit: Women's Rights National Historical Park Visitor Center, 136 Fall St., Seneca Falls; Open house: Elizabeth Cady Stanton House, 32 Washington St., Seneca Falls
Info: Call 268-0024 or visit www.nps.gov/wori
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