Two (and possible three of us bloggers) don’t have much time to spend on the road, so you can imagine we’ll be making the most of the opportunity. It’s all about how as women we specialize in maximizing our resources and working together, whether it’s in the present, past or future.

The idea of a blogging tour started with the suffrage campaign wagon called the “Spirit of 1776” that had a day of glory on July 1, 2013. That’s when the State of New York set aside July 1, 2013 as the “Spirit of 1776” Wagon Day to commemorate the centennial of the wagon’s first journey in 1913 from Manhattan to Long Island to campaign for women’s rights and the right to vote.

The resolution in the NYS Legislature took the combined efforts of the two heads of the state legislature’s tourism committee (both women), the state legislative women’s caucus, volunteers, plus a new organization emerging on the NYS scene, Votes for Women 2020.

Women organizing and helping each other has been going on a long time. Even if the venues change, we’re still doing it. Many people still don’t know much about the suffrage movement. Some people’s eyes glaze over when they hear the word “suffrage.” They ask: “Can’t you choose some other word than suffrage? It sounds painful.”

The good news is that over the next few years considerably more people will understand what is being referred to by the term “suffrage.” They’ll finally realize that this first wave of feminism took 72 years (1848-1920) and involved tens of thousands of women working together to achieve a goal –the right to vote.

It’s amazing just how many people who’ve even heard of Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott and Alice Paul and Matilda Joslyn Gage and others somehow think that women’s right to vote resulted from a handful of Votes for Women leaders making private deals with high government officials in cigar-filled rooms.

That’s why we’re adding more names to those who rocked the cradle in New York State, including Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and many more. And this is why the Cradle Blogging Tour is such a great opportunity. It means you’ll be able to come along with us and perhaps even get inspired enough to take this journey yourself and take the family along.

The national park at Seneca Falls will be one of the stops, plus the Susan B. Anthony House in Rochester, and the home and center of Matilda Joslyn Gage in Fayetteville, plus much more.

It’s not necessary to leave home to join us on the blogging bus. There are no worries about parking, hotel overnights, meals. This road trip is intended to build interest in and momentum for the upcoming centennial of women voting in New York State in 2017 and the national centennial suffrage observance in 2020.

The suffrage movement or the first wave of feminism is a classic example of women helping women. Relatively few of these activists were paid for their work, other than a very few who received token amounts for expenses and speaking engagements. Most were volunteers who raised money by selling suffrage literature, newspapers, memorabilia and trinkets. Many devoted their lives to the cause, as did their daughters and grandchildren. Now that’s women helping women, and we need to spread the word. As women we don’t have to reinvent the wheel. We’ve been helping each other for generations. Some might say that we have this instinct in our DNA.

If you think it’s early to be thinking about the future and preparing for it, consider this: We have an opportunity to create a splash with our fabulous history in the years leading up to 2020 (the national suffrage centennial), but it requires building interest in the opportunities these suffrage centennials provide. Join us and help make our circle wider.

Sign up for the Cradle Road Trip by visiting Let’s Rock the Cradle, a project of Suffrage Wagon News Channel, the web site and blog that tells the story of the suffrage campaign wagon in New York City and Long Island.

Get on the bus by signing up for the blogging tour at LetsRockTheCradle.com (http://letsrockthecradle.com)

Don’t make a fuss. Get a front row seat on the blogging bus. For more information, visit Suffrage Wagon News Channel (http://suffragewagon.org ) and LetsRockTheCradle (http://letsrockthecradle.com)

Tell your friends and be the first person in your community to sign up. And in every way we can, let’s rock the cradle. ++

On January 11th, 2013 (in honor of Alice Paul’s Birthday) a petition was launched at the grassroots level by those who haven’t forgotten about the importance this legislation means to women & girls nationwide. This petition is on the Whitehouse.gov  website and it’s purpose is to gain support for the ERA and to eliminate deadlines introduced in 1972.

Social media & grassroots organizing has given the ERA new life and the chance to gain the Nation’s attention once more. It has already collected more than 6,000 signatures in little over a week. If you would like to join this cause, CLICK the links BELOW!

Click HERE to sign the petition!!!

Click HERE to join the Facebook group!

Follow the ERA 2013 Action Campaign on Twitter @ERAAction 

Click HERE to follow on Tumblr!  (http://eraactioncampaign.tumblr.com/)

Written by: Kimberly Roush Blog Moderator

Kerber, Linda K., and Hart Jane Sherron. De. “Dimensions of Citizenship III.” Women’s America: Refocusing the past. 7th ed. Vol. 2. New York: Oxford UP, 1982. 719. Print.

Part 2

2012 marks the 95th anniversary of New York women winning the right to vote on November 6, 1917. Here is the second part of a brief summary of what New York suffragists actually did to win in 1917, adapted from the text of “Winning the Vote: The Triumph of the American Woman Suffrage Movement” by Robert P. J. Cooney, Jr.

“A Million New York Women Want the Vote”

An enormously ambitious house-to-house canvass was the main feature of the 1917 campaign in New York. The tactic was diplomatically chosen, Mary Peck noted, because “it demanded service from every worker, did not offend sensitive patriots as more spectacular efforts would have done, and reached into individual homes as meetings never could.”
To answer charges by opponents that most women did not want to vote, suffragists spent more than a year going door-to-door in nearly every city and town in the state, collecting the signatures of over one million women who said that they wanted to vote.
Organizers climbed thousands of tenement stairs, walked country lanes, and visited the homes of the rich and poor. The result was the largest individually-signed petition ever assembled, eventually totaling 1,030,000 names, a majority of the women in the state. For comparison, there were 1,942,000 registered male voters. Suffragists then publicized their remarkable feat as widely as possible.

New York suffragists climaxed their wartime campaign by taking to the streets on October 27, 1917, carrying placards listing the names of over 1,000,000 state women who said they wanted to vote.  It was a compelling refutation of opponents’ claim that “most women didn’t want to vote.”  Male voters in New York approved woman suffrage on November 6, 1917 by 54% – over 100,000 votes.  New York’s political weight helped carry the 19th Amendment through Congress to ratification on August 26, 1920. 

A Patriotic “Woman’s Parade”

On October 27, in a powerful show of pre-election strength, a Woman’s Parade of 20,000 filled New York’s Fifth Avenue led by officers of the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) and honored guests carrying American flags.
The parade dramatically reflected the impact of the war and the depth of women’s involvement. Divisions of wives and mothers of servicemen marched along with women doing war related work, industrial workers, professional women, and male supporters. Anna Howard Shaw and Carrie Catt led the parade, which included 40 marching bands and took three hours to pass.
The dignity and grandeur of the wartime demonstration made a powerful impression on bystanders. “The men on the sidewalks were visibly moved,” Mary Peck remembered. “It was not half as long as the mammoth parade of 1915; it did not have to be. Women had taken on a value which nothing but war seems to confer on human beings in the eyes of men.”

An emotional Procession of the Petitions served as the centerpiece of the Woman’s Parade. After collecting over a million signatures of women who wanted to vote, Woman Suffrage Party members mounted the petitions on huge pasteboards and carried them up Fifth Avenue, putting the plea of women for democracy directly in front of voters.

Each placard was carried by two women marching eight abreast while banners gave the totals in all the upstate districts. The petitions from New York City were transported in 62 ballot boxes, each one representing an Assembly district and resting on a decorated platform carried by four women. The petition section alone covered more than half a mile and involved over 2,500 women.

City Voters Put New York Over the Top

Huge street banners were hung in all the large cities before the November election. Suffragists held an estimated 11,000 meetings across the state and distributed some eighteen million leaflets, posters, buttons, and novelties. A burst of newspaper advertising climaxed the final weeks with suffrage arguments appearing almost daily in over 700 morning and evening papers, including many in foreign languages.

On November 6, 1917, with over 6,300 women serving as poll watchers, New York voters passed woman suffrage by a 102,353 majority, 703,129 to 600,776. Outside of New York City, the measure lost by 1,510 votes but city voters more than made up the difference. Suffragists were overjoyed and felt confident that winning New York would open the way to certain victory in the U.S. Congress.

Suffragists’ “Big Victory” in New York shared front page headlines on November 7 with other election and war news. One factor contributing to the victory was the decision shortly before the election to keep “hands off” the measure by Tammany Hall politicians, many of whose wives and daughters had become active in the Woman Suffrage Party.

In addition, New York suffrage leaders spent more campaign funds in 1917 than ever before. While in 1915 they had less than $90,000 for the entire state, two years later they raised almost $700,000. “This, at a time when the country was at war, was an achievement which can scarcely be measured. To it suffragists everywhere contributed,” noted Gertrude Brown.

During the campaign, Woman Suffrage Party head Vera Whitehouse and treasurer Helen Rogers Reid decided to raise money the way political parties did – from wealthy men. They succeeded in convincing ten men, including Men’s League stalwarts James Lees Laidlaw and Samuel Untermeyer, to give $10,000 each, and won pledges for lesser sums from many others. In addition, the first payment from the endowment left by publisher Miriam Leslie came in February 1917, adding $50,000 to the campaign fund.

The Political Landscape Transformed

Suffragists across the country were ecstatic that metropolitan, influential New York, with its 43 electoral votes and 43 representatives in Congress, had actually been won. National enfranchisement was finally in sight because of the tremendous energy and resources devoted to the New York campaign.

The number of full suffrage states had not actually changed since 1914, but with presidential suffrage the total electoral votes women had a say in had increased from 91 to 172. New York added another 43. Seven states had passed presidential suffrage during the year, adding to the new sense of momentum.

The night after the election, a Victory meeting in the Cooper Union was “jammed to suffocation with an ecstatic multitude,” according to Mary Peck. When Carrie Catt opened with the words “Fellow Citizens,” the crowd went wild and it was some time before she could continue. Then she urged the state organization to turn without pause to supporting the Federal amendment.

Following the meeting, a New York Times editorial blasted women for “bulldozing Congress to pass the Federal Amendment at once.” An unrelenting opponent, the Times criticized suffragists for going to Washington to lobby for their rights because it “interfered with the vital work of the nation.” Failing to distinguish the moderate Woman Suffrage Party from the National Woman’s Party, the paper further claimed that “it is but a more dangerous form of picketing which these sorely misguided women are about to undertake. . . . Power brings to them no sense of responsibility. They win this state only to browbeat Congress and to seek to impose suffrage on unwilling states.”

Regardless, suffrage lobbyist Maud Wood Park immediately noted a different feeling in Washington D.C. “The carrying of New York was accepted by the politically wise as the handwriting on the wall,” she observed. Politicians as well as suffragists realized that a major turning point had been reached. The enfranchisement of women had become a national issue which even the war could not entirely overshadow.

In two short years, suffragists had helped secure dramatic changes in the political landscape. With new power and renewed hope, NAWSA focused its attention on Congress to finally take up the Federal amendment.

Using similar political skills at the national level, suffragists leveraged their state victories into passage and ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution on August 26, 1920.

© 2012 Robert P. J. Cooney, Jr.

Adapted from Chapter 15 of “Winning the Vote: The Triumph of the American Woman Suffrage Movement,” by Robert P. J. Cooney, Jr. (American Graphic Press: 2005). This excellent, profusely illustrated history was named one of the “Five Best Books” on the subject by The Wall Street Journal. Order from the National Women’s History Project, www.nwhp.org. The author can be reached at agp@ebold.com.

Here at Flocabulary, we use hip-hop music to make learning exciting and accessible to students. We recently created a song all about the history of women’s rights, and we couldn’t wait to share it with the NWHP community. Using our Women’s Rights Song as a jumping off point, this lesson plan allows students to focus in on key moments in the history of women’s rights and create a kinetic timeline of famous women in history. At the end of the lesson, students will use historical examples to support a plan for the future of women’s rights.

The Lesson Plan

1. Listen to Flocabulary’s Women’s Rights song. As students are listening, ask them to note down the different rights that women fought for throughout history, as well as current issues that women face. These issues are:

• Equal rights in the home
• Inability to own land
• Prohibition from voting
• Women being sent back to the home after WWII
• Educated women being bored at home
• Unequal pay
• Women currently owning 1% of land worldwide
• Women not being allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia
• No American head of state.

Explain to students that they will be learning more about the fight for these rights relate to periods of history through a research project and a creative presentation.

2. Break your class into 6 groups. Assign each group one of the time periods in history:

1. The French Revolutionary Era
2. The Civil War Era
3. Early 1900s
4. Post World War II
5. 1960s-1980s
6. The Modern Era

3. Each group should research and answer the following questions for its time period. They can begin research by clicking on the lyrics of our Women’s Rights song, and then using other online research techniques to find more:

• What major historical events happened in that period? How did these events affect women?
• What major rights issues were women facing during that period?
• Who were famous women during your time period who led the fight for specific rights?
• What were major women’s rights accomplishments during your time period? What important limitations still remained?
• From the beginning of your time period until the end, what changed for women?

4. After students have been given time to research, each group should create a skit that explains the answers to the questions. Give the groups time to write and practice their skits.

5. Started with the French Revolution group, have each group perform for the class while other students take notes. At the end this kinetic timeline, ask students:

Based on the successes and failures of historical women in their fight for rights, how do think current women’s rights issues should be addressed?

You can use this question as a basis for class discussion or as an essay prompt.

Like this song and lesson? Visit Flocabulary.com to access hundreds of songs, videos and lessons like these. 

 During that time,  members of Congress had the privilege  to recognize women’s successes and empower future generations of female leaders, alike, by passing The National Women’s History Museum Act, giving NWHM a permanent home in the D.C area.

Since 1998, the National Womens History Museum has been trying to find a location to house its valuable collections of women’s history artifacts and it’s up to each one of you to preserve Our History Since It’s Our Strength.

This wonderful establishment deserves to be located  at 12th Street S.W. and Independence Avenue S.W.,across the street from  the National Air and Space Museum, the National American History Museum and the National Gallery of Art, where several of the nation’s most iconic museums neghbor each other.

Starting today, tell your senator to pass The National Women’s History Act  now or even just post a Right  Here, Right Now badge on your website, blog or e-mail oriented newsletters.

It’s up to you to preserve our history since it is our strength.

By Sherryn Daniel

It was designed to enhance people’s understanding of women’s history and as a fun tool for teachers to use for their students. Have fun with it and please let us know ( through Facebook, Twitter or NWHPblog@gmail.com) how you used this quiz.

Who knows, you may get mentioned on our blog.

By Sherryn Daniel

Women’s History Month is never complete without a comprehensive quiz.

 The mission of the National Women’s History Project (NWHP) is to provide information and programs that help people recognize and celebrate the many diverse and historic accomplishments of multicultural American women.  Every year, during the month of March, hundreds of thousands of events are held throughout the country to acknowledge and recognize the amazing accomplishments of women.

National Women’s History Month’ 2011 theme is “Our History Is Our Strength” and in keeping with the NWHP’s objectives our 2011 Awards Luncheon will honor local prominent women whose strength of character, dedication and sense of purpose has created our history.  Our 2011 Honorees are leading our nation in advancements ranging from achieving great success in the business world, breaking the glass ceiling in corporate America to vast contributions in the arts, politics and social & gender equality.  Our 2011 Salute to Black Women Honorees are as follows:

 Yvonne Burke: Lifetime Achievement Award; Political Trailblazer and Public Service Icon and former Los Angeles County Supervisor, 2nd District

Alice Huffman:  Advocate Award; President and Chairperson, California NAACP

Nichelle Nichols: Legacy Award; Actress, Singer and Voice Artist, best known for her groundbreaking portrayal of the television Star Trek’s Uhura

 Brenda Wright: Corporate Excellence Award; Senior Vice President and Regional Manager of California Community Development, Wells Fargo

  Lula Washington: Artistic Vision Award; Founder and Artistic Director, Lula Washington Dance Theater

  Chef Marilyn Cole: Outstanding Community-Based Business Award; Owner, Soul Food Express

 The Kwanzaa Foundation: Outstanding Organization Award; A fund-raising & charitable organization comprised of  African American women in the entertainment industry.

Our 2011 Business Conference is designed to assist African-American women navigate the current economic environment by offering workshops focusing on business & personal financial security, improvement and empowerment.  For workshop information, please go to www.salutetoblackwomen.com

For event details, tickets, sponsorship & advertising opportunities, and/or vendor opportunities contact us at 323-291-9334 or log onto http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.salutetoblackwomen.com%2F&h=77482

About the Black Business Association (www.bbala.org) 

Since 1970, the Black Business Association (BBA), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in Los Angeles, has contributed to and supported the development, progress and expansion of more than 15,000 African-American businesses.  Nationally, we have access to and influence with more than 50,000 African-American owned and women/minority-owned businesses (WMBE) through the formation of strategic alliances with trade associations and organizations nationwide.

This year, rather than highlighting national figures, we are encouraging individuals to discover stories about the women in their own families and communities.

Knowing the challenges these women faced, grappled with, and overcame can be an enormous source of strenght.

      Thanks for your support,
     Molly Murphy MacGregor
   Executive Director and Cofounder

Please visit our webstore, which is accessible from our home page :National Women’s History Project

Speakers will include:
 
Ralph Moss, PhD – a leading author Antioxidants Against Cancer, Cancer Therapy, Questioning Chemotherapy, and The Cancer Industry, as well as the award-winning PBS documentary The Cancer War, and consultant on cancer treatment.

Jeanne Wallace, PhD, CNC Nutrition, herbs for CAM use during treatment.

Patient Panel: Julia Chiappetta, Moderator (breast cancer), Jeannine Walston (brain cancer)”Healing requires a whole body and being approach. Healing involves transforming the whole person, including the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of self”, Jonny Imerman, (testicular cancer) Founder, Imerman Angels – 1 on 1 Cancer Support. Margi Roberts (melanoma) aka Sri Madavi “Creating Positive Energy for Your Healing”, Nancy Henry, (breast cancer) using energy/laser equipment, herbs, supplements, and more – she’ll explain all, Marisa Harris, (pancreatic cancer) using her own healing knowledge to coach others with “The Cancer Defense Program”.

Panel on Thermography: Stan Headley MD, ND,staff physician for MEDITHERM INC, Donna Tomey Thermography First, LLC, and Eleanor Alston, inflammatory breast cancer patient.

Lise Alschuler,N.D., F.A.B.N.O. Naturopathic Physician with a specialty in Oncology.

Oliver Szasz, PhD, CEO of the Hungarian firm, Oncotherm, Ltd, from Hungary will speak on “Oncothermia”.

George O’Clock, PhD,Consultant, University of Minnesota School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Pulmonary Disease/Critical care.

Meena Katdare, PhD Researcher into the role of dietary agents for cancer prevention, particularly breast cancer.

Richard Linchitz, MD Cancer Protocols with IPT and more.

Ursula Jacobs, GmbH Klinik Ursula Jacobs

Sicco Schwenzfeger, MD Lymphologist (a physician trained in the management of lymphatic system disorders).

Patricia L. Judson, MD Clinical Investigator, Gynecological Oncology “Studies in CAM”

Jeanne Drisko, MD, University of Kansas, treats cancer by adding vit C to conventional regimens.

Klara Rombauts, Belgium, scientist working with CAM and effectiveness.

George Wong, PhD – 4th generation Chinese Herbalist treating those with breast cancer, researcher, will provide pro bono consultations with attendees.

Workshops

Cheryl Berger – specialist in castor oil therapies for holistic practitioners with a body of applications for oncology patients.

Kimberly LaRue – a multi-faceted healer, teacher and speaker who applies the skills acquired over 30 years to facilitate personal healing and wholeness.

Sharon M. O’Connor, RN, Certified Hypnotherapist and Guided Imagery Practitioner.

George Love, DOM,, Qi Gong workshop
 
This conference is dedicated to the memory of Anne Cummings Siple (attended 2008/09),Kristen Martinez (2008) and Catherine Greene (2008). And to the hundreds of thousands who die from cancer each and every year!
 
March 5   8:00 AM – 10:30 AM special Breast Cancer Symposium (BREAKOUT)
CNEs and
CEUs will be provided for a variety of practices.

Special Thanks to our Community Partner: Florida Assisted Living Coalition

CEU’s provided by;

CSI – Palm Beach State College – Hospice of Palm Beach County
* Some scholarships available for real need.  Please consider a donation of any amount if you cannot attend.  We are an all-volunteer nonprofit serving everyone with cancer or at risk.