This delayed post is from our Finger Lakes trip...
“We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal.“
These words, written more than 177 years ago, still resound today. Especially now, in these seemingly misogynistic times, it behooves us to remain mindful of the long struggle by both women and men to gain voting and property ownership rights for women.
“A woman will always be dependent until she holds a purse of her own.” Elizabeth Cady Stanton
The Women’s Rights National Historical Park preserves the site and tells the story of the first US Woman’s Rights Convention, held in Seneca Falls, New York on July 19-20, 1848. Familiar names in the women’s suffrage movement, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Martha Coffin Wright, Mary Ann M’Clintock, Lucretia Mott and Jane Hunt joined forces with other prominent Quaker activists and abolitionists to advance the cause of equal rights for women.
On two hot days in July of 1848, 100 of the 300 women and men who attended the conference in Wesleyan Chapel, signed the Declaration of Sentiments, a foundational document in the women’s rights movement. The right for women to vote in the U.S. was not granted until the 19th Amendment, which was passed by Congress on June 4, 1919, and ratified on August 18, 1920—over 144 years after the founding of this country and 70 years after the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls! Indeed, the long struggle for human rights and dignity continues across the globe today.
We were fascinated to learn that the suffragists took inspiration from the nearby six Haudenosaunee nations that maintained a balance of equality between men and women. The Haudenosaunee women lived with authority and respect in their tribes.
Neighboring tribes led the way. 
The museum has many artifacts, including these buttons for and against. 
Opening lines of the Declaration 
Declaration Signers (68 women and 32 men) 
Wesleyan Chapel where the conference was held. 
Outside the Chapel 
Inside. Sue is standing at the podium where the Declaration was read 177 years ago. 
Anti-suffrage cartoon
We encourage all to cherish and exercise the right to vote, and to remember the many advocates who came before us who fought for those rights.
The Women’s Rights National Historical Park is located in the center of the town of Seneca Falls and has no dedicated parking. We parked at a public lot at 19 Cayuga St. The lot can accommodate RVs up to 24 feet.
Thank you for traveling along with us.
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