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Women's Rights National Historical ParkElizabeth Cady Stanton House
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Women's Rights National Historical Park
Wesleyan Chapel
 
 
Wesleyan Chapel

Wesleyan Chapel, site of the First Women's Rights Convention

The Wesleyan Chapel was built in 1843. On July 19 and 20, 1848, the First Women's Rights Convention was held here. Even though Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the only one of the five organizers to live in Seneca Falls, the Wesleyan Chapel was well known to them all. The church was a local haven for antislavery activity, political rallies, and free speech events.

The original red brick Wesleyan Methodist Church was sold by the congregation in 1871 and extensively altered by subsequent owners. When the site was purchased by the National Park Service in 1985, very little original fabric remained. The site today offers a unique display of the highlighted historic fabric of the original building.

 
View the Wesleyan Chapel Historic Structure Report 1987 (pdf) 
Declaration of Sentiments engraved in the waterwall.
Read a Declaration of Independence for women
Ratified by 100 signers on July 20, 1848
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Statue of Frederick Douglass in the park visitor center
Men for Women's Rights
In 1848 Frederick Douglass and many more men came in support of equality
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Two-story red brick house where Thomas and Mary Ann M'Clitnock lived.
Visit a station on the Underground Railroad!
Learn more about the M'Clintock family and their home
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Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her daughter Harriot, 1856.  

Did You Know?
Did you know that before Susan B. Anthony campaigned for woman's suffrage, her good friend Elizabeth Cady Stanton spearheaded the First Women's Rights Convention in America?
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Last Updated: September 28, 2007 at 13:36 EST