160th Anniversary of First Women's Rights Convention

Date: July 8, 2008
Contact: Lee Werst, 315.568.5302

Seneca Falls, New York – Women’s Rights National Historical Park, the site of the first women’s rights convention held in 1848, announced today the final schedule of events on July 19 and 20, 2008 to commemorate the 160th anniversary of this historic event.

"We are pleased to host a variety of programs to celebrate the first convention in the United States in which women and men gathered specifically to discuss the issue of women’s social, economic and civil rights. Mark the weekend of July 19 on your calendar – it is sure to be an exciting and memorable event," explained Superintendent Tina Orcutt.

On July 19, 2008 the park will offer several special events including living history presentations with Eleanor Sterns as Lucretia Mott and David Anderson as Frederick Douglass, ranger-guided walking tours of the Village of Seneca Falls, and an open house at the Elizabeth Cady Stanton House with the Stanton’s great-great granddaughter Coline Jenkins.

At 5:00 p.m., UCLA historian and Stanton scholar Ellen Carol DuBois, Ph.D. will join Jenkins at the Wesleyan Chapel for a discussion of the historical legacy of the 1848 Convention, including the
100th anniversary celebration held in 1908 and marked with the placement of a bronze commemorative plaque on the Wesleyan Chapel. Additionally, a new exhibit chronicling the contributions of Harriot Stanton Blatch, daughter of Elizabeth Cady and Henry B. Stanton, to the twentieth-century women’s rights and suffrage movements will be unveiled.

Events will continue on the afternoon of July 20, 2008 with a living history presentation in the Wesleyan Chapel as Barbara Blaisdell portrays Susan B. Anthony. The Hutchinson Family Revival will perform popular music from the 19th century in period costume later in the day.

The updated schedule for the anniversary weekend’s events can be found on the park’s website. For more information call 315.568.0024 or visit https://www.nps.gov/wori/planyourvisit/160th-anniversary.htm.

Women’s Rights National Historical Park exists to commemorate and preserve and story of the First Women’s Rights Convention and historical structures associated with it in Seneca Falls and Waterloo, New York. All public tours and programs are free and open to the public.