Celebrating women!

Dear Editor,

I would like to share some important facts about our history and what Tioga County is doing this year. One hundred years ago on Nov. 6,1917, New York State women won the right to vote for the first time in history, and because this year marks the 100th anniversary of that momentous occasion, every county in the state will be celebrating the kick-off with all kinds of events that will focus on 1917 and what led up to it.

It starts with the women who had the foresight to meet in 1848 at Seneca Falls for the “real” kick-off and this is actually our way of paying our respects and saying “thank you” to them and to the many other women who followed. 

People such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony were especially two significant figures who traveled to every state on rickety trains, stagecoaches, steamboats and even on rafts to speak to as many women as possible and to explain why it was important for them to do everything they could to change the laws and the viewpoint of the men who considered them as property. 

They didn’t have smart phones, or any phones; nor did they have radios or TV or computers and more, like we have today. They were tough and dedicated. They got tired and sore, but they made a commitment, not just to themselves, but also to the women of the future. And that is why we are thanking them in this way. 

We are hoping that the public clearly understands that this big thank-you celebration is to the women who enabled us to vote for the first time in 1917 and invite everyone to join us.

We are well aware that the struggle for women’s rights continued after 1917 and is still ongoing, but this celebration is strictly for the women who took the brunt of getting us the vote by 1917, three years before the 19th Amendment was ratified in 1920.

Sincerely,

Emma Sedore

Tioga County Historian