Tioga County to celebrate Suffrage Anniversary

Tioga County to celebrate Suffrage AnniversaryThe Tioga County Courthouse, pictured, adorned with bunting in the suffrage colors of purple, yellow and white, will be the setting for a special event on Sat., Aug. 19. The Broome- Tioga Women’s Suffrage Anniversary Committee welcomes the public to attend a celebration in honor of the 100th anniversary of Women’s Right to Vote in New York State. The event takes place from noon until 4 p.m., and includes a tour, suffrage-themed activities and refreshments.   (Photos by JoAnn R. Walter)
Tioga County to celebrate Suffrage Anniversary

Members of the Broome-Tioga Suffrage Anniversary Committee gather for a ceremony in July at 18 Front St. in Owego, N.Y. to commemorate the dedication of a historic marker in honor of Elizabeth Browne Chatfield, a suffragist who lived at the property and who worked for and welcomed Susan B. Anthony to the home in 1894. The committee will participate in an event on Aug. 19 in Owego. (Photo by JoAnn R. Walter)

The Broome-Tioga Suffrage Anniversary Committee welcomes the public to attend a celebration in honor of the 100th anniversary of Women’s Right to Vote in New York State on Saturday, Aug. 19 in Owego, N.Y. The event takes place from noon until 4 p.m. 

Guests can partake in multiple activities, to include a tour of the historic Tioga County Courthouse starting at noon and running continuously for two hours. Tours will depart every ten to 15 minutes on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Greeters dressed in period attire will welcome guests at the Park Street entrance, which is accessible for the disabled, and then tour guides will escort guests into the Courthouse. The Courthouse, adorned for the occasion with bunting in the suffrage colors of purple, yellow and white, will have displayed inside various items to give a historical feel of the era.

After completion of tours at approximately 2:30 p.m., a program to honor suffragists will be shared by local dignitaries, which will include Broome County Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo; Marte Sauerbrey, chair of the Tioga County Legislature; and Emma Sedore, Tioga County Historian.

Following the honorary program, the renowned Susan B. Anthony will address the public as she did in 1894, slated to start about 3:20 p.m. Portraying Anthony will be Pattii Yoder-Clark.

On Nov. 6, 1917, New York State women won the right to vote for the first time in history, three years before the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified. Tioga County played an active role in women’s suffrage, which included the momentous occasion when Susan B. Anthony came to Owego to speak at the Courthouse.

The date was March 28, 1894, and Anthony was a special overnight guest of Elizabeth Browne Chatfield, a suffragist and private secretary to Anthony who lived at 18 Front St. in the village. In conjunction with the 100th anniversary, a historic marker was dedicated at the 18 Front St. property last month, and which Patricia Grant now owns.  

Participating at the event will be native Tioga County resident Diane Lacey, her daughter Denise Lacey-Corcoran, and granddaughter Lydia Corcoran, and all descendants of Chatfield. The trio plans to re-enact the roles of Chatfield and her younger sister, along with Chatfield’s aunt, Esther Morris, the first woman Justice of the Peace in the U.S. and also known to have influenced the passing of the women’s right to vote in Wyoming in 1869. 

Suffrage-themed activities are planned on the northern lawn of the Courthouse Square such as historic exhibits and artwork displays. Refreshments, ice tea and lemonade will be available, along with benches and picnic tables to relax and enjoy the outside scene. A fun photo opportunity will allow friends and families to poke their faces inside a cutout board and make believe they are from the Suffrage era.   

Also on hand will be a favored game-of-the-day, croquet, along with an antique car on display, and live music will be performed by the multi-talented musician, Curt Osgood, and harpist Melissa Collins.  

Communities throughout the southern tier have been celebrating the Suffrage anniversary throughout the year. Suffragists marched in the Strawberry Festival and Candor Fourth of July parades, and the Waverly History Museum has had an exhibit on display and hosted a walking tour of historic properties associated with the movement.

Additional celebrations upcoming include a Suffragist tea at the Waverly Historical Society museum on Sept. 17, Suffrage activities at the Newark Valley Apple Festival on Oct. 7 and 8, and on Oct. 7, neighboring Broome County will recreate the 1913 Suffrage parade that took place in Binghamton, and will be joined by participants from Tioga County.  

For more information, visit the Facebook page, Broome-Tioga Suffrage Anniversary Committee, or email btsuffrage@gmail.com.

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