GRAHAMSVILLE — With the Times and the valleys Museum still being closed to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic, a virtual event was held to mark the occasion of the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage.
The museum and Sullivan County Historian John Conway gave a two-hour presentation on suffragettes who lived in the Hudson Valley area and how they made their mark on the movement.
“We wanted to celebrate the centennial of the ratification of the 19th amendment by highlighting some of the women who were suffragists or who were groundbreaking political women too,” said Conway.
The women who were highlighted included Carrie Chapman Catt, president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association; Elizabeth Worth Muller, a suffragette who grew up in Monticello; Bella Montgomery, a Scarsdale woman who led the fight for passing the referendum on women’s voting rights in New York; and Margaret Foley, a nationally known suffragist speaker.
Catt was instrumental in shifting the strategy that led women to receiving the right to vote nationwide. New York gave women the right to vote in 1917, three years before the 19th amendment.
“Once New York State women got the right to vote, the strategy had to shift at least in terms of our local scene, because it was then up to the state legislatures to begin to ratify the amendment,” said Conway.
The hundredth anniversary of women’s suffrage is especially significant during an election year where for only the fourth time in history, a woman is on a national ticket in the 2020 presidential race.
Regarding California Senator Kamala Harris’ history-making pick as Democratic nominee Joe Biden’s running mate, Conway had this to say.
“While I think it is unfortunate that only three women have appeared on the national ticket, there is a chance that will change in the near future with several women making names for themselves and establishing credentials,” he said. “That said, hopefully, the electorate votes for the best, most qualified candidates and not on the basis of gender.”
