Women's Rights National Historical Park will host free programs in Seneca Falls this month celebrating Elizabeth Cady Stanton's birthday and exploring Amelia Bloomer's work in New York and Iowa.
The park's November events include “Spotlighting Stanton” from Nov. 12-14 and an Amelia Bloomer program Nov. 21, with no registration required for either event.
Stanton weekend includes house tours and living history
“Spotlighting Stanton” marks Stanton's 211th birthday, beginning Thursday, Nov. 12, the anniversary of her birth in 1815. Programs continue through Saturday, Nov. 14.
The visitor center and Wesleyan Chapel, at 136 Fall St., will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Visitors can tour the Elizabeth Cady Stanton House, at 32 Washington St., from 10 a.m. to noon and 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. There are no public restrooms at the house property.
Family activities include coloring sheets about Stanton's life and “Seeds of Change” make-and-take sunflower planters. Stanton used the pen name Sunflower when writing in Bloomer's newspaper, The Lily. An exhibit on the visitor center's second floor will feature the songbook Stanton used while living in Seneca Falls.
Visitors also can collect a Stanton House passport stamp at the visitor center or house and browse a special bookstore display.
On Thursday and Friday, ranger programs at the house run from 10 to 10:30 a.m., followed by “Revolutionary Roots” programs at Wesleyan Chapel from 11 to 11:45 a.m. A ranger table talk, “Stanton's Rural House,” runs from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at the house. “Revolutionary Roots” also runs from 3 to 3:30 p.m. all three days.
On Saturday, Dr. Melinda Grube will portray Stanton in a living history talk from 11 a.m. to noon at Wesleyan Chapel, recounting her role in organizing the 1848 Women's Rights Convention and drafting the Declaration of Sentiments. Grube will also portray Stanton in the house's parlor from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m., describing life at the “Center of the Rebellion.”
Bloomer program follows Nov. 21
The park's Amelia Bloomer event, “A Woman's Rights Woman: Remembering Amelia Bloomer's Endeavors for Women's Rights in New York and Iowa,” runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 21, at the visitor center.
Bloomer lived in Seneca Falls for more than a decade and used The Lily to promote reform. Although widely known for popularizing the “Bloomer outfit,” her work extended beyond dress reform to women's rights and temperance. She moved to Iowa in 1855 and continued advocating for temperance and women's suffrage on the western frontier.
At 1 p.m., Ranger Anna will give a lecture about Bloomer's move from Seneca Falls to Iowa. A drop-in table talk will examine her influence on 19th-century women's fashion. Bloomer coloring sheets, make-and-take crafts and a special bookstore display will be available throughout the day.
For help planning a visit, call the park's visitor center at 315-568-0024.
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