Seneca Falls. A town with an area of only 27.4 square miles, but an influence that reaches much, much farther. Seneca Falls is where the very first women's rights convention in the USA was held, in 1848. The convention is in many ways the foundation of the ongoing fight for women's rights. Organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, and several other women, this convention took place at the Wesleyan Chapel, in the heart of the town. For this convention, Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote a very special document-the Declaration of Sentiments. This is a rewrite of the Declaration of Independence- a rewrite that includes and focuses on women. This convention was also the first time that women's suffrage was talked about in this environment. Despite suffrage being a very controversial issue, after this convention, the idea that women could vote spread like wildfire. More and more women-and men- were interested and passionate about the cause, and the suffrage and women's rights movement was born.
Seneca Falls has been on my bucket list for years, ever since I learned about suffrage. After photographing the red carpet and then watching the incredible musical Suffs, currently on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre, my desire to go to Seneca Falls was even stronger. So on our way back down from Parc Omega in Canada, my mom and I decided to make a quick stop in Seneca Falls.
It was everything I'd ever dreamed of. We first went to the National Womens Hall of Fame, held in the former Seneca Knitting Mills. This Hall of Fame is also a museum with so much interesting information about womens history. We also went to Susan B. Anthony's house, and to walk the same stairs that Susan walked was incredible. And not just Susan- at several times, Susan had guests stay in her house including Ida B. Wells-Barnett, played perfectly in Suffs by Nikki M. James, and Carrie Chapman Catt, also a character in Suffs, played by the incredible Jenn Colella. In fact, in the attic of Susan's house, there was Carrie Chapman Catt's desk! I was shocked and delighted.
We also went to Elizabeth Cady Stanton's house and the Women's History Museum, both of which were amazing. Lastly, we went inside the Wesleyan Chapel. Standing at the podium in the room where the fight for equality began was enlightening and empowering, and one of my favorite parts of the whole trip. Getting to stand in the same walls that built the foundation of our fight for equality was incredible.
This trip was a dream come true for me and it exceeded all expectations.
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