The woman who was ahead of the women who were ahead of their time
For International Women’s Day, the Skaneateles Rotary Club is tapping into one of the most important women in US history, who lived right here in Onondaga County: Matilda Joslyn Gage. Gage has been called “the woman who was ahead of the women who were ahead of their time.”
A visionary of women’s rights and human liberation, Gage defied 19th century laws that forced complicity with slavery and denied women the right to vote. She cofounded the National Woman Suffrage Association with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
Today, 120 years after her death, The Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation in Fayetteville works to inspire and empower others with Gage’s vision.
Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner, founder and executive director of the foundation, will speak at the Rotary event at the Lodge before turning the microphone over to “the future:” Two students who are a part of the Girl Ambassador Program will tell how they have been inspired by the program and the museum named for Gage.
The Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation is, in part, the story of a remarkable corner of the world where Gage lived and inspired, now known as Central New York, a fount of free thought and radical activism for social justice, according to the website.
Wagner works to share Gage’s message, which is as relevant today as it was in her lifetime: “The world needs changing and it is your opportunity and responsivity to be an agent of that change.”
She said that while Gage lived in the 1800s, “she speaks to us today.” From early childhood, Gage was taught “to think for herself. She felt that one of the most enduring lessons of her life. She believed the foundation of a democracy was for people to make and follow their own educated decisions.”
Wagner, a nationally known lecturer and author, is an adjunct faculty member at SU, and a performance interpreter of woman’s rights history. She knows and shows how shining a light on the past can help lead to a better future.
One of the first women to receive a doctorate in the United States for work in women’s studies and a founder of one of the country’s first college women’s studies program, Dr. Wagner has taught in women’s studies for forty-three years.
She works closely with Vanessa Johnson, director of the Girl Ambassador Program, who also will speak. Johnson has worked with the ambassador program for three years and has seen firsthand how the dialogue training empowers young women from diverse political, cultural and religious backgrounds to do the best kind of community outreach.
In addition, former Auburn Mayor Melina Carnicelli, founder of First Amendment-First Vote and lead organizer of Women March in Seneca Falls, will give comments about her non-partisan program for teenage girls.
The Skaneateles event will support leadership programs for high school girls. It begins at 6 p.m. Thursday, March 8, at the Lodge. Music is by Loren Barrigar. Tickets are $50, part of which goes toward fundraising. For more information, and for sponsorship opportunities, contact Amy Tormey at [email protected] . To get tickets, please go to www.iwd.yapsody.com
