In honor of the Centennial of New York State Women’s Suffrage, the 25th Annual Peterboro Civil War Weekend will feature programs on women during the Civil War. According to the Civil War Trust (March 8, 2016) “women played an instrumental role in the Civil War, both on and off the field” despite the cultural 19th Century norms. “Women left their homes and served as laundresses and nurses for both armies.” “Women also served on the field, cutting off their hair and changing their clothes and names to fight in battle.” “Those women who were not in the field were running farms and businesses that their husbands had left behind – a huge step in the march for independence.” [Read more…] about Women’s History at Peterboro Civil War Event
Gender History
Event: Queer Politics, AIDS, Reproductive Rights History
On Sunday, June 18, at 1 pm at the Oneida Community Mansion House, 170 Kenwood Ave., Oneida, historian and author Tamar Carroll and Mansion House curator Molly Jessup will lead a discussion entitled ‘It Saved My Life:’ AIDS & Reproductive Rights Activism in the Creation of Queer Politics.
The discussion will focus on AIDS and women’s health activists in New York City during the late 1980s and early 1990s. In the face of official silence and avoidance, members of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP New York) and of the Women’s Health Action Mobilization (WHAM!) joined together to advocate awareness and a public health response to the HIV epidemic and for the right to health care. Carroll’s extensive interviews with some of those activists formed the basis for her book, Mobilizing New York: AIDS, Antipoverty, and Feminist Activism. [Read more…] about Event: Queer Politics, AIDS, Reproductive Rights History
Women’s Suffrage Events in Newburgh, New Lebanon, Penn Yann
Event registration for the 2017 Path Through History Weekends has begun. Events will be held in Newburgh, New Lebanon and Penn Yann to celebrate the theme of Women’s Rights. [Read more…] about Women’s Suffrage Events in Newburgh, New Lebanon, Penn Yann
Ida Blanchard: Heroic Switchboard Operator
Fire! … Please send help — there’s been a car accident! … We found our son in the pool … please help us! … We need an ambulance … I think my husband’s having a heart attack! … My wife can’t breathe and she’s turning blue! Many of us have experienced terrifying moments like those at one time or another. In modern times, amazingly quick responses are the norm from fire and EMS personnel directed by information received at county emergency service centers.
Until several decades ago, those positions were nearly all filled by men. But for much of the twentieth century, most rural areas lacked coordination of services. A vital cog in emergency situations back then was the local switchboard operator, who was nearly always a woman. In almost every instance where policemen and/or firemen were needed, the telephone operator was key to obtaining a good outcome. She was the de facto emergency services coordinator of yesteryear.
Her importance during times of crisis was often overlooked, with most of the glory going to policemen and firemen capturing criminals, rescuing victims, and saving lives. But emergency personnel and telephone-company executives were aware of the vital role operators played on a daily basis. [Read more…] about Ida Blanchard: Heroic Switchboard Operator
Ultimate Rift: Evolution in Women’s Suffrage Movement
Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site will host Helen Martin on April 25th at 6:30 pm to present, “The Ultimate Rift: Evolution within the Women’s Suffrage Movement.” Martin will discuss the evolution in the movement and the role of Johnstown native Elizabeth Cady Stanton in securing women the right to vote.
The presentation will focus on suffrage efforts and the ultimate rift between the “old guard” and the younger generation of suffragists who became involved. It will cover how women in New York gained suffrage three years before the entire nation did, and this program will discuss the attention paid to as well as credit given to the younger group at that time; partially because so many of the “old guard” had passed away prior to the passage of suffrage in NY State in 1917. [Read more…] about Ultimate Rift: Evolution in Women’s Suffrage Movement
Historians Podcast: History’s Wonder Women
This week on “The Historians” podcast, Sam Maggs discusses her book on women who
made often unheralded contributions to history, Wonder Women: 25 Innovators, Inventors, and Trailblazers Who Changed History. On part two of the podcast Bob Cudmore and Dave Greene discuss the story of a debutante spy for America during World War II, Gertrude Sanford Legendre.
Listen to the podcast here. [Read more…] about Historians Podcast: History’s Wonder Women
New Exhibit: Black Radical Women 1965-85
A Year of Yes: Reimagining Feminism at the Brooklyn Museum continues with We Wanted a Revolution: Black Radical Women, 1965-85.
Focusing on the work of more than forty black women artists from an under-recognized generation, the exhibition highlights a group of artists who committed themselves to activism during a period of profound social change marked by the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, the Women’s Movement, the Anti-War Movement, and the Gay Liberation Movement, among others. [Read more…] about New Exhibit: Black Radical Women 1965-85
2017 Women’s History Programs in Peterboro
During Women’s History Month the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark and the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum in Peterboro will be finalizing plans for commemorating the New York State Centennial of Women’s Suffrage. These two heritage organizations will collaborate with partners on programs that celebrate local history and its connection to the state’s and nation’s history. [Read more…] about 2017 Women’s History Programs in Peterboro
Underground RR Project Holding Public History Convention
Underground Railroad History Project of the Capital Region will hold its 16th annual public history convention, Liberty Con 2017 – Americans@Risk: Race, Denial, privilege, and Who Matters, on March 24 to 25 at Schenectady County Community College and on March 26 at The Stephen and Harriet Myers Residence in Albany.
Attendees will be able to explore race relations, gender issues, immigration reform, white privilege, and religion, and their relationship with American history. As well as dialogue about action responses through a series of workshops, roundtable conversations, and keynote speakers. [Read more…] about Underground RR Project Holding Public History Convention
Uncle Johnny’s Girl Farm: Pulp Magazines and Utopian Fantasies
On Sunday, March 19th at 1 pm, the Oneida Community Mansion House (OCMH) will host Dr. Molly Jessup as she speaks about mid-twentieth century male escapism and pulp fiction fantasies in her presentation Uncle Johnny’s Girl Farm: Escapism Through Utopian Fantasy.
Today, the Oneida Community is known for its utopian social practices, including equality between women and men. But in the 1950s and 1960s, a number of men’s magazines, such as Man’s Conquest and Men, published salacious stories about “Uncle Johnny’s girl farm” and “the sex cult that rocked New York.” [Read more…] about Uncle Johnny’s Girl Farm: Pulp Magazines and Utopian Fantasies