As the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment gets closer, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand is calling for the creation of a national panel that would provide support to local interests seeking to educate people about the drive for women's voting rights.
It was in 1920 when, after many years of pushing for women's suffrage, the 19th Amendment became law, giving women their right to vote alongside men. In advance of the centennial, New York State has formed its own Women's Suffrage Commission. On Friday morning, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) appeared at the Buffalo History Museum to speak of her proposed legislation for a similar commission at the national level.
"The bill is called the Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission and it would create new opportunities to develop educational programs to teach Americans about the women's suffrage movement," Gillibrand said. "It would also provide grants that could be used in organizations here in Western New York that are working on their own programs to celebrate the anniversary of the 19th Amendment."
The commission, Gillibrand explained, would begin with two million dollars provided by the Department of the Interior, but would have the ability to raise its own additional funds.
Gillibrand and other speakers acknowledged New York's role as a birthplace of the modern women's suffrage movement. Seneca Falls played host to the first women's rights conference in 1848. Elizabeth Cady Stanton was born in New York State.
And in Buffalo, there was Mary Talbert, who championed the cause of rights not only for women but also for blacks. A large portrait of Talbert was displayed prominently at Gillibrand's visit. Dr. Janice Ferguson praised Talbert during her remarks, admitting she learned more about Talbert's efforts while working on her doctorate.
"Mary Talbert continuously challenged and fought for equality on all levels," Dr. Ferguson said. "She reminded all feminists of their obligations toward all who were less fortunate. Mary Talbert, through her racial uplift efforts in clubs and community support, provided the leadership on a national and international level drawing attention to the inequalities, especially those of women."
New York State Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes said it was a compliment that the federal government might follow the state's lead in forming a commission that celebrates a right women have had for less than a century.
"Now we have to make sure that not only do people understand that clearly, but that they take that right seriously," she said.
It was a point shared by Melissa Brown, executive director of the Buffalo History Museum.
"My grandmother was alive at the same time as Mary Talbert. She was born in 1910 without the right to vote," Brown said. "I think when you put it in that context, sometimes history feels so far removed from all of us. This is not very far removed."
