What's New
Posted: February 4th 2012
Share your thoughts with host Connie Caldwell and the other guests at “Trending Matilda: Optimism Yesterday and Today” on Sunday, February 19, 2012 from 2 to 3 pm. Beginning with a short mindfulness meditation, this informal gathering will look at the seeds of optimism and explore ways to bring them to bloom!
- How can I experience hopefulness about the future or the successful outcome of something?
- What is the difference between an “activist” and a person who “cares about” something?
Suggested Donation: $7.00 members, $8.00 non-members
Posted: February 4th 2012
Historic House Tours of suffragist-abolitionist Matilda Joslyn Gage; by ‘Matilda’ in costume, Sunday, February 12th at 2:00 PM and Monday, February 27th, both at 2:00 pm, with Tea & Tea Cake following at 3:00 pm. 210 East Genesee Street, Fayetteville, 315/637-9511. $12, no reservations needed. For more information: foundation@matildajoslyngage.org
Posted: January 20th 2012
The theme for this year’s History Day Contest is “Revolution, Reaction, Reform in History”. Gage fits this theme perfectly. Students can combine their research on Gage for the History Day competition with their preparation for the Gage contests. See:
http://nationalhistoryday.org/AnnualTheme.htm
or
http://ny.nhd.org/CentralNewYorkRegion.htm
for information on the History Day Competition. The competition is March 10 and the deadline for registration is Feb. 27.
Posted: January 10th 2012
Students in grades 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12 may enter the contest. Submissions due by 5pm March 12, 2012. Winners will be notified by March 24, 2012, the 186th anniversary of Matilda Joslyn Gage’s birth. All participants will be invited to a reception and tour of the newly restored Gage Home.
For contest rules and topics, see http://www.matildajoslyngage.org/gage-home/teachers-room/2012-essay-contest/
Posted: December 13th 2011
Sue Boland, our Senior Docent, began as a volunteer with the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation in 2000 and her list of volunteer tasks over the ensuing eleven years is endless, including conducting tours, speaking to over 100 groups, presenting professional papers at conferences, research, transcription, database entry, layout, serving on committees, training docents, and willingly taking up thankless tasks like mailings and maintenance.
Some highlights of the career of this invaluable volunteer are:
* Sue co-coordinated two major Gage birthday celebrations, assisted with two fundraising auctions and two “Weekends with Matilda.” She co-created the 2002 celebration of the 150th anniversary of the 1852 National Woman’s Rights Convention held in Syracuse, co-authoring program and proclamations and editing and adapting the proceedings of the original convention to create a reenactment of the events.
* She curated an exhibit of the first public showing of L. Frank Baum photos which has been displayed at four venues. She catalogued the Fred Meyer Collection of Oz Memorabilia and coordinated events for “We’re Off to Read the Wizard,” a 2003 collaboration with the Fayetteville Free Library. She created the first ever Gage/Baum Family driving tour of the Syracuse area.
* Working with a Syracuse University art professor, Sue wrote a successful grant proposal to the New York State Council on the Arts for an exhibit, “Sites Re-Seen.” She coordinated publicity for the exhibit and wrote the final report.
* Three of the booklets in the Foundation’s reader’s series: Woman As Inventor, The Dangers of the Hour, and Fayetteville’s First Woman Voter; owe their existence to Sue’s editing, coordinating and writing skills. A major scholar of Gage, she compiled an extensive Gage bibliography and wrote an outstanding biographical entry for the Dictionary of American Radical and Reform Writers.
* Sue is currently preparing the nomination for recognition of the Gage Home as a National Historic Landmark.
We can say in truth that the Gage Center would not be where it is today without the extraordinary skills, dedication and hard work of Sue Boland.
Thank you, Sue, for all your many gifts to Matilda!
Posted: November 26th 2011
View the photos of our elegant tea with Holly Near on Oct. 19, 2011!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55635544@N06/sets/72157628165220941/show/
“I had no idea she was such a celebrity!” Gage Center volunteer Barbara Dopyera Daly exclaimed when she read about Holly Near. “She performed or worked with all these other celebrities: Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, Jane Fonda. She’s been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize; received the Legends of Women’s Music Award , was named Ms. Magazine Woman of the Year…it just goes on and on!”
Holly joined us on October 19for an elegant afternoon tea served on china that belonged to her grandmother, which she gifted us. Our director, Sally Roesch Wagner visited with Holly about her history as a founder of the women’s music revolution that opened the door to women’s voices. On LPs, in concert and on the air, Holly gave voice and heart to the women’s movement. Inspiring many with the integrity of her vision, Holly became, in turn, inspired by Matilda Joslyn Gage.
Joining us as a special guest was Laura Love, who performed in concert with Holly the following evening. Laura powerfully shared her legacy, the descendant of enslaved people, then sang a song she had written about slavery that resonated through this Underground Railroad home.
A special showing of our own Ruth Putter’s photographs from those early days of feminism was a highlight of the afternoon, as was the moment when Holly, Laura and Ruth all shared their distilled thoughts by writing on the walls in the Gage Center. There they became part of our institutional memory, archived on our website, and giving us direction as we create our Center of social justice dialogue.
Our event was made possible through a two-day partnership of activities with the Women’s Information Center, the Syracuse Community Choir and the Onondaga Historical Association assisted by a grant from the Central New York Community Foundation. Gregg Tripoli organized a special tour of the Onondaga Historical Association with a free showing of rare Gage items the following afternoon, followed by a pre-concert dinner with Sally and Gregg at the adjoining Parisa Restaurant and a stroll across the street to St. Paul’s Cathedral and the “Power of Song” Concert with Holly Near, long time pianist John Buccino, and special guest, Laura Love with selections with the Syracuse Community Choir.
Posted: November 2nd 2011
“Meet Matilda Joslyn Gage, the woman who was ahead of the women who were ahead of their time.” –Gloria Steinem
December 4, 2011
11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. 
Upper East Side, New York City
$1,000 - includes membership in Gage Center
Seating limited to first 30 people with paid reservations
In this living room, where historic feminist meetings have been held since the late 1960s, Steinem and Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner will share their vision of what is possible at the Gage Center.
A benefit for the Matilda Joslyn Gage Center for Social Justice Dialogue
______________________________________________________________________________
CO-HOSTS
- Coline Jenkins, descendant of Elizabeth Cady Stanton
- Jennifer Baumgardner, author and activist
- Louise Bernikow, author, historian & activist
- Shelby Knox, activist
- Michael Patrick Hearn, L. Frank Baum biographer
____________________________________________________________________________
About the Gage Center: The Gage Center is not your typical dusty house museum. Each room vibrates with one of her concerns for social justice: Woman’s Rights; First Nations who inspired Feminism; Emancipation and the Underground Railroad; Religious Freedom; and the Matriarchy that inspired her son-in-law L. Frank Baum’s OZ Books.
The monies will be used to interpret the home of Matilda Joslyn Gage, and your gift will be tax-deductible to the full extent allowed by law.
For more information about the Steinem tea, contact: The Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation
foundation@matildajoslyngage.org | (315) 637-9511 | PO Box 192, Fayetteville, NY13066
Please make checks payable to The Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation. To pay by credit card, please call or email the Foundation.
Posted: October 2nd 2011
Holly Near a Musical History Extravaganza
With Sally Roesch Wagner, Gregg Tripoli and the Syracuse Community Choir
Holly Near
Join Holly Near with Sally Roesch Wagner for tea and conversation on October 19, 3:00-5:00, Matilda Joslyn Gage Center
Holly Near has always been a shero to Sally, as she has been to many of us. A founder of the women’s music revolution that opened the door to women’s voices on LPs, in concert and on the air, Holly gave voice and heart to the women’s movement. Sally wrote a book inspired by Holly’s social justice music. As their friendship developed, Holly became, in turn, inspired by Matilda Joslyn Gage.
Join Holly and Sally in a small, intimate conversation over an elegant Matilda tea served on Holly’s grandmother’s china as they reminisce with you about our herstory, reflect on where we are now and envision what we can build on the past to create a world of peace and justice for all.
PLUS: A Special showing of our own Ruth Putter’s photographs from those early days of feminism. And that’s not all. JOIN US THE NEXT DAY.
October 20
3:30 - TOUR WITH GREGG TRIPOLI. Special tour of the Onondaga Historical Association with a free showing of rare Gage items. (secure parking at the city garage next to St. Paul’s Cathedral – across from the OHA.
5:00 - DINNER WITH SALLY AND GREGG. Join us for a pre-concert dinner next door at Parisa Restaurant, 317 Montgomery Street. Enjoy a delicious dinner at menu prices, and then stroll with us across the street to the concert.
7:30 - “POWER OF SONG” CONCERT WITH HOLLY NEAR, long time pianist John Buccino, special guest, Laura Love & selections with the Syracuse Community Choir 7:30pm.
St. Paul’s Cathedral, 310 Montgomery Street.
TEA WITH HOLLY on October 19 at 3:00 - $40.00
ATTEND THE TEA on Oct. 19 AND THE CONCERT on Oct. 20 - $60.00 (includes $25 concert ticket - $5 savings)
OHA tour at 3:30
Dinner at Parisa’s at 5:00
Call Gage Center: 315-637-9511 or
email: foundation@matildajoslyngage.org
Posted: October 2nd 2011
Pamela Poulin, who serves the Gage Foundation as a volunteer and docent, decided over a year ago that there should be an Historic Roadside Marker at the site of Matilda Joslyn Gage’s childhood home in Cicero, NY. Discovering that the state no longer issued such signs, she went in search of a possible grant and found that the William G. Pomeroy Foundation awards grants for just this purpose. Pam oversaw the preparation of the grant application and received it on behalf of the Town of Cicero. She then organized an official “Unveiling” ceremony, which took place on Sunday. See more
Posted: September 19th 2011
You are cordially invited to attend
the UNVEILING of the
Historic Roadside Marker of the Homestead Site of
Dr. Hezekiah and Mrs. Helen Leslie Joslyn
8560 Brewerton Road, Cicero
Birth Site & Childhood Home of their daughter
Suffragist-Abolitionist Matilda Joslyn Gage
Sunday, September 25th at 2:00 PM (Park in the Cicero Cemetery Parking Lot)
Reception following at the
Cicero Historical Society Museum
6453 Route 31, Cicero
(Also, do tour Stone Arabia School and Log Cabin)
NO ADMISSION FEE
~Directions from the South~
81 North to Exit 30
Left onto Route 31, drive 0.2 mile
Right on Route 11 (Brewerton Road), drive 0.8 mile
Park in front of the Cicero Cemetery
Disabled parking on the Burdick RV Center lot.
~Directions to the Cicero Historical Society~
Left (South) on Route 11, drive 0.8 mile,
Left on Route 31, drive 2.2 miles
Dr. Hezekiah and Mrs. Helen Leslie Joslyn were early setters in Cicero and built the first frame house in the area. The Joslyn home was a station on the Underground Railroad and a gathering place for many famous Abolitionists and radical reformers.
Dr. Joslyn was a beloved doctor who visited his patients in their homes within a 50-mile radius of Cicero and was a founder of the Liberty (Abolitionist) Party.
Born in Scotland, Mrs. Joslyn was an accomplished pianist. Her piano, which survives today, was the first piano in Onondaga County.
As a child, Matilda gathered signatures on abolitionist petitions on the street and, at home, was invited to participate in the conversations with visitors and ”to think for myself, and not to accept the word of any man, or society, or human being, but to fully examine for myself.”
Dare to seek liberty for all!
