Missed Opportunity!

Thank you to Dianne Apter for her recent letter to the editor, drawing attention to a missed opportunity to celebrate our very own erased suffragist - Matilda Joslyn Gage. You can read her letter to the editor below, or click this link to read it on the syracuse.com page.

To the Editor of Syracuse.com:
After watching the magnificent performance of “The Hello Girls” at Syracuse Stage, I must write about a missed opportunity. An article appearing in the program, “Sisters in Arms,” by Matthew Nerber, failed to note an important historical figure from right here in Central New York, Matilda Joslyn Gage.

Gage was born in Cicero, New York, in 1826 and moved to Fayetteville in 1854, where she lived until her death in 1898. Gage was a central figure in the fight for women’s rights and other social justice issues. She was the vital third part of the suffrage triumvirate along with the better-known Susan B Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who were mentioned in Nerber’s article. Most people, even those of us who often pass by her former home on Genesee Street, do not know of her.

Gage spoke at the third National Women’s Rights Convention in Syracuse in 1852, and wrote voraciously. She was a well-known leader throughout the country. Many of the chapters of the six-volume “The History of Women’s Suffrage” (published between 1881 and 1922) were written by her and yet she was written out of history. Why? How did this happen? Well, it’s called The Matilda Effect!

As president of the board of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Center, I encourage you to check out our website, matildajoslyngage.org, and come visit us to learn about this fascinating woman who was way ahead of her time and incredibly relevant today.

Dianne Apter

Syracuse

The writer is president of the board of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Center.