TWO LONG ISLAND NEWSPAPERS COVER THE INSTALLATION OF EDNA KEARNS MARKER
Americans are emerging from isolation this summer. And many are asking: Why is there a historic marker funded by the Pomeroy Foundation on the boardwalk honoring Edna Buckman Kearns in Long Beach and on the main street of Huntington, New York?
The marker was installed in June of 2021, and Long Island news outlets ran articles about the installation. Summer visitors to Long Beach can put the boardwalk marker on their list to see when they’re there next.
newsday.com/long-island/nassau/plaque-suffrage-women-vote-long-beach-boardwalk-1.50271605
liherald.com/baldwin/stories/long-beach-honors-suffragette-edna-buckman-kearns,132898
Activist Edna Kearns from New York State is indeed in the spotlight as SUNY Press (State University of New York) releases a memoir about not only Edna Kearns but also her extended family.
The book views the activism of prior generations as steppingstones to the present day. It’s about a real-life family with all of its secrets and scandals, and about a 10-year-old child who convinces her grandfather to tell her about her late grandmother Edna. We learn why it’s essential to pass on the stories of the past to evaluate how much aligns with the present day.
AN INFINISHED REVOLUTION: EDNA BUCKMAN KEARNS AND THE STRUGGLE FOR WOMEN’S RIGHTS IS RELEASED FROM SUNY PRESS
An Unfinished Revolution: Edna Buckman Kearns and the Struggle for Women’s Rights, by Marguerite Kearns, doesn’t only list activist accomplishments. They are included, of course. However, the memoir also shines a light on issues highly relevant today. It’s about real people who have integrated activism into their lives, and who have passed the torch to future generations.
Meet Edna Buckman, the book’s primary character, falls in love with Wilmer Kearns in 1902. They navigate through personal differences and marry in 1904, moving from Pennsylvania to New York City and Rockville Centre, NY. Both become activists in the women’s voting rights and peace movements. They leap off the book’s pages and into our hearts.
POLITICAL HISTORY THROUGH THE LENS OF ONE ACTIVIST FAMILY
Edna Kearns and her family members are Quakers who believe in equality and social justice. They recruit and involve their extended families in The Cause, working within an imperfect social system to win the Nineteenth Amendment to the US Constitution in 1920. And they envision a different world with more egalitarian values rather than those based in hierarchy. They experiment with love, friendship, freedom, equality, and justice in their own lives and relationships, and they understand they are part of a much larger social revolution.
An Unfinished Revolution is the story of how real people of diverse backgrounds collaborated on a level that is crucial for moving forward today. The book lays a base for understanding that a significant number of present-day activists are descended from those who came before them. It’s a hybrid memoir that includes more than 100 original images and documents, and is a model of what others are doing in their own families in the present day. ++
Book ordering information: Order book from SUNY Press & bookstores across the nation. Visit the SUNY Press catalog for more background: sunypress.edu/p-7061-an-unfinished-revolution.aspx
