How could a wealthy woman like Alva Belmont be a radical Votes for Women advocate?

Alva Belmont It makes you wonder, doesn’t it? So when in doubt, step back and listen to the record. Alva Belmont worked with Grandmother Edna Kearns on the Long Island suffrage campaign. While it wasn’t unusual for women of wealth to contribute to the woman’s suffrage movement, Alva Belmont distinguished herself by becoming a radical…

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New York State governor takes ownership of suffrage movement and Votes for Women

It isn’t often that governors cite the suffrage movement and votes for women in their State of the State addresses. Yet NYS Governor Andrew Cuomo did exactly this in 2012. For example, a quote from his address in Albany, NY: “We declared independence from Britain before they (colonists) signed the Declaration of Independence. We birthed the…

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Suffragists marched 98 years ago this week for civil rights and votes for women

Rain, snow, sleet, or blisters couldn’t stop a Votes for Women march from New York City to Albany during the first week of January in 1914. I like to call it a story about a stubborn streak of spirit. When woman’s suffrage hike leader Rosalie Jones ordered, “Forward, March,” my grandmother Edna Kearns, grandfather Wilmer…

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Will the 2017’s suffrage centennial events match the women of 1913?

During one week in May of 1913, New York State suffragists planned a whirlwind schedule of activities to support the suffrage movement. My question is this:  Will the centennial celebrants of 2017 in New York State match the women of my grandmother Edna’s generation? The above newspaper clip is from one of Edna’s newspaper columns. 

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