Press Release
March 27, 2007
For Release: Immediate
Press Contact:
Eileen Larrabee
Catherine Jimenez
518.486.1868
State Parks Unveils Women's Heritage Trail
(Albany, New York, Tuesday, March 27, 2007 . . . ) New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Acting Commissioner Carol Ash today announced creation of the New York State Women's Heritage Trail designed to highlight the significant contribution of women in the history of New York State. The Heritage Trail is established by Heritage New York, a program within the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
"New York is home to countless women whose leadership and influence have shaped the history of our state and the future of our nation," said Ash. "The Women's Heritage Trail recognizes the significant contributions of these remarkable individuals and will serve as an important educational tool for generations."
"These world class facilities focus on the daily life, culture and inspirational contributions of women in New York State," said Ash of the Trail's 22 designated sites or museums.
Notable sites along the Women's Heritage Trail include the birthplace of the Women's Right Movement at Seneca Falls; the homes of key women's rights proponents such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton; and other influential women in history, including Harriet Tubman and Eleanor Roosevelt.
"It is fitting for the creation of the Women's Heritage Trail, a celebration of the contributions of women to our state and national history, to be announced in March during Women's History Month," said Rich White-Smith, Director of Heritage New York. "The sites on this trail reveal the depth and diversity of women's achievements and struggles through history, from nameless immigrants to national leaders."
The mission of Heritage New York is to preserve, interpret and celebrate the many important events, places and people associated with the state's history through a series of Heritage Trails based on significant historical themes. Heritage Trails include the Revolutionary War, the Underground Railroad and the Theodore Roosevelt. For more information on New York State Heritage Trails, visit www.HeritageNY.gov.
"By establishing this heritage trail linking the state's remarkable landmarks, we are highlighting New York State's unique role in advancing the cause of women's rights, as well as emphasizing the important contributions of individual women in our nation's history," said Ash. "I invite all New Yorker's to visit these sites and continue to learn about our history and all these facilities have to offer."
The 22 New York State Women's Heritage Trail sites include: Matilda Joslyn Gage Home (Fayetteville); Johnson Hall State Historic Site (Johnstown); Marcella Sembrich Opera Museum (Bolton Landing); Constitution Island-Warner House (Cold Spring); Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Museum (Jamestown); Susan B. Anthony House (Rochester); Alice Austen House Museum (State Island); National Women's Hall of Fame (Seneca Falls); Letchworth Museum & Council Grounds (Castile); Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site (Hyde Park); Historic Cherry Hill (Albany); Harriet Tubman Home (Auburn); Wilderstein Historic Site (Rhinebeck); Howland Stone Store Museum (Sherwood); Watervliet Shaker Historic District (Colonie); Ganondagan State Historic Site (Victor); Weeksville Heritage Center (Brooklyn); Lower East Side Tenement Museum (New York);Women's Rights National Historical Park (Seneca Falls); Edna St. Vincent Millay's Steepletop House (Austerlitz); Kate Mullany National History Site (Troy); and Shaker Museum and Library (Old Chatham).
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Women's Heritage Trail Site List
Matilda Joslyn Gage Home
Fayetteville-(315) 637-9511
Ms. Gage was a pioneer in the women's suffrage movement. Her home was a shelter for freedom seekers on the Underground Railroad, and a famous meeting site for abolition and woman's rights issues.
Johnson Hall State Historic Site
Johnstown-(518) 762-8712
Home of Mohawk Molly Brant, whose influence over the Mohawk nation was described as "far superior to that of all their Chiefs put together." As a diplomat and stateswoman, she served as a powerful link between the British and their Indian allies.
Marcella Sembrich Opera Museum
Bolton Landing-(518) 644-9839
Marcella Sembrich was an internationally renowned Polish soprano, who first sang with the New York Metropolitan Opera.
Constitution Island - Warner House
Cold Spring-(845) 446-8676
On this 300 acre island Susan and Anna Warner lived and became two of the most famous American writers of the 19th century, writing over 100 books and many popular hymns.
Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Museum
Jamestown-(716) 484-0800
Raised in Jamestown, Lucille Ball was an iconic American actress and the first female studio head in Hollywood, breaking the glass ceiling for women executives in the film and television industry.
Susan B. Anthony House
Rochester-(585) 235-6124
This was the home of the legendary American civil rights leader for her 40 most politically active years as she campaigned for women's suffrage, the right to vote. It is also the site of her famous arrest for voting in the election of 1872.
Alice Austen House Museum
Staten Island-(718) 816-4506
One of America's earliest and most prolific female photographers, she lived in this two-story Victorian Gothic cottage for 78 years.
National Women's Hall of Fame
Seneca Falls-(315) 568-8060
The National Women's Hall of Fame has been a catalyst in the expansion of knowledge, appreciation and understanding of women's contributions to the development of our nation.
Letchworth Museum & Council Grounds
Castile-(585) 493-2760
The museum and grounds tell the fascinating cross-cultural story of Mary Jemison, who was a white person adopted by the Seneca Indian Nation in the late 1750s.
Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site
Hyde Park-(800) FDR-VISIT
Eleanor Roosevelt emerged as a world figure, beginning with her appointment as American ambassador to the United Nations in 1946 and her work on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, written chiefly at Val-Kill. Ms. Roosevelt spent the last 17 years of her life here.
Historic Cherry Hill
Albany-(518) 434-4791
The five generations of Cherry Hill Van Rensselaer women left an amazingly intact collection reflecting domestic life and broader subjects that document more than two centuries of American women's history.
Harriet Tubman Home
Auburn-(315) 252-2081
Her heroic efforts in personally leading many people out of slavery to freedom in the North defined her as the "Moses of her People." She also established the Home for the Aged on her property in Auburn, where she lived for over 50 years.
Wilderstein Historic Site
Rhinebeck-(845) 876-4818
Home of the Suckley family matriarchs for three generations, Margaret (Daisy) Suckley was a cousin and confidante of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. She traveled with FDR during his presidency, and gave him his famous black Scottish terrier Fala.
Howland Stone Store Museum
Sherwood-(315) 364-8307
Miss Emily Howland was deeply involved in women's rights, temperance, education, world peace, abolition, and Political Equality clubs. Members of the Howland family maintained the store for a hundred years.
Watervliet Shaker Historic District
Colonie-(518) 456-7890
The site was founded and led by Mother Ann Lee as a religious community based on democratic principles and equality of work and duties regardless of gender. The Watervliet site is America's first Shaker settlement established in 1776.
Ganondagan State Historic Site
Victor-(585) 924-5848
This 17th century Seneca village interprets the important role of women within the Seneca Indian Nation and pays tribute to "The Mother of Nations"- Jikonsaseh, who was the first woman to accept the message of peace.
Weeksville Heritage Center
Brooklyn-(718) 756-5250
Weeksville residents included prominent women who worked fervently for abolitionist and suffrage causes, such as Dr. Susan Smith McKinney-Steward, the first female African American doctor in New York State and only the third in the country.
Lower East Side Tenement Museum
New York City-(212) 982-8420
This site tells the compelling story of poor immigrant women living and raising families in 3-room New York City tenements between 1860 and 1935.
Steepletop (House closed for Restoration)
Austerlitz-(518) 392-3362
Home of Edna St. Vincent Millay, the early twentieth-century Pulitzer Prize winning author, important literary figure and a leader of the Bohemian culture movement.
Shaker Museum and Library
Old Chatham-(518) 794-9100
Founded in the late 18th century by visionary "Mother" Ann Lee, the Shaker Museum, through its extensive collection of Shaker artifacts, tells the story of this religious movement that had gender equality as a core value.
Women's Rights National Historical Park
Seneca Falls-(315) 568-0024
This national park commemorates the Seneca Convention in 1848 that marked the birth of the women rights movement in America. Sites in the park include the Wesleyan Chapel convention site, the Elizabeth Cady Stanton House, and the M'Clintock and Hunt Houses in nearby Waterloo.
Kate Mullany National Historic Site (Closed for Restoration)
Troy-(518) 271-8036
This modest three-story brick house is the only surviving building associated with Kate Mullany, a young Irish immigrant laundry worker who in 1864 organized and led the all-female "Collar Laundry Union" labor union. She exemplified a strong tradition in women's union activity. She was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in 2000.