Capital Region Women Gather in Saratoga to Honor 100 Years of Women’s Suffrage

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Cabin Fever 2020 successfully celebrated the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment with fun, laughs, networking and insightful conversations. “Deeds, Not Words,” the motto of the early suffrage movement was featured as the great great granddaughter of women’s rights pioneer Elizabeth Cady Stanton spoke to a large group of Capital Region women at a cabin fever “fireside chat” Saturday, Jan. 25 at Saratoga National.

Coline Jenkins, a Connecticut legislator, author and television producer was joined by author Patricia Nugent, SUNY Adirondack Associate Professor Wendy L. Johnson and Saratoga Springs High School Senior Ella Ouimet in a cross-generational discussion of women’s rights sponsored by Soroptimist International of Saratoga County, a chapter of the organization for business and professional women working to provide education and training for the local and global economic empowerment of women and girls.

Saturday’s fireside chat topics ranged from women’s suffrage and the founding of the women’s movement to the panel’s hopes for the passage of the 28th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guaranteeing equal rights to all Americans – as the country celebrates the centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment, through which American women were guaranteed the right to vote.

Jenkins noted her relative’s praise of the early suffrage movement and its pioneers, and Cady Stanton’s pride in the success of what she called “the world’s greatest bloodless revolution,” adding that her relative often noted that women’s efforts to win their long suffrage battle employed “everything EXCEPT for a gun.”

After a broad-ranging question period, the panel concluded with an invitation to the unveiling of the first Central Park statue to honor REAL American women – Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony and Sojourner Truth – during this year’s Women’s Equality Day on Wednesday, Aug. 26 in Manhattan. 

For more information on the event or the local group, visit www.soroptimistsaratoga.org.