19th Amendment

Learning on Saturday that Joe Biden is president-elect and Kamala Harris is vice president-elect is exciting to people associated with the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls.

WEOS Reporter Greg Cotterill caught up with three Pennsylvania residents, Brook McDermott, Debra Condon and Jeff Hamilton, who have been planning to celebrate - what they hoped would be - the election of the Biden-Harris ticket.

Condon said that they started planning the trip to the Finger Lakes last month.

City of Rochester officials are anticipating big crowds at Mount Hope Cemetery on Tuesday, with the potential for thousands of people paying respects to suffragist Susan B. Anthony.

An estimated 10,000 or so people filed past the grave of Susan B. Anthony prior to the 2016 presidential election. Pat Corcoran, president of the Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery, said there is the potential for another big turnout.

There’s a local effort to help more people learn about New York state’s deep connection to the women’s suffrage movement and encourage more conversations about voting and elections.

A new website, www.WomenAndTheVoteNYS.com, is an interactive site where you can find gravesite locations of suffragists who are buried at cemeteries around the state, as well as a brief bio on each of the women and men listed who were active in the suffrage movement.

Art students and community members collaborated over the weekend on a mural honoring the centennial for the 19th Amendment. 

Located on West Main Street in the same area where Susan B. Anthony cast her then illegal ballot in 1872, the piece is a depiction of Anthony on a bicycle representing Rochester’s role in the history of transportation, suffrage, and women’s rights.

Lucy Ray, 16, designed the mural with her mother Jessica Leiberman. She said the mural is inspired by Susan B. Anthony’s admiration for the bicycle and its role in the emancipation of women.

This past weekend marked the annual Convention Days in Seneca Falls, which highlights the Women’s Rights Convention held in that community in 1848.

But, with COVID-19, most of this year’s activities had to be handled online. There was a significant outdoor event on Saturday when four women, who are part of a professional skydiving team, landed near the National Women’s Hall of Fame.

This year also marks the centennial of the 19th Amendment, which helped women secure the right to vote.

The Rochester Museum and Science Center is thinking ahead to the time when it can reopen.

On Tuesday, it said it plans to open a new exhibit this fall that's inspired by the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, and celebrates the stories of regional innovators.

The exhibit, scheduled to open in October, is called,  The Changemakers: Rochester Women Who Changed the World.

Kathryn Murano Santos is senior director of collections & exhibitions at RMSC.

Efforts are underway to create an online database with an interactive map of suffragists’ gravesites across New York State.

The idea comes from Linda Moroney, who runs a local independent film production company with her husband, Todd McCammon.

She produced "Election Day 2016," filmed at the gravesite of Susan B. Anthony in Rochester’s Mt. Hope Cemetery.

About 2,000 people braved bitterly cold temperatures and snow for a rally and march in Seneca Falls on Saturday.

The event was part of three days of activities designed to “inspire all Americans to take an active role in democracy," encourage eligible voters to get out the vote and honor the legacy of women in leadership.

Thousands gathered in cities across the country Saturday as part of the nationwide Women's March rallies that focused on issues such as climate change, pay equity, reproductive rights and immigration.