Within These Walls:
Voices & Talents of Local Women On the Path to Equality a Century Ago
A century ago, women took to the stage and exhibition walls of what was then known as Vassar Institute. They raised political voices & expressed creative talents that demanded equal consideration of women. From the stage and on the walls of what we today call the Cunneen-Hackett Art Center, in collaboration with Cocoon Theatre, The Dutchess County Historical Society shares words spoken, and paintings shown, from over a century ago on the exact spot. We look at the backdrop story of local women organizing and fighting for the right to vote, realized nationally in 1920.
Sunday, January 26th
2 pm Talk & Discussion ~ 3pm light refreshment
Bill Jeffway, Melodye Moore, Dutchess County Historical Society
Exhibition and Presentation Space in Partnership With Cocoon Theatre
Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center, 12 Vassar Street, Poughkeepsie
The event is free but we encourage you to pre-register below:
Questions? Email bill.jeffway@dchsny.org or call 845-293-7711
Please register here, thank you
The path to the right to vote. There were unique contributions to the women's suffrage movement from Dutchess County, such as our large Quaker community with its focus on equality and truth -- and our many co-educational or girls' and women’s schools. With this as the backdrop, we look specifically at individuals who preceded us on the very same stage. For example: On October 25, 1890, Mabel Jenness, a leader in the women’s dress reform movement, spoke under the banner, Health, Grace & Beauty. For many women, the right to vote was a means to an end, or several ends. For Anna Rozelle, the first woman candidate of any office in the town of Clinton in 1920, it was poverty and the poor.
The path to self-fulfillment and expression. The biggest Collections-related effort by DCHS on the topic of Women’s equality this year involves the restoration of the paintings, and legacy, of LaGrange’s Caroline Morgan Clowes. Vassar Institute had just opened its new building a few days earlier, when the inaugural art exhibition opened December 7, 1882. Miss Clowes was the only woman on the organizing committee and was both organizer and exhibitor. By 1876 she was receiving national an international recognition. But her legacy would quickly fade away after her death. Until now.
Admission is free. We hope you'll join us!
