The History Center in Tompkins County

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Women's History Month

A Girl's Essay

"Boys are men that have not got as big as their papas, and girls are women that will be ladies by and by. Man was made before woman. When God looked at Adam, he said to himself: "Well, I think I can do better if I try again." And he made Eve. God liked Eve so much better than Adam that there have been more women than men. Boys are a trouble. They wear out everything but soap. If I had my way half the world would be girls, and the rest dolls. My papa is so nice that I think he must have been a little girl when he was a little boy. Man was made, and on the seventh he rested. Woman was then made, and she has never rested since."

- Mary Alexander's Scrapbook, Newfield, N.Y. (excerpted from "Women as Bright as Stars: The 19th Century Women of Newfield, New York" pg. x)

Learn about historic women in Tompkins County from the resources on our website, by visiting our Exhibit Hall, and through exploring our Archival Collections.

Martha Van Rensselaer (1864-1932) was a prominent figure in the early twentieth century, distinguished for her contributions to women’s welfare and the health of families through her work in the field of Home Economics.

WOMEN'S HISTORY MONTH

MARCH

PRESENTATIONS & ONLINE LEARNING RESOURCES

Jacqueline E. Melton Scott (1937-2019) was an activist and educator born and raised in Ithaca, New York. "Mama" Scott was a teacher and family liaison at Beverly J. Martin from 1997-2017. Artwork by Maryam Adib (SmarfArt).

Club Essence - The History Center in Tompkins County
Notable Women of Tompkins County - The History Center in Tompkins County
Women Awheel - The Evolution of Bicycles in the 1800's and How it Affected "The Fairer Sex" - Presented by Donna Scott in 2017
Recognizing Women's Right to Vote: The Haudenosaunee - New York Heritage Digital Collections
Timeline of Events in Securing Women's Suffrage in new York State - Prepared by Seneca County Historian Walter Gable - February 2017
Central New York State Women's Suffrage Timeline - Prepared by The History Center in Tompkins County
Women Who Made a Difference - Prepared by The History Center in Tompkins County - 2015
The League of Women Voters - Prepared by The History Center in Tompkins County
Making Their Mark: Cornell Women Through the Ages - Medium - 2019
Self-Guided Tours: Ithaca Literary Tour, Ithaca Women of Note, Ithaca LGBTQ History.

RURAL VOICES ON THE PATH TO WOMEN'S RIGHTS

These resources were created through a Humanities New York grant.

Rural Life for Women in the Early 1900's
Anti-Suffrage Sentiment
Pro-Suffrage Sentiment
Town of Newfield
Town of Lansing
Town of Groton
Town of Dryden
Town of Trumansburg

LESSON PLANS

Unsung Voices: Black Women and Their Role in Women's Suffrage - National Women's History Museum
Haudenosaunee Women's Influence on Suffrage - New York Digital Heritage Collections
Life Through the Lens: Margaret Bourke-White (2018) (10min)
Digital Classroom Resources from the National Women's History Museum (Over 50 lesson plans and curated videos).

WOMEN'S VOICES - ORAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS
Millicent Clarke-Maynard (October 2018) - 38:22
Karen Yearwood (October 2018) - 37:12
Poppy Singer - 41:02
June Morse - 50:52
Ann Erlich - 19:10 (Holocaust Education Collection)
Ilse Voss - 20:08 (Holocaust Education Collection)
Marion Wimpfheimer - 21:54 (Holocaust Education Collection)
Rose Bethe - 11:27 (Holocaust Education Collection)

**Thanks to a two-year (2021-2022) grant from the Institute of Museum & Library Services, The History Center has been funded to make more of its oral history collections available remotely. Part of this project includes expanding virtual access and lesson plans for Local Sisters of Change, and HerStory Oral History Collections. Contact community@thehistorycenter.net to learn more.

WOMEN'S HISTORY IN TOMPKINS COUNTY - ARCHIVES & RELATED COLLECTIONS

Guide to Women's History Archival Collections and written research - The History Center in Tompkins County
Elizabeth Mulholland Collection V-64-7-9
Genevieve Cosentini Correspondence Collection V-64-3-2
Ithaca Business & Professional Women's Club V-64-2-8
Jane Dieckmann Book Research Collection V-64-8-3
Jemma Macera Diary Collection V-64-4-6
League of Women Voters Local Records V-63-9-1
Louisa St. John Diary V-64-7-5
Mary Raddant Tomlan Collection V-64-4-3
Women's Community Building Organizations Collection V-64-2-7
Sophronia E. Bucklin Papers Collection V-1-1-4

**Thanks to a two-year (2021-2022) grant from the Institute of Museum & Library Services, The History Center has been funded to make more of its oral history collections available remotely. Part of this project includes expanding virtual access and lesson plans for our HerStory and Local Sisters of Change collections. Contact community@thehistorycenter.net to learn more.

Follow us for posts highlighting women's history in Tompkins County.

@TompkinsHistory

TOMPKINS COUNTY HISTORY RESEARCH WRITTEN BY WOMEN

Tompkins County is blessed with a phenomenal number of female educators, writers, philosophers, scientists, doctors, and researchers. This is only a tiny sampling of the body of work produced by female authors who have called Tompkins County home. These books can all be purchased through our online bookstore.