Women's Rights: Elizabeth Cady Stanton - Seneca Falls, NY

Women's Rights

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Seneca Falls, NY

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

N 42° 54.637 W 076° 48.010

Short Description: 

A statue of Elizabeth Cady Stanton is located on the first floor of the Women's Rights National Historic Park at 136 Fall Street, Seneca Falls, NY.

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Long Description:

Elizabeth Cady was born in Johnstown, New York on November 12, 1815. After graduating high school she was barred from enrolling in all male colleges, despite a brilliant academic record. She enrolled in Troy Female Seminary in Troy, New York. Elizabeth met Henry Brewster Stanton through their early involvement in the temperance and the abolition movements. They married in 1840 and had seven children.

In 1848 she organized a gathering at the home of Richard Hunt to gathering at the Richard P. Hunt in Waterloo, NY to organized the first Woman's Rights Convention to be held in Seneca Falls on July 19-20, 1848. The organizers included: Martha Coffin Wright, Mary Ann M'Clintock, Lucretia Mott and Jane Hunt. Elizabeth co-authored the Declaration of Sentiments issued by the convention that introduced the demand for votes for women into the debate.

In May 1851, Amelia Bloomer introduced Stanton to Susan B. Anthony on a chance meeting on the streets of Seneca Falls. They became good friends and worked together to advance the cause of women's rights. Stanton would write articles on divorce, property rights, and temperance and the adopted the Bloomer style of dress. Soon Stanton would write speeches and Anthony would deliver them.

In the early 1860s with the Civil War looming the women's rights movement suspended annual conventions. In 1863, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony created the Women's Loyal National League, gathering 400,000 signatures on a petition to bring about immediate passage of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to end slavery in the United States.

After the war the American Equal Rights Association was formed to gain universal suffrage. Elizabeth Cady Stanton's was the leader of this movement. Stanton and Anthony then formed the National American Woman Suffrage Association and between 1869 and 1890 they worked at the national level to gain the voting right for all citizens. They then turned their attention to the state level with some success as Colorado, Utah, and Idaho granted women the vote between 1894 and 1896. Stanton died of heart failure at her home in New York City on October 26, 1902.

Life size bronze statues of Elizabeth Cady Stanton was created by Lloyd Lillie. She stand at ground level on the left side of the front row along with other members of the First Wave, a sculptural grouping of nineteen women's rights activists. She is dressed in period clothing with a long dress underneath a short vest-like jacket and wears a small bonnet in her hair. She is holding a folder in her left hand and an umbrella in her right hand.

Visitor Center is open Wednesday-Sunday from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM (except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day). All public programs, tours, exhibits, and film are free to the public.