The year 2020 will mark the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand announced legislation establishing a commission recognizing New York's role in the women's suffrage movement. As Time Warner Cable News reporter Mike Hedeen shares, the commission would provide funding to organizations in the Rochester and Finger Lakes Region.
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Senator Kirsten Gillibrand used the Susan B. Anthony House and Museum as the backdrop for announcing her bipartisan Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission Act.
The legislation would establish a commission to work with federal, state and local governments along the private sector in coordinating educational activities to learn about the suffrage movement. A total of $2 million has already been appropriated through the Department of Interior to help fund this commission.
"What it allows this commission to do is they can raise additional funds. If they want to do a national fundraising effort to amplify those resources then those places can apply for that grant money," said Gillibrand.
The Susan B. Anthony House already has plans to apply for grant money through this commission so it can form a partnership with the Women's Rights National Historic Park and Hall of Fame Museum in Seneca Falls.
"The Votes for Women's Trail was established in 2009, it's a heritage trail through the National Parks Service. We're the western anchor, Fayetteville and the Gage House are the eastern anchor, there's never been an appropriation. We have all kinds of plans to do partnerships, to make connections across the way to invite people into the Finger Lakes Region to really experience this history from these women and men who were at the forefront of it," said Deborah Hughes, the CEO of Susan B. Anthony House and Museum.
New York state is the birthplace of the women's suffrage movement. It's home to legendary landmarks helped shape this part of American history, including Rochester's Susan B. Anthony House.