During Women’s History Month the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark and the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum in Peterboro will be finalizing plans for commemorating the New York State Centennial of Women’s Suffrage. These two heritage organizations will collaborate with many partners on programs that celebrate local history and its connection to the state’s and nation’s history.
At the 25th annual Peterboro Civil War Weekend June 8 through 10, 2017, the women’s role during the Civil War will be demonstrated at the encampments throughout the weekend. Visitors can walk among the camps and talk with the reenactors. On Saturday and Sunday, re-enactors, scholars, and authors will present short programs that feature women in the Civil War, 19th-century fashion and women of New York state.
An exhibit on voting rights will open Civil War Weekend and close on Emancipation Days Aug. 5 and 6. The exhibit Dreaming of Timbuctoo introduces the 
background for voting disparity which will be addressed throughout the season. On Saturday, Aug. 5, a guided tour of the Peterboro cemetery will include women whose gravestones read Born a Slave, Died a Free Woman. A Community Conversation Aug. 6 will examine the dual discrimination for women of color.
The Ballots, Bloomers and Marmalade Weekend September 22-24, 2017, will focus on Elizabeth Smith Miller, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Angelina Grimké:
Friday, Sept. 22: In the evening the Oneida Public Library Players will present a readers theatre production of Off Base: The Great Peterboro Baseball Story, a play written by Tom Murray about the first recorded history of women playing baseball – which happened in Peterboro.
Saturday, Sept. 23, programs and activities:
- Morning Marmalade Refreshments hosted by the Peterboro United Methodist Church
- Ballots, Bloomers and Marmalade: The Life of Elizabeth Smith Miller; author Norman K. Dann PhD
- Bloomers, The Reform Costume; Jody Luce, the Tailor of Peterboro
- Bloomer Girls: Women Baseball Players; Debra A. Shattuck, Provost Witherspoon College, Rapid City SD
- In the Kitchen Tea; Deli on Green with Miller’s 1875 cookbook inspired menu. Bloomer Brigade hosts.
- Cousins of Reform: Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Gerrit Smith; Norman K. Dann PhD, Peterboro
- Elizabeth Cady Returns to Peterboro; reenacted by Melinda Grube PhD
- Elizabeth and Anne Millers’ Suffrage Scrapbooks at Library of Congress, Rosemary Plakas, retired LOC
- Monumental Women
- Bloomers for the ‘80s
- March on Washington 1-21- 17
- Suffrage Supper; Deli on Green with menu by Miller’s 1875 cookbook. Smithfield Youth Suffragists
- Suffrage Song; Peggy Lynne, “The First Lady of Adirondack Music”
Sunday, Sept. 24:
- Tour of Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark with Norman K. Dann
- Parity Breakfast
- Abolition Movement Spawns Women’s Right Movement, Suzanne B. Spring PhD, Colgate University
- Launch Lunch: Library Partners Commence CommUNITY Read of INVENTION of WINGS, Betsy Kennedy, ED Cazenovia Public Library, and Carolyn Gerakopolous, Retired ED Oneida Public Library,
- Angelina Grimké: Abolition and Women’s Rights Advocate
- Angelina Grimké Weld and Peterboro Connections
- Making History! Sally Roesch Wagner PhDt, Matilda Joslyn Gage Home, Fayetteville
- Making History Action
During the National Abolition Hall of Fame commemoration of the 2016 inductees to the Hall of Fame, a program on Angelina Grimké will be presented during the Abolition Symposia the afternoon of Saturday, October 21, 2017. On Sunday, October 22, to culminate the CommUnity Read on the Invention of Wings, Louise Knight, a researcher on Angelina and Sarah Grimké, will answer audience questions on The Read, and discuss her upcoming 2018 biography on the Grimké sisters.
The Gerrit Smith Estate National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (5304 Oxbow Road, Peterboro has exterior exhibits open all year that include information on Smith’s support of women’s rights. The National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum (5255 Pleasant Valley Road) has a ten panel exhibit of women’s rights, and banners for women inducted into the Hall of Fame. For updates and information: www.PeterboroNY.org and 315-280- 8828.