2015 is the 95th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution! Peterboro’s second Equality Day 2015 event will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, August 23 at the Smithfield Community Center in Peterboro. Norman K. Dann PhD will present Ballots and Bloomers: Passionate Reforms and Peterboro, a program on Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s quest for the vote for women, and Elizabeth Smith Miller’s dress reform for women made famous by Stanton’s colleague Amelia Bloomer. Dr. Dann’s presentation is based on his research and publications of Cousins of Reform: Gerrit Smith and Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Ballots, Bloomers, and Marmalade: The Life of Elizabeth Smith Miller, a book in publication. The two Elizabeths were named after the same Livingston grandmother and, besides being close cousins and friends, were allies in reform activities. Sexual parity refreshments will be available.

Norm Dann is a founder and member of the Cabinet of Freedom for the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum, a docent at the Gerrit Smith Estate National Historic Landmark, a member of the Annual Peterboro Civil War Weekend Committee, and Treasurer of the Peterboro Area Museum. Professor emeritus Morrisville State College, Dann’s biography Practical Dreamer: Gerrit Smith and the Crusade for Social Reform (2009) was the first in a series of books on the Smith family of Peterboro.

At 2 p.m. on Saturday, August 22, young and old are invited to a living history event Looking Back –and Ahead: The Long Road to Equality to break ground for an Equality Garden in Peterboro. As seeds are planted, programming will weave the history of the century of organizing that led to the 19th Amendment, as well as the century of organizing still underway as the United States continues its work toward Equality. Suzanne B. Spring PhD, Jeff McArn and students from Colgate University and Hamilton College will facilitate the participatory program commemorating Equality Day.

On August 26th, 1970, Betty Freidan and the National Organization for Women (NOW) organized a nationwide Women’s Strike for Equality to demand equal opportunities. Over 100,000 women participated. This strike shined light on the injustices and disparities lived daily by women across the nation. In 1971, Representative Bella Abzug (D-NY) introduced a bill which designated August 26th as Women’s Equality Day. This date was selected to commemorate the 1920 passage of the 19th amendment to the Constitution which granted women suffrage. Women’s Equality Day celebrates women’s suffrage but also brings attention to women’s continuous path towards true equality. The President is authorized and requested to issue a proclamation annually in commemoration for the struggle that continues to this day.

Both events take place at the Smithfield Community Center, 5255 Pleasant Valley Road, Peterboro NY 13134. For further updates and information: www.peterboroNY.org and 315-280-8828.

Admission is Free.