Senator Farley Salutes Women's History Month

State Senator Hugh T. Farley (R, C, I – Schenectady) notes that March is Women’s History Month.

"From the women's suffrage movement some 150 years ago to the present day, women have played a crucial role in New York State's political, social and economic development," Senator Farley said. "Our State and our Nation have been greatly strengthened by these valuable contributions, and it is important to recognize, remember and honor these contributions."

To celebrate Women’s History Month, the State Senate will display an exhibit at the Legislative Office Building in Albany, through March 27th, that features historic New York women whose contributions are still felt today, and who stand as an inspiration to the next generation of inventors, explorers and achievers. An online version of the display is available at http://www.nysenate.gov/initiative/2015-women-distinction-honoring-women-s-history-month. A booklet of the historical women is also available by emailing requests to Farley@nysenate.gov. You can also visit http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/ten-historic-female-scientists-you-should-know-84028788/?no-ist and http://womenshistorymonth.gov/ for more information on women’s contributions to our Nation.

“I am proud to have Johnstown native Elizabeth Cady Stanton in the display as she hailed from my district,” Senator Farley said.

Johnstown native Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) was educated at the Johnstown Academy and at Emma Willard's Troy Female Seminary. She became interested in the abolitionist cause, and spoke frequently on the subject of women's rights. In 1848, she convened a women's rights convention in Seneca Falls and drafted the "Declaration of Sentiments," which called for equal rights for women. In 1854, Ms. Stanton received an unprecedented invitation to address the State Legislature, and her speech resulted in new legislation that granted women the rights to their wages and to equal guardianship of their children. She helped organize the National Woman Suffrage Association in 1869, and in 1878 she drafted a federal suffrage amendment that was introduced repeatedly in Congress. The amendment, in substantially the same language, was finally adopted in 1919.

Inducted this year into the exhibit are three new honorees: the first Aftrican-American woman elected to the New York State Legislature Bessie A. Buchanan (1902-1980) of Manhattan; physician and professor Virginia Apgar (1909-1974) of Harlem; and lawyer and suffrage activist Kate Stoneman (1841-1925) of Lakewood and the Albany area.

"Women’s History Month is a time to take stock of the enormous contributions of great women from our past. The Women of Distinction exhibit singles out just a few of these extraordinary people as an example of women’s achievements that continue to this very day," said Senator Farley.