“Thunders from the Pulpit” May 6 10:00
I will be preaching in the character of — not Gage — but ELIZABETH CADY STANTON at 10:00 this Sunday, May 6, at Plymouth Congregational Church/United Church of Christ (232 East Onondaga Street in Syracuse).
In “Thunders from the Pulpit” I’ve pulled together Stanton’s own published words and reflections on Christianity. “Though clearly of her historical moment,” Rev. Quinn Caldwell, pastor of Plymouth describes, “Stanton’s words remain fresh and challenging more than a century later, a call to examine the church’s role, both historical and current, in oppression of all kinds.” I developed the sermon in 1988 for the Great Plains Chautauqua and have never performed it in Syracuse. I’m very excited to be invited to do this at Plymouth, with their strong tradition of working for justice and peace.
After the service I will attempt to redeem myself by transforming back into Sally for an informal visit with the congregation about Matilda Joslyn Gage, connecting her religious views with Stanton’s. Rev. Caldwell describes Gage as “Syracuse’s own lion for justice,” and we are delighted to begin this relationship with Plymouth. We will be announcing a special tour of the Gage Center for church members on Sunday.
Happy Spring!
Sally
A CAUTIONARY NOTE FROM REV. CALDWELL IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND:
This Sunday, Syracuse’s famous Mountain Goat Run will be in full swing as you prepare for church. Don’t let this stop you, but do give yourself ten or fifteen extra minutes to get here. The Syracuse Police Department recommends approaching the church on Harrison Street if you’re coming from the north, south, or east; you should be able to cross the course there. If you’re coming from the west, West Onondaga Street should be open after 9:30 or so. Or just avoid the whole thing and plan to park in the large lot at the corner of South Church Street and West Onondaga, which is just outside the race route, and walk two blocks to church from there. You can find maps of the route here:
http://www.mountaingoatrun.com/index.php/participation-information/course-and-amenities/.
New York State Political Science Association Keynote April 19, 4:30
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner will deliver the keynote address for our 67th Annual Conference. Dr. Wagner’s work is timely given the increasing prominence of gender and suffrage issues in today’s political arena.
Maxwell Auditorium
Maxwell Hall, Syracuse University
Women’s Equality Agenda Briefing: Syracuse, April 11
April 11, 2013
The Warehouse
350 W. Fayette St.
Syracuse, NY
TO REGISTER:
http://eleanorslegacy.ngpvanhost.com/webform/wea-briefing-syracuse
Women’s Equality Agenda: A Briefing and Discussion with:
Tracey Brooks
President & CEO, Family Planning Advocates of NY
Assemblymember Addie Russell
Chair, Women’s Issues Task Force
Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner, PhD
Executive Director, The Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation
Thursday, April 11, 5:30pm-7:30pm*
Reception at 5:30pm, Discussion at 6pm
Gov. Cuomo introduced the Women’s Equality Agenda at his State of the State address on January 9. Join us for a briefing on how this 10-point plan will advance women’s rights in New York State.
Hosted by
Mayor Stephanie Miner
Linda Ervin, Onondaga County Legislature
Monica Williams, Onondaga County Legislature
Bea Gonzalez, Dean, University College of Syracuse University
Presented by
Eleanor Roosevelt Conference Committee
Planned Parenthood of the Rochester/Syracuse Region
National Organization for Women
League of Women Voters
Wagner Performs as Gage with Dream Freedom Revival, March 24
Women’s History Month performance & dialogue explores legacy of Matilda Joslyn Gage
The D.R.E.A.M. Freedom Revival (DFR), a Syracuse-based grassroots theater company that uses music and theater to spark conversations about freedom and democracy, has partnered with The Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation and students from Syracuse University to create their unique brand of “tent revival,” this time on the issue of women’s rights and empowerment. They will perform on Sunday, March 24, at 5 p.m., at Grace Episcopal Church (819 Madison Ave). The performance, “Daughters of the Harvest,” a reference to a quote by Gage, the 19th century feminist leader from Fayetteville, will invite audience members to reflect on and discuss the parallels between the issues women confronted in the 19th century and those faced today. But beyond discussion, the show’s organizers are aiming for something more.
- Daughters of the Harvest, March 24, 2013
Local doula and childbirth educator Aimee Brill, who is also a lead organizer for DFR, says, “All of our shows are about calling people to action and so we want to do more with this performance than simply compare different historical eras. We want to engage people with the idea that advancing the cause of women’s rights — or any cause pointing toward social equity — is not going to occur solely by looking backward toward historical ‘saviors’ like Gage. She certainly offers plenty to inspire us, but change will only happen when we embrace and act on the spirit of liberty that each one of us possesses.”
Delivering that message live on stage will be none other than Gage herself, performed by noted historian and executive director of the Gage Foundation in Fayetteville, Sally Roesch Wagner. “I’ve been excited to partner with DFR since I first got to know the company. But I wasn’t inspired by the idea that the women in the show were looking toward Matilda to rescue them. And then Aimee [Brill] started speaking with such passion about the need for Matilda’s message to come forth. I thought that if my character could play the role of pointing the women back to themselves and back to their own inherent power, then it was a fitting way to bring Matilda back to life.”
Wagner has also brought more than 20 of her Syracuse University undergraduate students into the process of creating the performance. “It’s been so important for the students to see how what they’re learning can be applied to contemporary issues. Their understanding of the suffrage movement, and of that entire era, has contributed so much to the creative process. It’s been a wonderful experience for all involved.”
The D.R.E.A.M. Freedom Revival is the brainchild of Dr. Kevin Bott, a grassroots theater scholar, and associate director of Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life, a national higher education consortium based at Syracuse University. Bott also plays the show’s emcee, The Dr. Reverend Ebenezer Abernathy. “My creative starting point,” he says, “is always to ask what theatrical form can best capture and express the unique history and energy of a place. To me, Syracuse and Central New York are about freedom movements, from the Haudenosaunee to the Underground Railroad to the women’s suffrage movement and beyond. When I discovered the ‘burnt-over district’ and the whole 19th century tent revival movement in Central and Western New York, I immediately had the idea for a tent revival about freedom. The revival is the perfect vehicle for celebrating democracy and community.”
Sponsored by Imagining America and the New York Council for the Humanities, “Daughters of the Harvest” is the second in a four-part performance and dialogue series that the DFR is creating in partnership with local organizations. The March 24th performance will be followed by a meal and facilitated conversation about the show’s themes. It is free and open to the public but space is limited.
For more information, contact Jamie Haft, Imagining America’s communications manager, at [email protected] and 315-345-3931.
Commentary: The not so great and powerful Oz
Sally Roesch Wagner, the founder/director of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation in Fayetteville, says Hollywood’s ‘Oz, the Great and Powerful’ has Gage and L. Frank Baum rolling in their graves.
http://blog.syracuse.com/opinion/2013/03/commentary_the_not_so_great_an.html
International Women’s Day Radio Conversation, March 8, 2013
Listen to the conversation between Sally Roesch Wagner and WERW‘s “The Forum” host Jeremiah Thompson on March 8, 2013, International Women’s Day. They visit about Gage in a larger transnational context of women’s rights and how she can help us address persistent gender inequality at home and around the world in the 21st-century.
Booze, Brimstone, and the Ballot – March 22, Rosendale, NY
BRIMSTONE, BOOZE AND THE BALLOT
Provocative theatrical program explores why
one suffrage leader was written out of history
Women voters and lovers of American history will discover the inside story of two of the suffrage movement’s founders during Women’s History Month when the background struggle between suffrage leaders Susan B. Anthony and Matilda Joslyn Gage is revealed on stage. The dialogue performance will be at the Rosendale Theater in Rosendale, NY on Friday, March 22, 2013 at 7:30 p.m.
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton are celebrated as two of the founding mothers of the women’s suffrage movement. But who was Matilda Joslyn Gage? In her time she was considered a “founding mother” along with Anthony and Stanton. However, Gage was written out of history.
The background drama will be explored by Sally Roesch Wagner, executive director of the Gage Center in Fayetteville, NY, and Deborah Hughes, president & CEO of the Anthony House in Rochester NY, who will present a compelling dialogue that explores the split between two of the three suffrage movement founders. The event is a joint presentation of the Susan B. Anthony House, The Matilda Joslyn Gage Center, and Votes for Women 2020.
The rupture between Anthony and Gage will be revealed by the reading of correspondence between them. In a unique juxtaposition, Sally Roesch Wagner (Gage director) will read Susan B. Anthony’s letters while Deborah Hughes (Anthony House director) will bring Gage’s correspondence to light.
After the performance, the audience is invited and encouraged to join the dialogue.
Deborah L. Hughes is a strong advocate for human rights and equal opportunity for all, especially those who suffer discrimination based on gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, or economic circumstance. As an ordained minister and theologian, she brings a depth of knowledge and breadth of experience to this dialogue and special program.
Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner is one of the first women to receive a doctorate in the US for work in women’s studies and is a founder of one of the country’s first women’s studies programs. An author and lecturer, Dr. Wagner appeared in the Ken Burn’s PBS documentary “Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony” for which she wrote the accompanying faculty guide.
Tickets are priced at $20.20(tax-deductible) and are available at www.rosendaletheater.org or the box office. Contact Steve Auerbach at 845-256-0185 for more information.
See http://www.newpaltzlife.blogspot.com/2013/03/an-evening-at-theatre.html for an attendee’s comments.
Wagner recognized for her leadership
Sally Roesch Wagner, executive director of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation in Fayetteville, has received an award in recognition of her leadership of the foundation and its Gage Center for Social Justice Dialogue. The Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums awarded Wagner the 2012 Katherine Coffey Award, its highest honor, at the group’s annual meeting earlier this month in Tarrytown.
http://blog.syracuse.com/entertainment/2012/10/wagner_recognized_for_her_lead.html
HCCC students learn about Iroquois influence on women’s rights
That was the basis of a lecture Sally Roesch Wagner, executive director of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation and author of “Sisters in Spirit,” delivered to Herkimer County Community College’s Gender Studies program on Thursday. During her presentation, she recounted the struggle for freedom and equality waged by women in the United States and documented the influence and inspiration Native American women gave to their social movement.
Community Foundation Awards Sabbatical Grants
November 30, 2011 – The Central New York Community Foundation has announced this year’s Marsellus Sabbatical grant recipients. The John F. Marsellus Sabbatical Program awards grants each year to nonprofit executives seeking personal and professional growth. The program provides executives with a stipend to research, study and reflect for a period of two or four weeks.
Spirit Springs Retreat in Middletown, California and visit museums and exhibitions to gain ideas for the Gage Center.
“At the end of the month, the Board would like me to have for them a planning document outlining my vision for the staff and foundation based on my month’s reflection and learning,” Dr. Wagner said.
Wagner will visit the Skirball Museum, Getty Museum, and the Pacific Standard Time exhibitions.
“I extend my wholehearted support to the sabbatical of our Executive Director and Founder, Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner,” said Loretta Zolkowski, President of Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation Board of Directors. “Our future plans include official accrediting from the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, which will give our site international recognition and strongly enhance our tourism potential.”
The Marsellus Sabbatical program was created in 2000 to provide nonprofit executives with a unique opportunity for reflection, revitalization and growth. It was established in memory of the late John F. Marsellus, president and owner of the Syracuse-based Marsellus Casket Company for more than thirty years, to honor his commitment to enhancing the leadership capacity of nonprofit organizations in Central New York.
Applicants must have served in a management position of a nonprofit agency in Onondaga or Madison Counties for at least five consecutive years in order to qualify. Twenty three executives have participated in the program since its inception.
The Central New York Community Foundation has served Central New York for 85 years, receiving, managing and distributing charitable funds for the benefit of not-for-profit organizations. Grants are awarded for programs in the areas of human services, arts and culture, education, environment, health, economic development and civic affairs. The region’s largest endowed philanthropic foundation, the Central New York Community Foundation awards over $5 million in grants to not-for-profit organizations annually. The Community Foundation, of 431 East Fayette Street, Syracuse, NY 13202, can be reached at (315) 422-9538 or www.cnycf.org.
http://cnycf.org/cnycf/Home/ViewArticle/tabid/108/itemId/739/Default.aspx
