Suffragist Matilda Joslyn Gage Almost Jailed for Voting

This program is about Matilda Joslyn Gage, who lived from 1826 to 1892, and was a vibrant and leading figure in the suffragist movement of that century.

Gage became historically invisible in pursuit of her liberty to think and speak as she thought proper. She was threatened with jail for voting in New York in 1871, and was later inducted into the Iroquois nation after publicly declaring Christian theology to be a primary source of the oppression of women.

Historian and Chautauqua scholar Sally Roesch Wagner, who portrays Matilda Joslyn Gage, brought Gage into the limelight by creating the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation, based in Fayetteville, New York. The Gage Foundation is dedicated to educating current and future generations about Gage’s work and the power of her work to drive contemporary social change. Learn more at www.matildajoslyngage.org.

The book Matilda Joslyn Gage recommends is The Secret Doctrine: The Synthesis of Science, Religion and Philosophy by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky.

The book Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner recommends is Women, Church and State by Matilda Joslyn Gage.

This program was recorded in December 1996.


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