Program

National Votes for Women Trail

Subject

Event, People

Location

Broadway @ Congress Park, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866, USA

Lat/Long

43.078986, -73.785716

Grant Recipient

National Collaborative for Women's History Sites

Writer and social activist Matilda Joslyn Gage (1826-1898) called a meeting on July 13, 1869 to form a state women’s suffrage association at Congress Hall, a hotel in Saratoga Springs in Saratoga County, New York. Born and raised in Central New York, Gage had dedicated her life to fighting for equal rights. She was a leader in both New York State and national women’s suffrage associations.

The 1869 convention at Congress Hall called by Gage and chaired by Susan B. Anthony, resulted in the formation of the New York State Woman Suffrage Association (NYSWSA). The sole objective of the NYSWSA was securing the right to vote for women in the state. Many prominent suffragists from around the state were in attendance and the Daily Saratogian noted that former president Millard Fillmore was “among the spectators.” The NYSWSA constitution adopted at the convention read in part:

Therefore, we, the citizens of the State of New York, believing that the ballot as the legalized voice of the people, is the right of every law-abiding citizen in the State, do associate ourselves together for the purpose of securing the ballot to every woman of the State.

Article V of the NYSWSA constitution stated that county and local municipal women’s suffrage associations could become auxiliaries to the state association by contributing a minimum of five dollars a year in dues. The NYSWSA and its auxiliary associations waged campaign after campaign in the fight for women’s suffrage, finally seeing victory in 1917 when New York State women won the right to vote through a state constitutional amendment.

The 1917 suffrage victory in New York, thanks in large part to the activism of the NYSWSA, helped to influence public support for women’s suffrage on a national scale. Then, on June 4, 1919, the United States Congress passed the Nineteenth Amendment which reads, “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” By August 1920, the necessary 36 states had ratified the amendment, securing women’s right to vote across the United States.

Congress Hall, site of the 1869 NYSWSA organizational convention, was sold to the city of Saratoga Springs and eventually demolished, with the property then used as a public park. As of 2022, the former Congress Hall site was included in the grounds of Congress Park in Saratoga Springs.