The Lily Dale Women’s Day Events Committee invited several of us to join them for the Lily Dale Suffrage Trail Marker Dedication. It was a delightful day and the weather was gorgeous. The day started with a charming parade of Golf Carts driven by ladies dressed in period costumes. Then Women’s Day Chair, Celeste Elliott, was joined by Bonnie Lockwood, representative of the Governor, Assemblyman Andrew Goodell, additional county representatives, and other officers from the Lily Dale women’s group for the presentation. The program culminated with the unveiling of the Marker commemorating the achievement of the Vote for Women with the ratification of the 19th Amendment on August 26, 1920.
I was most interested to discover that the first speaker at Lily Dale was suffragette Elizabeth Lowe Watson, who gathered an audience of 1,200. She was followed by peers including Susan B. Anthony, at what became the gathering place and stronghold for the suffrage movement. Lily Dale remains today a community of independent thought and activism.
