Special Exhibit & Lecture Series
Celebrating Women’s History

Seneca Falls Heritage Area Visitor Center
115 Fall Street, Lower Level, Seneca Falls, NY 13148
For more info, call (315) 568-2703

Don’t miss the special exhibit showing the evolution of women’s clothing from the mid-1840s to the 1920s on display now until April 21st at the Visitor Center. This exhibit contains illustrations as well as period clothing and reproductions on loan from the Seneca Falls Historical Society. The Seneca Falls Heritage Area Visitor Center is also hosting a series of lectures on topics in women’s history. Each speech will be followed by a short question and answer period and light refreshments will be served.

The Visitor Center is open to the public 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10.a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday; admission is free. Call the Visitor Center at (315) 568-2703 for the most up-to-date information on programming. 

Saturday, March 31, 2007 at 3 PM:

Women and the 19th Century Culture of Fitness

Professor David Hughes, Hotchkiss Fellow of American History at Syracuse University, an Adjunct Instructor of American History at Monroe Community College and an Adjunct Professor of Education at Roberts Wesleyan College, specializing in 19th Century American History and American Religious History will present “Women and the 19th Century Culture of Fitness.”

The speech will cover issues such as gender spheres, the Finneyite challenge to those traditional gender roles, 19th century fashion and its deleterious effect on women's fitness (specifically the corset and bustle), Ellen White and the Seventh Day Adventist's development of the Culture of Fitness (including Kellogg's Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan), Matthew Vassar and his fitness college, Women's Baseball, the safety bicycle, Mary Ewing Outerbridge and the introduction of Tennis to the U.S., and the development of competitive women's sports during the early Progressive Era.

Saturday, April 21, 2007 – 2 PM:                           

19th Century Mormon Women in Upstate NewYork

Ms. Rachel Cope, currently a Ph.D. candidate in American History at Syracuse University, will speak on 19th century Mormon women in upstate New York. Cope is originally from Spanish Fork, Utah. She graduated magna cum laude with a BA in history from Brigham Young University in 2001 and completed her MA in American History at Brigham Young University in 2003. Her thesis, titled, “John B. Fairbanks: The Man Behind the Canvas,” explores Fairbanks’ role as an “art missionary” in Paris for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Cope’s interests include religious history (particularly Mormon history and revival history) and women’s history.

Saturday, April 28, 2007 – 2 PM:   

Will the Real Barbara McClintock Please Stand Up?

Dr. Lee B. Kass, Visiting Professor in the Department of Plant Biology at Cornell University, will give a presentation on famous geneticist Barbara McClintock. McClintock was awarded the National Medal of Science in 1970, a Nobel Prize in 1983 and was inducted to the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1986. Kass’ presentation will include a slideshow and will involve audience participation.

Kass, who is currently writing an intellectual biography of McClintock, taught undergraduate and graduate courses in biology and botany at Elmira College between1979 and 2000 and founded the Elmira College Herbarium in 1985.  As Fulbright Scholar (1996), she and her husband Dr. Robert E. Hunt established the National Herbarium for the Bahamas.  She has published histories of nineteenth- and twentieth-century American botanists and conducts research on plant diversity and pollination biology.  The second edition of her field guide to common plants of San Salvador Island, Bahamas has recently been published by the Gerace Research Center, Bahamas.  She was recognized in the 25th silver anniversary edition (2006-2007) of Who's Who of American Women.

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