29.2:W 84/3 I ClemsonUniversi 3 1604 015 77 407 w omen's Rights National History Study Trail Feasibility Final Study Report 2003 "SKffc. Thisreporthasbeen prepared to provideCongressand the publicwith information about resourcesin thestudyarea,and howtheyrelateto thecriteria fornational historictrailsapplied bythe professional staff of the National Park Service. Publication and transmittal of this report,includinganydiscussionofa preferredcourseofaction,should not be considered an endorsement or commitment by the National ParkServicetoseekorsupporteitherspecificlegislativeauthorization for a project, or appropriations for its implementation. Authorization and funding for any new commitments by the National Park Service will haveto be considered in light ofcompeting prioritiesforexisting units ofthe National Park Service and other programs. For additional copies or more information contact: National Park Service Northeast Region Planning and Special Studies 15 State Street Boston, MA 02109 (617) 223-5051 or visit the Women's Rights National Historical Park's website at *^^* Women's Rights National History Trail Study Feasibility Study Report Final 2003 PUBLIC DOCUMENTS DEPOSITORY ITEM AUG 2 2003 i CLEMSON o o LIBRARY Table of Contents Susan B. AnthonyHouse; 17Madison St., Rochester, Monroe County, NY 3 Resolved, that all laws which prevent woman from occupying such a station in society as her conscience shall dictate, or which place her in a position inferior to that of man, are contrary to the great precept of nature and therefore of no force or authority. -Declaration ofSentiments, 1848 Table of Contents 4 Executive Summary 8 I: Study Purpose and Background 8 Legislation 8 Current Efforts to Preserve and Interpret Properties Associated with the Women's Rights Movement. 1 Study Process 16 II: Study Findings 16 Defining the Women's Rights Movement 18 Relationship to National Park ServiceThematic Framework 18 Historical Summary 20 Women's Rights Historic Property Sample 26 Properties Not Included in the Property Sample 28 III: Partnership Concepts 28 Evaluation ofProposed National HistoricTrail Concept 29 Partnership Concept 1 - "Votes forWomen" HistoryTrail (Upstate New York) 31 Partnership Concept 2 - National Women's Rights History Project 33 Partnership Concept 3 - National Women's Rights History Project and Partnerships Network 36 Options eliminated from furtherconsideration 37 Consultation and Coordination 38 IV: Environmental Consequences 44 Appendixes 44 Appendix A: Declaration ofSentiments 47 Appendix B: Framework Defining the Women's Rights Movement 56 Appendix C: Historical Overview 70 Appendix D: Notes on GIS Database 72 Appendix E: PropertiesAssociated with the Women's Rights Movement 78 Appendix F: Women's HistoryTrails and HeritageTourism Initiatives 79 Appendix G: Women's History Organizations 80 Bibliography ft List ofPreparers Figures ft Tables 22 Figure 1: Distribution Map ofIdentified Women's Rights History Sites, May 2001 24 Figure 2: Detail Map: Rochester/ Seneca Falls/ Waterloo/ SyracuseArea, New York 39 Table 1: Environmental Consequences Summary Executive Ihe Omnibus Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1999 (P.L. 105-277) provided $100,000 for a trail study related to Women's Rights National Historical Park. Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D- Rochester NY) was the primary sponsor forthis study and earlier had introduced legislation directing the National Park Service to study the feasibility ofdesignating a women's rights national historic trail from Boston, Massachusetts to Buffalo, New York. Although that bill was unsuccessful on its own, language in the Omnibus Appropriations Act accomplished that purpose. The interdisciplinary study team worked with National Park Service historians and academic scholars to define the women's rights movement and to understand it and its countermovements within the context ofAmerican history. Using the goals expressed in the Declaration ofSentiments adopted at the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention as a framework, the study team defined women's rights broadly to seek equality in the realms of politics - women's suffrage; education - women's access to higher education and professional schools; economics - women access to and rights within the workplace; religion - women's roles and leadership in religious institutions; andfamily and society - reflected in efforts that were fostered by women to reform laws and customs on behalfofwomen. Far from being a "special interest" confined to a cornerofAmerican history, the long pursuit of equality between the sexes is an immensely important theme in American history. The struggle for equal rights has altered the way the American labor force is structured and the way working people perceive their labor. It has changed the deeply private experiences offamily life, parenthood, marriage and sexual behavior. It has altered our understanding ofthe purpose andjustification of government, what American citizenship means, and how extensively democratic principles apply in our modern society. To establish a context, the study team assembled and mapped a sample ofwomen's rights history properties throughout the northeastern United States, encompassing an area reaching from Maine to Virginia and including the District ofColumbia. The women's rights property sample should not be considered comprehensive and is by no means definitive. It is merely a reconnaissance-level survey used by the study team to develop a better understanding ofthe number and types ofproperties that still exist. In all, nearly 300 known women's rights history properties were identified. The largest number ofproperties in the Northeast were in Massachusetts and New York. In Massachusetts, most ofthe known properties were clustered in the GreaterBoston area. In New York, they were dispersed throughout the state with a cluster of properties located in a crescent shaped area roughly bounded by Rochester in the west, Syracuse in the east, and Seneca Falls and Waterloo in between. Based on existing informa- tion, a fairly dense corridor ofwomen's rights history properties is also found along the Eastern Seaboard, running from Boston to Washington, DC. Resolved, that it is the duty of the women of this country to secure to themselves their sacred right to elective franchise. -Declaration ofSentiments, 1848 Having completed this preliminary research, the study team was ready to address the question ofdesignating a women's rights national historic trail. Under the National Trail System Act, a national historic trail must meet the following criteria: A. It must be a historically used trail ora route. B. It must be ofnational significance. C. It mustpossess significantpotentialforpublic use and enjoyment. While the women's rights movement and many ofits associated properties would meet the criteria for national signifi- cance and potential forpublic use and enjoyment, a trail composed ofthese properties would not meet the first criterion as a physical, historical route such as the Santa Fe National HistoricTrail or Lewis ft Clark National Historic Trail. The study team also considered the feasibility ofdesignating a long-distance auto tour route in the corridor between Boston and Buffalo. While there are heavy concentrations ofproperties in the Greater Boston area in Massachusetts and in the Rochester-Seneca Falls-Syracuse area ofNew York, an extensive area between these two places has very few properties. From management and visitor experience standpoints, this geographic gap made a long-distance auto route much less viable. Afterdetermining that the long-distance trail concept was not viable, the study team developed otherconcepts that could support the recognition, promotion, and protection ofwomen's rights history properties. Three concepts emerged: First is the "Votesfor Women" History Trail in Upstate New York. The "Votesfor Women History Trail" would be a single, geographically discrete signed auto route linking a numberofproperties associated with women's suffrage in the area bordered by Rochester in the west, Syracuse in the east, and Seneca Falls and Waterloo in between. Authorized as part ofWomen's Rights National Historical Park, the National Park Service would work cooperatively with identified women's suffrage properties in the designated area. The National Park Service would support the development ofa guidebook, a signage system, indoor and outdoor exhibits, and interpretive and educational programs. This concept would also provide a limited matching grantprogram to assist the historic preservation and interpretation ofparticipating properties. The annual cost ofstaffing and operating the trail would be approximately $275,000. One-time planning and imple- mentation costs for the trail would be about $500,000. The historic preservation matching grant program would require about $250,000 peryear over a five-yearperiod with a total estimated cost of$1.25 million. Otherconcepts emerged that would be national in scope and would acknowledge the importance ofwomen's rights in the history ofthe United States as a whole. First is a National Women's Rights History Project. Underthis concept, the National Register program would lead a collaborative effort with state historic preservation offices nationwide to survey, evaluate, and nominate women's rights history properties to the National Register ofHistoric Places. Through the National Registerprogram, the National Park Service would make annual grants available to state historic preservation offices for up to 5 years to support this work. The National Park Service would also expand and enhance the current National Registertravel itinerary website, "Places Where Women Made History" (www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/pwwmh), so that the results ofthe inventory are made available to the general public. As is the case now, the website would make people aware ofwhere historic properties are and which ones are open to the public, and would also provide links to related websites when available. The annual cost ofNational Park Service staffing and operating the National Women's Rights HistoryProjectwould be approximately $650,000. One time implementation costs to support research and enhancement ofthe existing "Places Where Women Made History" website would be about $1.3 million. Grants to state historic preservation offices nationwide would cost about $2.5 million peryear for 5 years (approximately $50,000 perstate peryear) - with a total estimated cost of$12.5 million. The final concept enhances the National Women's Rights HistoryProjectby creating a partnerships network. Underthe National Women's Rights History Projectand Partnerships Network, the National Park Service would fosterthe develop- ment ofa partnership-based network offering financial and technical assistance. The Network would emphasize partner- ships with strong collaborative proposals that could involve a variety ofproperty types that would be anchored by one or more National Register-eligible properties. The Network would offer matching grants and technical assistance for interpre- tive and educational program development. Matching grants forhistoric preservation specific to the network could also be made available nationally through the state historic preservation offices. The Network would be managed through a non- governmental organization, identified through a competitive process, which would work in partnership with the National Park Service and state historic preservation offices to coordinate the Network's operation. The National Park Service's financial support forthe Network would cease after a prescribed period oftime - possibly 10 years - at which point the Network would operate independently. The annual cost ofstaffing and operating the National Women's Rights History Project and Partnerships Network would be approximately $1.7 million. One-time implementation costs to support planning, research, technical assistance, and enhancement ofthe existing "Places Where Women Made History" website would be about $1.5 million. Grants to state historic preservation offices nationwide to inventory and document women's rights historic properties would cost about $2.5 million peryear for 5 years (approximately $50,000 perstate peryear) - a total estimated cost of$12.5 million. The proposed matching grant fund for historic preservation is projected to cost $3 million peryear for 5 years with a total estimated cost of$15 million. We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights governments are instituted, deriving theirjust powers from the consent of the governed. -Declaration ofSentiments, 1848 Study Purpose and Background I. Legislation The Omnibus Appropriations bill forFiscal Year 1999 (P.L. 105-277) provided $100,000 for a trail study relating to Women's Rights National Historical Park. Congresswoman Louise Slaughterhad previously introduced legislation, H.R. 3240, which, ifpassed, would have directed the National Park Service to conduct the necessary studies to evaluate the suitability and feasibility ofdesignating a women's rights national historic trail between Boston, Massachusetts, and Buffalo, New York. Al- though that bill was unsuccessful on its own, language in the Omnibus Appropriation Act accom- plished that purpose. Current Efforts to Preserve and Interpret Properties Associated with the Women's Rights Movement. These Congressional initiatives were part ofa wave oflocal, state, and national efforts to com- memorate the 1998 sesquicentennial ofthe first Women's Rights Convention at Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848. In theyears before and since the sesquicentennial, organizations engaged in recogniz- ing and preserving women's history properties have expressed concern that properties associated with the women's rights movement remain undocumented, unrecognized, and are inadequately protected. Below is a sampling ofinitiatives. A more extensive list ofwomen's history trails and tourism initiatives identified during the study process is included in Appendix F. Federal Commissions President's Commission on the Celebration of Women in American History The President's Commission on the Celebration ofWomen in American Historywas established by Executive Order 13090 (July 1998) to recommend ways America should recognize the contributions of women to our nation's history. In its final report, published in March 1999, the Commission recom- mended a series ofactions to recognizeAmerican women and to preserve properties associated with women's history at the national as well as the local level. Among its national recommendations were: write and distribute a "How-To Community Handbook" (which the Commission undertook); build a national women's history umbrella website, and develop a traveling women's history exhibit. To address local preservation, the Commission developed a series ofrecommendations based on the theme "Women's History is Everywhere - 10 Ideas for Celebrat- ing in Communities." Among the celebration sugges- tions were "Women win the right to vote: Tell the Story ofSuffrage in Local Communities," "Discover/Preserve Women's History: Establish State-wide Women's History Initiatives," and "Create Community Women's History Trails: Develop a Map ofLocal Women's History Sites." Women's Progress Commemoration Commission The Women's Progress Commemoration Commission was established by Congress in October 1998 to