Wagner, Sally Roesch: Suffragist, Matilda 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.
Matilda Joslyn Gage, an outspoken leader for women’s rights, and an advocate to abolish slavery and religious bigotry, 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 later was 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.
I met with Sally Roesch Wagner in the studios of Radio Curious in December 1996. Our conversation began when I welcomed Matilda Joslyn Gage to Radio Curious.
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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