Coline Jenkins (center), great great granddaughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, is the first to sign the Book of Rededication of the Declaration of Sentiments of 1848 at the 160th anniversary of the Declaration and the first Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls. Jene Radcliffe-Birch (left), organizer of the ceremony, and Seneca Falls Mayor Diana Smith join in the signing.
The Book of Rededication will be on display for members of the public to sign at the Heritage Area Visitor Center, 115 Fall St. (lower level), in Seneca Falls.
The Declaration of Sentiments of 1848 were rededicated in a moving ceremony at the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls on Sunday, July 20, 2008 as part of the 160th anniversary celebrations of the first Women’s Rights Convention held on that site. Featured speakers included noted women’s rights author and advocate Jean Shinoda Bolen, longtime Seneca Falls resident and businesswoman Joyce Sinicropi and Seneca Falls Mayor Diana Smith.
The ceremony was preceded by a march of women’s rights supporters from the home of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, principal organizer of the 1848 Convention, past the Ted Aub sculpture “When Anthony Met Stanton” and on to the Wesleyan Chapel at the Women’s Rights National Historical Park. The march was led by women’s rights historian Dr. Melinda Grube portraying Stanton and Jene Radcliffe-Birch, President of the One Volice Alliance and organizer of the event.