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Text Box: On June 20, the Bristol Harbour HHH club held its monthly meeting in the Ontario County Court House. No, we were visitors not defendants. We put aside our needles, projects for ‘show and tell’ as well as the chance to show off our new stash (fabric and patterns) and went to observe, learn and show our support. The event was the re-creation of part of the most famous trial in the history of our county, that of Susan B. Anthony in 1873. At the same time it was a celebration of the achievements of New York’s first female Chief Judge, Hon. Judith Kaye, together with other women who have assumed leadership positions in government and our legal system. Many have been ‘first’ in the position they held or presently hold: Lieutenant Governor of New York State, County Executive, President of the local Bar Association, District Attorney, Judge, U.S. Magistrate, Mayor and President of FLCC. Fourteen of our state’s most prominent women with Kaye as their forewoman made up the jury in this re-enactment and not only found Ms. Anthony not guilty but went so far as to say she should be applauded for her efforts. But, that’s not what happened in 1873. Ontario Judge Craig Doran, who helped to organize the event, said that Judge Kaye and the all women jury was fitting because it personified the fruits of their work and further that since Kaye’s tenure has been "all about expanding the meaning of justice," it was appropriate. Why? What were the facts? Was Ms. Anthony truly guilty and if so, of what? She, her three sisters and ten other women had registered and voted in the 1872 national election for President in Monroe County. Repeatedly she said that the votes were legal, citing the Civil War amendments (13, 14 and 15th) yet the Federal government charged and indicted her for violating an 1870 law, the Enforcement Act. This Act of Congress stated that those who knowingly and illegally voted in national elections were subject to an election violation which was punishable with a fine of up to $500 or three years imprisonment. Ms. Anthony repeatedly stated that she believed that she as a citizen had the right to vote in national elections. Actually, Ms. Anthony was way ahead of her time. She continually stated that she, according to the 13th Amendment was freed from ‘involuntary servitude’ ( consider the position of women in 1865 ) and having been born in the U.S. was a citizen of the U.S. and New York State ( 14th Amendment) and by the 15th Amendment, therefore, had the right to vote. Not knowing how to deal with her arguments and being aware of her influence within Monroe County because of her many speaking engagements over the years, the officials of the Federal District Court decided to have her trial in Ontario County where she was less known. Thus, Ontario Court became the setting for her trial. The presiding judge was Judge Ward Hunt who at the conclusion of the closing statements refused to hand over to the jury the right to determine the verdict, nor did he poll them. He singularly found her guilty. The part presented to us was an enactment of her subsequent sentencing the next day - a fine of $100 and the costs of the prosecution. Ms. Anthony refused to pay and never did. The government never enforced the sentence. No wonder George Hamlin, of Canandaigua National Bank, who acted in the dramatization as Judge Hunt, told me later that he was the only one willing to take the part. I assume it was because most of the others are elected court officials. Judge Kaye took the opportunity to proclaim that what happened to Anthony was among the greatest travesties in our state’s history and as such was part of her intention in visiting our courthouse. She wished "to make amends ...for the injustice..." Speaking directly to the actress who played Anthony, Kaye said, "You were entirely right" to vote. And we (Ethel Charlton, Carolyn Hotchkiss, Patt Jones and me) were a part of the fight for gender equality in our country. Okay; it was only a re-enactment, but I found it very important and relevant today especially now that our nation is in the throws of the 2008 national election. The Democratic primary contest lasted so long and it resulted in a quandary for many of us. It still poses many questions for me, so the trip to the court house propelled me back to what I had spent so many years doing, research. I spent some time with the various history books I still have, but mostly I googled. I still marvel at what a difference the computer makes in research. Do you remember that the Republican Party of the mid 1800's was the more liberal party and continued to ‘wave the bloody shirt’ for decades after the Civil War to retain its position of power especially in the North and West and because of their policies gained the nickname - Radical Republicans? Or these facts: that Ms. Anthony was deeply involved in the abolition movement as well as the prohibition of ‘demon rum’, but with slavery abolished, she turned her attention to women’s suffrage and subsequently split with Frederick Douglass because he declared this time in history as the "Negro’s hour" and, therefore, women should wait. "There never will be complete equality until women themselves help to make laws and elect lawmakers," she believed and so dissented. She continued her fight to win for women the same rights that freed black males were granted in theory by the U.S. Constitution. However, Anthony’s campaign for women’s suffrage did not come into fruition until 1920 when the 19th Amendment was ratified, over 14 years after her death. Today the question of gender equity is still very much in the news. The more things change, the more they stay the same; right? Oh, and be happy in your googling; I certainly was.

Text Box: THE MORE THINGS CHANGE; THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME -GENDER EQUALITY - STILL IN THE NEWS - WONDER WHY? Submitted by Marilyn Thomas