Matilda Joslyn Gage: Suffragist, Abolitionist, And Her Legacy

This striking epitaph was Gage’s lifelong slogan, a purification of her steadfast dedication to the complete freedom of all people. Alongside Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Gage was a foundational number in the women’s suffrage movement. Her views were often much more radical than her contemporaries. She dealt with not just for the vote, but also for women’s reproductive autonomy, critiqued the patriarchal frameworks of the church, and promoted for the civil liberties of Indigenous Americans, which caused her honorary adoption into the Wolf Clan of the Mohawk Country. Her childhood home in Cicero, New York, was a terminal on the Underground Railway, a testament to her very early and active duty in the activist movement.

Gage’s Early Activism & Ideals

It notes the last resting location of Matilda Joslyn Gage, a pioneering suffragist, abolitionist, and freethinker whose contributions to American history were for a time nearly erased. After her death, Gage’s more extreme concepts led to her being mostly created out of the background of the suffrage movement she assisted develop. For a much deeper understanding of Gage’s life and work, see the Matilda Joslyn Gage Facility for Social Justice Discussion, situated in her former home simply a brief drive from the cemetery at 210 E. Genesee St. in Fayetteville.

In the silent Fayetteville Burial ground, amidst rows of standard memorials, stands a monument that talks with a voice of extreme sentence. It marks the last resting location of Matilda Joslyn Gage, a pioneering suffragist, activist, and freethinker whose contributions to American history were for a time nearly erased. The rough-hewn stone is engraved with a belief as bold today as it was at the time of her fatality in 1898: “There is a word sweeter than heaven, mommy, or home– that word is liberty.”

Fayetteville Cemetery: Gage’s Monument

The Fayetteville Cemetery is found on Fayetteville-Manlius Roadway (Route 257) in Fayetteville, New York, and is open to the general public. Gage’s tomb is a popular stone and can be found in a main component of the burial ground. For a much deeper understanding of Gage’s life and work, visit the Matilda Joslyn Gage Facility for Social Justice Dialogue, situated in her former home simply a short drive from the burial ground at 210 E. Genesee St. in Fayetteville. The center is a gallery and provides tours.

Influence on Wizard of Oz

Gage’s influence expanded right into the realm of dream via her son-in-law, L. Frank Baum. The author of The Fantastic Wizard of Oz was greatly shaped by Gage’s feminist and progressive ideals, with numerous scholars seeing the solid, independent female personalities in the Land of Oz as a straight representation of her effective mother-in-law.

After her fatality, Gage’s more extreme concepts led to her being mainly drawn up of the background of the suffrage activity she helped develop. Her gravestone, however, remains a stubborn testimony to her core belief. It is a raw, powerful, and provocative affirmation from a woman who valued freedom most importantly else, a surprise monument to a real American radical.