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Photo by Kim Dedam
Bouquets of flowers and an American flag were laid on Inez Milholland’s grave at the Adirondack Women’s March last year.
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Harris & Ewing, photographer, 1916. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.
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Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C
Official program, Woman suffrage procession, Washington, D.C. March 3, 1913.
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Keystone View Company, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.
Grand Marshall, Mrs. Richard Burleson; Herald, Miss Inez Milholland; and other prominent workers on horseback: March 3, 1913, Washington, D.C., stereograph showing an enormous crowd on Pennsylvania Ave. gathered to see the suffragette parade; a large billboard above the crowd inscribed with “We demand an amendment to the Constitution of the United States enfranchising the women of this country.”
LEWIS | On Jan. 20, Adirondack Women’s March reconvenes for a return rally to support women’s rights, civil rights and policy that protects health and safety of all people.
The event coincides with a larger Women’s March on Washington, D.C. that day alongside hundreds of similar gatherings around the country.
The non-partisan, peaceful assembly starts at Inez Milholland’s gravesite, paying tribute to the region’s famed civil and women’s rights activist.
Adirondack March organizers Sandra Weber and David Hodges said their event is a combination rally, march and community celebration.
“The aim is to show solidarity with women around the world. We call on defenders of human rights to join us at this peaceful, non-partisan event,” Weber said in an email announcement.
The group’s message heeds the courage and spirit of Milholland, Weber said.
“At a memorial for Inez in 1916, speakers praised her advocacy for feminism, for civil rights for blacks, and for humane treatment of inmates. Inez hated inequality. She hated shams and hypocrisy. She loved truth. A friend of hers once said, ‘What Inez showed us was that it is possible to have a glorious time and stand like iron for truth.’”
As the herald on a white horse, Inez rode in the 1913 Suffrage Parade in Washington, D.C., symbolizing the courage of women.
“Three years later, she died while campaigning for Votes for Women and her body was buried in Lewis Cemetery, a few miles from the family’s summer estate at Meadowmount,” Weber said.
Last year, some 400 people gathered at the top of Lewis Cemetery’s icy hillside.
“I was humbled by the massive turnout,” Weber said of the march last year.
In 364 days since, Adirondack Women’s March supporters have written and sent postcards to legislators; made phone calls urging protection of civil, environmental and human rights policy; attended protests; and turned anger and frustration into action, Weber relayed.
“So here we are, bound together — not by sex or race or income or political party — but bound together because we love the United States of America; we believe in Democracy; and we support human rights.”
The Adirondack March will begin at 11 a.m. at the top of the Lewis Cemetery hill with a welcome address, poetry, songs, and a brief graveside ceremony, Weber said.
“Attendees are encouraged to bring signs, flags, and/or flowers to lay on Inez’s grave.”
Afterward, Weber said, the march will commence down the hill to the new Inez Milholland roadside marker at the corner of Route 9 and Fox Run Rd., then up Route 9 about a quarter-mile to Lewis Veterans’ Park, and back past the Lewis Town Hall to the Lewis Congregational Church parsonage.
“At the parsonage, there will be soup, bread, hot drinks, goodies, and a lively program of sing-alongs, memories of 2017 and inspirational thoughts for the future.
“Also, the Town of Lewis is graciously opening the Town Hall from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. so marchers can view the town historical exhibit about Inez and the Milholland family.”
Two special showings of “Forward Into Light,” a short film about Milholland’s life by Martha Wheelock, are planned at 10:30 a.m. and at 1 p.m. in the church parsonage.
Women’s March events are also being held in Glens Falls (at noon) and in Plattsburgh (at 3 p.m.), Weber said.
“These events are part of a wide-spread grassroots movement with numerous local, regional, and state groups. We support the advocacy and resistance movements. And while some see the movement as scattered, I believe the multitude of groups with varying focus and strategy makes us stronger and hardier.”
For more information about the rally, visit Adirondack Women’s March website at adirondackwomen.weebly.com or Questions can be directed to Weber via email atweber@sandraweber.com.
