Matilda Electa Joslyn Gage (1826-1898) was a suffragist, a Native American activist, an abolitionist, a freethinker, and a prolific author, who was "born with a hatred of oppression". Though born in Cicero, New York, Gage maintained residence in Fayetteville, New York for the majority of her life. She is enterred at Fayetteville Cemetery. 19th century photograph This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... 19th century photograph This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... The oldest surviving photograph, Nicéphore Niépce, circa 1826 1826 (MDCCCXXVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1898 (MDCCCXCVIII) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar). ... The movement for womens suffrage, led by suffragists (peaceful protestors) and suffragettes (violent protestors), was a social, economic and political reform movement aimed at extending the suffrage (the right to vote) to women, advocating equal suffrage (abolition of graded votes) rather than universal suffrage (abolition of all discrimination, for... An Atsina named Assiniboin Boy Native Americans in the United States (also known as Indians, American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Peoples, Aboriginal Peoples, Aboriginal Americans, Amerindians, Amerinds, or Original Americans) are the indigenous peoples within the territory that is now encompassed by the continental United States and their descendants in... This poster depicting the horrific conditions on slave ships was influential in mobilizing public opinion against slavery in the United Kingdom and the United States. ... Freethought is a characteristic of individuals whose opinions are formed on the basis of an understanding and rejection of tradition, authority or established belief. ... Cicero is a town located in Onondaga County, New York. ... The Village of Fayetteville is located in the Town of Manlius, east of the City of Syracuse in Onondaga County, New York. ...

Early activities

Joslyn Gage spent her childhood in a house which was a station of the underground railroad. She faced prison for her actions under the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 which criminalized assistance to escaped slaves. Even though she was beset by both financial and physical (cardiac) problems throughout her life, her work for women's rights was extensive, practical, and often brilliantly executed. Map of some Underground Railroad routes This page is about the slave escape route. ... An April 24, 1851 poster warning colored people in Boston about policemen acting as slave catchers. ... The Buxton Memorial Fountain, celebrating the emancipation of slaves in the British Empire in 1834, London. ...

Gage became involved in the women's rights movement in 1853 when she decided to speak at the National Women's Rights Convention in Syracuse, New York. She served as president of the National Woman Suffrage Association from 1875 to 1876. During the 1876 convention, she successfully argued against a group of police who claimed the association was holding an illegal assembly. They left without pressing charges. 1853 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... Clinton Square in Downtown Syracuse Syracuse is an American city in Central New York. ... Official language(s) None, English de facto Capital Albany Largest city New York City Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 27th 141,205 km² 455 km 530 km 13. ... The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was created in 1890, when two competing American womens suffrage advocacy groups united. ... 1875 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1876 (MDCCCLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Saturday. ...

Gage was considered to be more radical than either Susan B. Anthony or Elizabeth Cady Stanton (with whom she wrote A History of Woman Suffrage). Along with Cady Stanton, she was a vocal critic of the Christian Church, which put her at odds with conservative suffragists such as Frances Willard and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union. Rather than arguing that women deserved the vote because their feminine morality would then properly influence legislation (as the WCTU did), she argued that they deserved suffrage as a 'natural right'. Susan Brownell Anthony, aged 28 Susan Brownell Anthony, (February 17, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was a prominent American civil rights leader who, along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, led the effort to secure Womens suffrage in the United States. ... Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her daughter Harriot. ... History of Woman Suffrage was produced by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage and Ida Husted Harper in six volumes from 1887 to 1922. ... Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her daughter Harriot. ... The term Christian Church expresses the idea that organised Christianity (the Christian religion) is seen as an institution. ... Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard (September 28, 1839-February 17, 1898) was an American educator, temperance reformer, and women suffragist. ... The Womans Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is the oldest continuing non-sectarian womens organization in the US and worldwide. ...

Editor of the Ballot Box

Gage was well-educated and a prolific writer. She corresponded with numerous newspapers, reporting on developments in the female suffrage movement. In 1878 she bought the Ballot Box, a monthly journal of a Toledo, Ohio suffrage association, when its editor Susan Williams decided to retire. Gage turned it into The National Citizen and Ballot Box, explaining her intentions for the paper thus: 1878 (MDCCCLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Nickname: The Glass City, T-Town Motto: Official website: http://www. ...

Its especial object will be to secure national protection to women citizens in the exercise of their rights to vote...it will oppose Class Legislation of whatever form...Women of every class, condition, rank and name will find this paper their friend (Reference: "Prospectus", page 1)

Gage became its primary editor for the next three years (until 1881), producing and publishing essays on a wide range of issues. Each edition bore the words 'The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword', and included regular columns about prominent women in history and female inventors. Gage wrote clearly, logically, and often with a dry wit and a well-honed sense of irony. Writing about laws which allowed a man to will his children to a guardian unrelated to their mother, Gage observed: 1881 (MDCCCLXXXI) was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

It is sometimes better to be a dead man than a live woman. (Reference: "All The Rights I Want" page 2.)

Political activities

As a result of the campaigning of the New York State Woman Suffrage Association under Gage, the state of New York granted female suffrage for electing members of the school boards. Gage ensured that every woman in her area (Fayetteville, NY) had the opportunity to vote by writing letters making them aware of their rights, and sitting at the polls making sure nobody was turned away.

In 1871, Gage was part of a group of 10 women who attempted to vote. Reportedly, she stood by and argued with the polling officials on behalf of each individual woman. She supported Victoria Woodhull and (later) Ulysses S Grant in the 1872 presidential election. In 1873 she defended Susan B. Anthony when Anthony was placed on trial for having voted in that election, making compelling legal and moral arguments. 1871 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Victoria Claflin Woodhull (1838–1927) was an American feminist reformer, stock broker, sex symbol, and advocate of free love. ... Ulysses Simpson Grant (April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was an American Civil War General and the 18th (1869–1877) President of the United States. ... 1872 (MDCCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Wednesday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Presidential electoral votes by state. ... 1873 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calaber). ... Susan Brownell Anthony, aged 28 Susan Brownell Anthony, (February 17, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was a prominent American civil rights leader who, along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, led the effort to secure Womens suffrage in the United States. ...

Founder of the Women's National Liberal Union

Gage unsuccessfully tried to prevent the conservative takeover of the women's suffrage movement. Susan B. Anthony who had helped to found the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA), was primarily concerned with gaining the vote, an outlook which Gage found too narrow. Conservative suffragists were drawn into the organisation, and these women tended not to support general social reform, or attacks on the church. Susan Brownell Anthony, aged 28 Susan Brownell Anthony, (February 17, 1820 – March 13, 1906) was a prominent American civil rights leader who, along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, led the effort to secure Womens suffrage in the United States. ... The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was created in 1890, when two competing American womens suffrage advocacy groups united. ...

The American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA), part of the conservative wing of the suffrage movement (and formerly at odds with the National), was open to the prospect of merging with the NWSA under Anthony, while Anthony was working toward unifying the suffrage movement under the single goal of gaining the vote. The merger of the two organisations, pushed through by Anthony under controversial circumstances, produced the National American Suffrage Association in 1890. While Stanton and Gage maintained their radical positions, they found that the only women's issue really unifying the National American was the move for suffrage. The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was created in 1890, when two competing American womens suffrage advocacy groups united. ... The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was created in 1890, when two competing American womens suffrage advocacy groups united. ... 1890 (MDCCCXC) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar). ...

This prompted Gage to establish the Women's National Liberal Union (WNLU) in 1890, of which she was president until her death (by stroke) in 1898. Attracting more radical members than the National American, the WNLU was the perfect mouthpiece for her attacks on religion. She became the editor of the official journal of the WNLU, The Liberal Thinker.

Gage was an avid opponent of the various Christian churches, and she strongly supported the separation of the church and the state, believing "that the greatest injury to the world has arisen from theological laws,-from a union of Church and State". She wrote in October 1881, The separation of church and state is a principle which proposes that the institutions of the state or national government should be kept separate from those of religious institutions. ...

Believing this country to be a political and not a religious organisation...the editor of the NATIONAL CITIZEN will use all her influence of voice and pen against "Sabbath Laws", the uses of the "Bible in School," and pre-eminently against an amendment which shall introduce "God in the Constitution." (Reference: "God in the Constitution", page 2)

In 1893, she published Woman, Church and State, a book which outlined the variety of ways in which Christianity had oppressed women and reinforced patriarchal systems. It was wide-ranging and built extensively upon arguments and ideas she had previously put forth in speeches (and in a chapter of History of Woman Suffrage which bore the same name). The Bible (Hebrew תנ״ך tanakh, Greek η Βίβλος [hē biblos] ) (sometimes The Holy Bible, The Book, Good Book, Word of God, The Word Scripture), from Greek (τα) βίβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, is the classical name for the Hebrew Bible of Judaism or the combination of the Old Testament and New Testament of Christianity (The... Michelangelos depiction of God in the painting Creation of the Sun and Moon in the Sistine Chapel This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and derived henotheistic forms. ... 1893 (MDCCCXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... Patriarchy (from Greek: patria meaning father and arché meaning rule) is the anthropological term used to define the sociological condition where male members of a society tend to predominate in positions of power; with the more powerful the position, the more likely it is that a male will hold that...

Views on social issues

Like many other suffragists, Gage considered abortion a regrettable tragedy, although her views on the subject were more complex than simple opposition, and may seem confusing to those familiar with the modern abortion debate. In 1868, she wrote a letter to The Revolution (a women's rights paper edited by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Parker Pillsbury), supporting the typical women's rights view of the time that abortion was an institution supported, dominated and furthered by men. Gage wrote: 1868 (MDCCCLXVIII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar or a leap year starting on Friday of the 12-day-slower Julian calendar. ... Parker Pillsbury (September 22, 1809 - 1898) was an American advocate for abolition and womens rights. ...

"The short article on "Child Murder" in your paper of March 12th touched a subject which lies deeper down in woman's wrongs than any other. This is the denial of the right to herself ... nowhere has the marital union of the sexes been one in which woman has had control over her own body.

Enforced motherhood is a crime against the body of the mother and the soul of the child....But the crime of abortion is not one in which the guilt lies solely or even chiefly with the woman....I hesitate not to assert that most of this crime of "child murder," "abortion," "infanticide," lies at the door of the male sex.

Many a woman has laughed a silent, derisive laugh at the decisions of eminent medical and legal authorities, in cases of crimes committed against her as a woman. Never, until she sits as juror on such trials, will or can just decisions be rendered." (Reference: "Is Woman Her Own?" pages 215-216.)

While Gage opposed abortion on principle, blaming it on the 'selfish desire' of husbands to maintain their wealth by reducing their offspring, her letter called not for the outlawing of abortions, but for the turning of the decision over to the woman in question. Gage was quite concerned with the rights of a woman over her own life and body. In 1881 she wrote, on the subject of divorce: March 12 is the 71st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (72nd in Leap years). ... Divorce or dissolution of marriage is YOUR MUM the ending of a marriage before the death of either spouse, which can be contrasted with an annulment which is a declaration that a marriage is void, though the effects of marriage may be recognized in such unions, such as spousal support...

"When they preach as does Rev. Crummell, of "the hidden mystery of generation, the wondrous secret of propagated life, committed to the trust of woman," they bring up a self-evident fact of nature which needs no other inspiration, to show the world that the mother, and the not the father, is the true head of the family, and that she should be able to free herself from the adulterous husband, keeping her own body a holy temple for its divine-human uses, of which as priestess and holder of the altar she alone should have control. (Reference: "A Sermon Against Woman," page 2.)

Works about Native Americans in the United States by Lewis Henry Morgan and Henry Rowe Schoolcraft also influenced Gage. She decried the brutal treatment of Native Americans in her writings and public speeches. She was angered that the Federal government of the United States attempted to confer citizenship (including suffrage) upon Native Americans (who, Gage argued, opposed taxation, and generally did not seek citizenship) while still withholding the vote from women. She wrote in 1878: An Atsina named Assiniboin Boy Native Americans in the United States (also known as Indians, American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Peoples, Aboriginal Peoples, Aboriginal Americans, Amerindians, Amerinds, or Original Americans) are the indigenous peoples within the territory that is now encompassed by the continental United States and their descendants in... Lewis Henry Morgan (1818-1881) was an American lawyer and amateur scholar best known for his work on cultural evolution and Native Americans. ... Henry Schoolcraft Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (March 28, 1793–December 10, 1864) was an American geographer, geologist and ethnologist, noted for his early studies of Native American cultures, as well as for his discovery in 1832 of the source of the Mississippi River. ... An Atsina named Assiniboin Boy Native Americans in the United States (also known as Indians, American Indians, First Americans, Indigenous Peoples, Aboriginal Peoples, Aboriginal Americans, Amerindians, Amerinds, or Original Americans) are the indigenous peoples within the territory that is now encompassed by the continental United States and their descendants in... The U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1789 by a constitutional convention, sets down the basic framework of American government in its seven articles. ...

"That the Indians have been oppressed - are now, is true, but the United States has treaties with them, recognising them as distinct political communities, and duty towards them demands not an enforced citizenship but a faithful living up to its obligations on the part of the government." (Reference: "Indian Citizenship," page 2)

In her 1893 work Woman, Church and State she cited the Iroquois society, among others, as a 'Matriarchate' in which women had true power, noting that a system of descent through the female line and female property rights led to a more equal relationship between men and women. Gage spent time among the Iroquois and received the name Karonienhawi - "she who holds the sky" - upon her initiation into the Wolf Clan. She was admitted into the Iroquois Council of Matrons. The Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee, also known as the League of Peace and Power, Five Nations, or Six Nations) is a group of First Nations/Native Americans. ...

The Matilda effect

In 1993, historian of science Margaret W. Rossiter coined the term "Matilda effect" to describe that woman scientists often get less credit for their scientific work than they should. The Matilda effect is the contrary to the Matthew effect postulated by the famous sociologist Robert K. Merton. The Matthew effect alludes to a line spoken by the Master in Jesuss parable of the talents in the Christian Bible: For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he... This article is about the sociologist. ...

Family

Gage was the wife of Henry Hill Gage, with whom she had four children. Gage's daughter Maud married Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum. See: The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum The Wizard of Oz (1939 movie) starring Judy Garland The Wizard of Oz (stage) Stage versions starting in 1903 The Wizard of Oz (animated series) The Wizard of Oz (game) The Wizard of Oz (movie) Various film versions See also... Lyman Frank Baum (May 15, 1856 – May 6, 1919) was an American author, and the creator with illustrator W. W. Denslow of one of the most popular books ever written in American childrens literature, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. ...

Publications

Gage acted as editor of The National Citizen and Ballot Box, May 1879 - October 1881, (available on microfilm) and as editor of The Liberal Thinker, from 1890 - onwards. These publications offered her the opportunity to publish essays and opinion pieces. The following is a partial list of published works:

• "Is Woman Her Own?", published in The Revolution, April 9th 1868, ed. Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Parker Pillsbury. pp 215-216.

• "Prospectus", published in The National Citizen and Ballot Box, ed. Matilda E. J. Gage. May 1878 p 1.

• "Indian Citizenship", published in The National Citizen and Ballot Box, ed. Matilda E. J. Gage. May 1878 p 2.

• "All The Rights I Want", published in The National Citizen and Ballot Box, ed. Matilda E. J. Gage. January 1879 p 2.

• "A Sermon Against Woman", published in The National Citizen and Ballot Box, ed. Matilda E. J. Gage. September 1881 p 2.

• "God in the Constitution", published in The National Citizen and Ballot Box, ed. Matilda E. J. Gage. October 1881 p 2.

• Woman As Inventor, 1870, Fayetteville, NY: F.A. Darling

• History of Woman Suffrage, 1881, Chapters by Cady Stanton, E., Anthony, S.B., Gage, M. E. J., Harper, I.H. (published again in 1985 by Salem NH: Ayer Company)

• Woman, Church and State, 1893 (published again in 1980 by Watertowne MA: Persephone Press)

Reference

• Brammer, Leila R. "Excluded from Suffrage History: Matilda Joslyn Gage, Nineteenth Century American Feminist." 2000, Greenwood Publishing Group Inc. ISBN 0-313-30467-X ISSN: 0147-104X

• Margaret W. Rossiter: The Matthew Matilda Effect in Science. in: Social Studies of Science. Sage Publ., London 23.1993, S. 325-341. ISSN 0306-3127