NYSCSS - Grand Opening Matilda Joslyn Gage Center

Dear Friends,

After a hold-your-breath harrowing restoration experience, we are back in the saddle and moving forward with plans for our Grand Opening Weekend.
Here are highlights of the schedule so you can start your planning. More details to come!

October 8-10 (Friday, Saturday, & Sunday), 2010

Grand Opening of the

Matilda Joslyn Gage Center

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8

A DAY OF WINE AND WOMEN'S RIGHTS

Bus tour

to the newly restored Susan B. Anthony House in Rochester, N.Y.
E
ntertainment enroute. Lunch with program "From Friendship to Fighting to Friendship," a dialogue between Deborah Hughes, Executive Director of the Susan B. Anthony House, and Sally Roesch Wagner, Executive Director of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Center, about the conflict between the two famous suffragists that tore apart their friendship and collaboration.

Deborah and Sally like each other, and through their friendship they are healing history. Out of that healing comes energy to transform the world through honest, sometimes painful dialogue, which is at the heart of the Gage interpretive plan. T

oday, the Gage and Anthony homes are the eastern and western anchors on the Votes for Women Trail in upstate New York, and their directors are working, through dialogue, to create a coherent story to tell of the split in the women's movement that changed the course of our history.

Followed by tour and wine tasting reception at Casa Larga Vineyards in Fairport, N.Y.

DINNER & EVENING PROGRAM IN FAYETTEVILLE.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 9

10-4 PROGRAMS INCLUDE:

Rosemary Rickard Hill -Taught the traditional Mohawk and Tuscarora beadwork by her grandmothers, Rosemary will demonstrate and discuss the "whimsy" pieces she has created for the Grand Opening exhibit, a folkart sold as souveniers at Niagara Falls during Gage's time.

Michael Patrick Hearn - The foremost authority on L. Frank Baum will speak about the influence of Gage on the peace and justice world of Oz.

Judy Wellman - The definitive authority on Underground Railroad and Women's Rights in upstate New York will explain the importance of the Gage Home in the U.S. history of reform.
Martha Burk - Money editor for Ms. magazine and co-founder of the Center for Advancement of Public Policy.

Vanessa Johnson - A griot (African American storyteller), Vanessa will explore Gage's role in the history of the abolition movement in Onondaga County and share her primary research on the connection between the Underground Railroad and members of the Onondaga Nation community.

DINNER & EVENING PROGRAM

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 10

10-1 BRUNCH & AUCTION
At the elegant Wellington House in Fayetteville, N.Y.

1:30-4 OFFICIAL GRAND OPENING
Ceremony at the Gage Home, Fayetteville, N.Y.
Guests of Honor:
--Gage Descendants
--Haudenosaunee Guests
--International Wizard of Oz Club Representatives
--Underground Railroad Representatives
--Dignitaries
--Those who helped make the Gage Center dream a reality

EXHIBITS INCLUDE:

Tuscarora Beadwork & Cultural Identity - 10 original pieces of traditional Tuscarora beadwork (whimsies) created for our Grand Opening by internationally noted beadwork artist Rosemary Rickard Hill.

A 19th-Century Whimsy - On loan from the Iroquois Museum.

The Creation of the Ruth Putter Welcome Center & Matilda Joslyn Gage Center -
Photographic documentation of the construction project by artist Ruth Putter.

Yellow Brick Road Quilt Display -Two dozen handmade quilts featuring Oz themes and characters created by the Towpath Quilters Guild and Calico Gals especially for the Gage Foundation

ENTERTAINMENT:

The Eagle Hill Middle School Girl's Chorus under the direction of Catherine A. Kochperforming suffrage and abolition songs that were sung by Gage and her contemporaries.

Local musician/activist Colleen Kattau performing her original composition, a tribute to Gage, with the Eagle Hill Middle School Girl's Chorus.

A chamber music performance of two original compositions by Diane Jones and Nikolas Jeleniauskas commissioned by The Society for New Music about the life and philosophies of Gage for the Grand Opening weekend.

The Matie Masie Ensemble will perform "Words Sweeter than Mother, Home or Heaven," a musical tribute to the life of Matilda Joslyn Gage composed by Kofi Kari Kari, a Master Drummer, musician and composer from Ghana, West Africa. Under the direction of griot (storyteller in the West African tradition) and singer Vanessa Johnson.

Dancers.

APPROACHED, NOT CONFIRMED:

Jake Swamp to plant the Tree of Peace.
Reception to celebrate the meeting of Gage descendents and Mohawk relatives.
Formal reception for Haudenosaunee Women.
The Akwesasne Women Singers.

ACCOMMODATIONS

Contact the hotel of your choice and tell the operator you are reserving your space as part of the Gage Center Group in order to get the reduced rate.

Craftsman Inn - (315) 637-8000
Block of 10 rms available - each room $99 plus tax
Hotel contact person: Ashley Havrilla
7300 East Genesee Street
Fayetteville, NY 13066

Holiday Inn Express - (315) 373-0123
Block of 15 rooms available - each room $115.00 plus tax, includes breakfast
Hotel contact person: Bethany Engle
5908 Widewaters Parkway
East Syracuse, NY 13057