MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE (New York, 1826_1898)
referred to as
“the woman who was ahead of the women who were ahead of their time,”
American author, activist, and lecturer
fought for
abolition of slavery
women's rights
Native Americans' rights
Family
mother: historian
father: doctor and abolitionist
made his home a station of the Underground Railroad
a network of routes, places, and people to help black slaves to escape from the South to the North of the US.
prepared Matilda to enter medical school
she was refused admission because she was a woman
husband: Henry Gage
5 children
Matilda did the same, even if she risked prison
career as activist
1850: started writing for newspapers
1869: helped found the New York State Woman Suffrage Association
President for 9 years
1870: wrote “Woman as Inventor"
she credited Catherine Littlefield Greene with the invention of the cotton gin (machine used in cotton plantations)
1890: formed the Woman’s National Liberal Union (WNLU)
because she didn't agree with conservative views in WNLU
supported women's rights
protested against the hypocrisy of the Statue of Liberty
a woman representing liberties that women didn't have
criticized the patriarchy and misogyny of the Church
advocated the right to divorce and reproductive autonomy
praised the way Native Americans treated men and women equally
supported Native American's rights
criticized the treatment of Native Americans by the federal government.
They gave her the name Karonienhawi (“she who holds the sky.” )
Matilda effect
term coined by scientist Margaret Rossiter in the 1990s
when women scientists receive less or no credit for their work in the field.
influenced reform movements in the United States