SENECA FALLS — On a spring-like day in the middle of winter, they came by the thousands to the Birthplace of the Women’s Rights Movement.
Young and old. Women and men. Perhaps as many as 10,000. Wearing gold and purple and white. All marching to protect, preserve and defend women’s rights and human rights.
And, in a less-than-subtle subtext, they came to protest the views and projected policies of President Donald J. Trump, which they feel threaten many hard-won rights for women and minorities.
Thruway Exit 41 was backed up with cars carrying people trying to get to Saturday’s Women March in Seneca Falls. People jammed onto Fall and Mynderse streets surrounding the First Amendment Park at the Women’s Rights National Historical Park.
After opening remarks there, they marched down Fall Street to State Street to South Park and down Cayuga Street to the First Presbyterian Church, the site where Alice Paul made her famous call for an Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution in 1923 — at that time it was the 75th anniversary of the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls..
Reina Apraez, a 2011 graduate of William Smith College in Geneva, came with three friends from Syracuse, the city she now calls home.
“There was a march in Syracuse, too, but we felt it was important to go to this historic site where the fight for women’s rights began, to have our voices join with others to influence policy,” Apraez said. “The election concerns me. My health care should not change because of my sex. Immigrants should not be deported without an awareness of their contributions to the country. We should not be dealing with bigotry.
“It’s scary to think all the progress we’ve made could all go away. There’s a sense of urgency and many don’t feel safe under Trump.”
Apraez said another fear of hers is that a far-right-leaning judge will be appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court when Congressional Republicans ignored President Barack Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland.
Sally White of Syracuse sat on a pew in the restored Wesleyan Chapel building.
“I’m here to stand up for women’s rights,” she said. “I’m very worried by the harsh voices we’ve heard from the new administration and its supporters.”
White said minorities, women, children, immigrants and others are all in a new, more threatening environment — as is the environment itself.
“There’s no question there a sense of urgency under Donald Trump,” White said.
“It’s frightening,” she added, shaking her head.
Kathy Rhodes, who teaches in the Bloomfield school district and lives in that Ontario County community, is worried of the threat public education faces.
“I’ve been apolitical most of my life,” Rhodes said. “Now, I feel a sense of duty to enter the fight for what made this country great, including our public schools.
“It’s hard when you hear all the talk of divisiveness and hate that is now part of regular conversations. It’s scary.”
As far the Affordable Care Act, Rhodes believes it can be fixed, but should not be repealed.
“The environment took a front seat under President Obama,” Rhodes added. “It will take a back seat under President Trump, I fear.”
Rich Stewart of Penn Yan, who was sporting an Obama cap, said he came to Seneca Falls “to be with a group who feel the same way I feel.”
“I feel a need to do something to survive the next two to four years,” Stewart said.
Stewart said Trump has “not been held responsible for divisive language and nominating a Cabinet that is very right wing.”
Katie Smith of Corning held a sign saying “He Will Not Divide Us.”
“I came here today because I believe that rights for women should not be threatened,” Smith said, emphatically. “We’re here today because we mean business. It bothers me that fear and ignorance won. It takes a lot of hard work to get equality, and it can all be backed down by Trump and Congress.
“Being in Seneca Falls is inspiring,” she added. “This is where it started.”
Rally organizers Becky Bly of Seneca Falls and Melina Carnicelli of Auburn welcomed the crowd, marveling at its sheer size.
“You are here continuing what was done here in 1848,” Bly said.
”We are here in solidarity with thousands of women in Washington and all over the country and world who are marching today to uplift the status of women and to say we will never support diminishing freedoms,” Carnicelli said to the cheering crowd. “We won’t be bullied into silence. This is a call to action to be activists.”
Marilyn Tedeschi, president of the Friends of the Women’s Rights National Historical Park, called Seneca Falls “sacred ground” and suggested women and men meet monthly in the park to “speak truth about topics of importance.”
Sally Roesch Wagner of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation said she hoped Saturday’s rallies all over the country and world would ”start the biggest grassroots movement the world has ever seen.”
“There were 200 buses for the Inauguration,” she noted. “There were 1,200 buses bringing people to the Women’s March in Washington today. Either we shape our future or it will be shaped for us. We’ve come too far to turn back in our fight for liberty and justice for all.”
Wagner cautioned that activists will be in for ”tough times” in the next four years.
“But we are the majority and we can’t let the minority take away our rights,” she continued. “We must push back and we will win. This is what democracy looks like.”
At the church, the site of a post-march rally, a large Jumbotron was set up so the massive throng outside could see and hear the speakers inside. Walking to the area behind the church, Lacey Race of Auburn was emotional in trying to describe her feelings after Trump’s election.
“I was at a peaceful place under President Obama. Now, my world has changed,” she said. “I will miss President Obama. He is a kind and gracious man, unlike his successor.”
On the Jumbotron, organizers replayed Hillary Clinton’s speech in Seneca Falls for the Celebrate ’98 observance of the 150th anniversary of the first women’s rights convention. Her remarks were cheered as she talked about the women and men at the 1848 convention and the need to carry on their work.
A photo of Obama drew large cheers.
“This is not a Hate Trump rally,” Bly said inside the church, “but a look at what democracy looks like.”
Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner said she wouldn’t be the first woman elected mayor of one of the state’s five largest cities if it wasn’t for what happened in Seneca Falls in 1848.
“This is a hallowed place,” she proclaimed. “Those women dreamed of an inconceivable world for that time.
“Many of us were surprised and even ashamed at what happened on Election Day. The world we thought we knew suddenly didn’t exist.”
Referring to the Declaration of Sentiments, which is based on the Declaration of Independence, Miner said people must overcome the disappointment and redouble their efforts to work hard for their values.
“Those values are meaningless if you don’t stand up for them,” she said.
Signs were plentiful Saturday.
Hear Me Roar. Make Empathy Great Again. Repealing the ACA Hurts America. We Will Not Go Quietly into the 1920s. A Toddler for Tolerance on a stroller. Bridges, Not Walls. You Can’t Comb Over Misogyny. Quality men support equality. Strong people stand up for themselves; stronger people stand up for others.
Many chanted “Love, Not Hate. That’s What Makes America Great.”
The message delivered on a sunny, unseasonably warm day was unmistakably loud and clear.
