In April 1916, two friends, Nell Richardson and Alice Burke, hopped in a car for a five-month journey across the United States. Their kitten, Saxon, came too. This was no vacation, but an effort to win nationwide support for women's suffrage — the right to vote.

In 1916, it was unusual for women to drive at all. Nevertheless, Richardson and Burke traveled over 10,000 miles, with stops in New Orleans, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis, Chicago, and Detroit.^1 Saxon won adoring fans, proving that cats don't need YouTube to be famous.

If you're looking for an unusual girlfriend getaway in upstate New York, why not follow in their footsteps? Get in the car and plan a women's rights road trip to significant sites in suffrage history. Bringing your kitten is optional.

Girls Weekend Destination #1: Rochester, New York

Susan B. Anthony did something shocking in 1872: She voted in the presidential election. As a woman, she was forbidden to vote, so she was arrested and fined $100. Instead of being discouraged, Anthony began touring the country and speaking about the incident. "It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union," she famously said.² 

Begin your women's rights road trip in Rochester at the National Susan B. Anthony Museum and House.  See where Anthony had tea with abolitionist Frederick Douglass and visit the parlor where she was arrested for the crime of voting. In nearby Canandaigua is the courthouse where Anthony proudly declared she would not pay a penny of her $100 fine.  She never did.

Anthony’s gravesite in Rochester’s Mt. Hope Cemetery became a pilgrimage spot in November 2016, when hundreds of women placed their “I Voted” stickers on Anthony’s stone after the presidential election.³ The stickers have since been cleared away, but visitors can still visit Anthony, who didn’t live long enough to see women win the vote.

Girls Weekend Destination #2: Seneca Falls, New York

An hour east of Rochester, Seneca Falls is known as the gateway to the Finger Lakes. It's also the site of a monumental event: the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention. This was the first time in history when women assembled to formally declare that they were tired of being treated as inferior to men. "The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man toward woman, having in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her," the convention-goers wrote in their Declaration of Sentiments.⁴

Time your girls' weekend to the Convention Days, held in Seneca Falls each July. The event includes art and history exhibits, house tours, readings and a women's suffrage procession. Bring your banner and dress in period attire, if you happen to have any bloomers in the back of the closet.

The Women's Rights National Historical Park is a small but profoundly moving museum that tells the story of the convention and the women who shaped the nation's women's rights movement. It includes the white farmhouse that was the home of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, a pioneer in women's suffrage. A mother of seven, Stanton wrote fiery speeches for Anthony but stayed at home to raise her children — making her feel, she wrote, like a "caged lioness."⁵ At the end of your tour, raise a glass to the suffragists on the Cayuga Lake Wine Trail.

Girls Weekend Destination #3: Syracuse, New York

Less famous than Anthony and Stanton, but just as fascinating, is Matilda Joslyn Gage. With her husband, Gage was an active abolitionist whose house was a stop on the Underground Railroad. She argued passionately for women's suffrage and the separation of church and state. Not only that, but she was adopted into the wolf clan of the Mohawk nation and encouraged her son-in-law, L. Frank Baum, to write, "The Wizard of Oz." Her gravestone reads, "There is a word sweeter than Mother, Home, or Heaven; that word is Liberty."⁶

As part of your girlfriends getaway, visit the Gage Home in Syracuse, just an hour east of Seneca Falls, to see artifacts from Gage's astonishing life. It's a fun museum that invites visitors to explore. "Everywhere there is something to read, to touch, and try — and when you're all finished, you get to head into the cheekiest gift shop of all time," writes Bustle. On the "Equal Pay Table," all items are $1 for men, 77 cents for women.

Women’s Rights Road Trip Destination: Woodlawn Cemetery, New York

Woodlawn Cemetery, a historic burying ground in the Bronx, is the final resting place of many important figures in women’s suffrage and civil rights. You’ll find Stanton’s grave along with others, including:

• Carrie Chapman Catt, who took over as president of the National American Woman Suffrage Association in 1900, when Anthony stepped down. Once women won the right to vote, Catt didn’t rest! she established the League of Women Voters, an organization that’s still working today.⁷
• Mary Garrett Hay, Catt’s dear friend and contemporary, who traveled all over the United States starting suffrage groups. She’s buried next to Catt, and they share a headstone: “Here lie two, united in friendship for 38 years through constant service to a great cause."⁸
• Elizabeth Cochran Seaman — best known by her pen name, Nellie Bly — who was one of America’s most famous investigative journalists. She wrote about suffrage, mental health treatment, and other pressing issues.

One last thing — before you leave for your NY girls’ weekend, remember to protect your vacation from common travel mishaps with travel insurance. Travel happy!

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