Education Unit Highlights Seneca Falls Pioneer

Catharine Paine Blaine: Seneca Falls and the Women’s Rights Movement in the State of Washington(http://www.nps.gov/wori/forteachers/otherresources.htm) is a new on-lineeducational unit that explores the development of ideals espoused in SenecaFalls and carried by Blaine to the new territory and state of Washington.The on-line resource meets New York State educational standards withactivities for elementary, middle and high school students. An extensiveset of on-line documents, including local maps and objects from the SenecaCounty Historian and the Seneca Falls Historical Society, support thelessons. A related temporary exhibit is on display at Women’s RightsNational Historical Park, 136 Fall Street, Seneca Falls, through December.Catharine Paine Blaine was a woman of firsts. A Seneca Falls, N.Y. native,she was one of two teen-agers to sign the Declaration of Sentiments issuedfrom the First Woman’s Rights Convention in July, 1848 and adopted theBloomer Costume of short skirts over long pants. In 1853, she and herhusband David were the first Methodist missionaries to the tiny settlementof Seattle. In January, 1854, she opened Seattle’s first school andregistered to vote in Washington Territory in 1883, long before her sisterin New York could do so.The educational unit and exhibit were developed by the Washington StateHistorical Society in conjunction with Women’s Rights National HistoricalPark with funds provided by the National Park Service North East RegionChallenge-Cost Share Program.Women’s Rights National Historical Park exists to commemorate and preservethe story of the First Women’s Rights Convention and historical structuresassociated with it in Seneca Falls and Waterloo, New York. All public toursand programs are free and open to the public.Photo provided. Photo credit:Catharine Paine and David E. Blaine, 1853. University of WashingtonSpecial Collections.