National Organization for Women-NYS Headed for Seneca Falls

ALBANY, NY (10/29/2007)(readMedia)-- Seneca Falls, New York is the site for the 2008 NOW New York State Convention.

On October 27, at a convention in Ronkonkoma, New York, NOW-New York State members voted to hold their annual convention at Seneca Falls, NY, the site of the first ever women's rights convention, held in 1848. At the recent NOW-NYS Convention in Ronkonkoma, NY, Rochester NOW President Alberta Roesser read aloud from Seneca Falls Mayor Diane Smith's invitation to convene in her city next year. Her words inspired NOW members to approve Seneca Falls as the next convention site.

The Mayor wrote: “Ironically, in this hallowed place, the location of both the National Women’s Hall of Fame and the Women’s Rights National Historical Park, residents here have not been so quick to embrace our foremothers’ ideals. Through hard work and relentlessness, I was elected the first female Mayor in 2004. It took a century and a half before this could happen in Seneca Falls!” Smith's powerful words continued: “With your help, I'd like to stand up and declare that there is no better place to celebrate the contributions of women than in the birthplace of women’s rights; and there is no better way to commemorate the 160th anniversary of the First Convention than to host the National Organization for Women, and to begin a new NOW Chapter in historic Seneca Falls.”

The date of convention will be determined in the near future. In a recent interview NOW-NYS President Marcia A. Pappas remarked: “With the hard work and dedication of NOW members and supporters, we will be thrilled to celebrate in Seneca Falls not only the 160th anniversary of the first women’s rights convention, but also, most probably the election of our first ever woman president, Hillary Rodham Clinton. What better place could there be!”

The National Organization for Women is the largest women’s rights organization in the United States, comprised of over a half million contributing members arranged in twenty-three local chapters with over forty thousand supporters throughout New York State.

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