Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, our May 9th NHS Second Saturday Tour: Women of Wisdom & Grit originally scheduled for Saturday May 9th at 10:00am, will be postponed until a later date TBD. Stay healthy and be well! Please stay tuned for a virtual look at the tour on our Facebook page soon.
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NHS May Second Saturday Tour: Women of Wisdom & Grit; A Women’s Heritage Walking Tour of Yantic Cemetery

The Victorian Age (1837-1901) was a great time of innovation, prosperity and enlightenment which fed emerging social reforms resulting in unprecedented change for our country.

By the later part of the 1800s, the women’s movement, which emerged with the first woman’s rights convention at Seneca Falls, NY in 1848, had grown and evolved into national organizations with a focus on specific themes which included woman’s suffrage, universal temperance, improved educational and career opportunities for woman, and equality under the law.

Popular magazines of the time routinely ran articles which drew attention to women’s issues. Displayed advertisements featured the newest clothing styles designed to complement the lifestyle of the “new woman”.

Throughout its long history, Norwich citizens, especially its women, have been in the forefront of this nation’s evolving political and cultural changes. In 1938, the Connecticut League of Woman Voters recognized Annie Huntington Brewer and Mary Jane Rogers, both native Norwich Suffragettes, for their significant national contribution to woman’s suffrage and gaining their right to vote.

Other examples of notable Norwich woman include Emily Davies and Fanny Palmer who founded the United Workers in 1878, now called United Community and Family Services. Gertrude Haile Lanman is credited with bringing a branch of the Red Cross to Norwich. She was also influential in having the Uncas of Thames Hospital built in Norwich.

On May 9th at 10am, the Norwich Historical Society will host a walking tour of Yantic Cemetery and discuss these and many other “Women of Wisdom & Grit” who embodied the “New Women” who lived here in Norwich during the Victorian Age.

This tour is in celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Women’s Suffrage Movement.

Note: Tour will meet by the Map in the Yantic Cemetery.
Parking: There is limited parking in the Cemetery so please park on nearby side streets.
No dogs please.
The tour will last roughly 1 1/2 hours and will be 1 mile in length on an even path.