City of Rochester
News Release
(Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017) – Mayor Lovely A. Warren has released a video documenting the historic event of Nov. 8, 2016, that occurred in Rochester, when thousands of people from across the country paid respects to women’s rights icon Susan B. Anthony after having the opportunity to vote for a woman for president.
“10,000 people came to Mount Hope Cemetery on Election Day – the same number who attended Susan B. Anthony’s funeral in 1906,” said Lovely A. Warren, the first female Mayor of Rochester. “It was because of Susan B. Anthony and women like her that so many other women and I were able to get to where we are today. To see so many people come out to honor her on that historic day was a true testament to how much progress we have made, but also, a reminder of how much work we have to do.”
On Election Day, Mount Hope Cemetery was open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., and coverage of the event went viral on social media, attracting viewers worldwide.
The video, produced by the City of Rochester Communications Bureau, features two women who served in the military during World War II and were born before women had the right to vote. “I still think we have a way to go, but I would say we’re fighting our way through that ceiling and to have a woman up there even running as a president is pretty fantastic and it’s about time,” Lillian Gilbert, who served as an Army nurse during World War II, said on the video.
The video, which can be viewed at www.facebook.com/CityofRochesterNY, is part of a campaign to commemorate the 100th anniversary of women gaining the right to vote in New York State. Representatives from close to 30 different cultural and educational institutions, including the City of Rochester, are working together to plan programs and events to celebrate the centennial.
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News Media: For more information contact Press Officer Jessica Alaimo at 428-7135. Raw video is available for download at https://cityofrochester.smugmug.com/City-Departments-1/Communications-Bureau/Because-of-Her-Video/n-9SHDbd.