ABOUT THE MATILDA JOSLYN GAGE FOUNDATION
THE MISSION
The Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation is dedicated to educating current and future generations about Gage’s work and its power to drive contemporary social change.
THE HEART OF OUR MISSION
At the heart of our mission is the story of Matilda Joslyn Gage, a progressive visionary of women’s rights and human liberation and an often unacknowledged leader who, with Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote the arguments, inspired the passions and, with Susan B. Anthony, organized the political action of the 19th century woman suffrage movement in the United States.
It is the story of a woman of courage and integrity publicly defying 19th century laws that forced complicity with slavery and denied woman their autonomy and liberty – including the right to vote.
It is the story of a remarkable corner of the world, now known as Central New York, a fount of free thought and radical activism for social justice.
It is the story of Native women whose political and social equality with men in the Haudenosaunee Confederacy helped convince Gage and her contemporaries that women’s subordination was neither natural nor ordained by God.
It is the story of a woman daring to challenge a harsh, misogynist theology dominating the churches of her day, a woman who dared to suggest that all women and men had the capacity and the responsibility to think for themselves about their relationship to what Gage called the “Motherhood and Fatherhood of God”.
It is the story of Gage leading and inspiring her son-in-law, Oz author L. Frank Baum, to conclude that the path to liberation involves uncovering one’s lost courage, intelligence and compassion and that behind the curtain of tyranny stands a buffoon who has lost his way.
It is the story of how a great feminist was once nearly lost to history because her life and ideas retained their power to threaten the forces of oppression.
Lastly, it is our story, the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation, dedicated to celebrating and promoting Gage’s legacy and the continuing significance of her life, her thought, her writings and her inspiration for the present and the future.
OUR COMMITMENT TO GAGE
As Gage lived consistent with her values, our mission includes honoring her life by restoring, preserving and maintaining her home as a place where people can learn about her and her family and the life of a 19th century activist.
As Gage was an historian and scholar, our mission includes creating and sustaining a library and writings that influenced her and works of authors influenced by her–thereby making her writing and her thought available to as broad an audience as possible and inspiring new generations of feminist thinkers and activists.
As Gage was a passionate campaigner for women’s rights and dignity, our mission includes communicating the conditions of women’s lives in Gage’s lifetime and educating about the 19th century women’s rights movement, its relevance to contemporary life and the continuing work to eliminate all forms of unjust treatment of women.
As Gage was committed to ending slavery, our mission includes conducting educational programs on the abolitionists and freedom seekers of Central New York, the role and experiences of the Underground Railroad and the contributions of African Americans.
As Gage reminded her contemporaries of their special treaty obligations to the first nations of her region and was honorarily adopted into the Wolf Clan of the Mohawk Nation as “She Who Carries the Sky,” our mission includes carrying out projects that advance understanding of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Six Nation culture and the meaning and history of Native sovereignty.
As Gage was part of a much broader community of social activists in the Finger Lakes/Central New York region devoted to abolition, women’s rights, free thought and the separation of Church and State, our mission includes promoting an understanding of our region as a wellspring of progressive social change, advancing the idea that this legacy is something in which to take pride and on which to build our region’s future.
As Gage was the mother-in-law of L. Frank Baum and an inspiration to him, our mission includes promoting an understanding of the Oz legacy and its cultural significance and peace and social justice themes.
Our staff
Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner Founder/Co-Executive Director
Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner Founder/Co-Executive Director
Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner Founder/Co-Executive Director
Awarded one of the first doctorates in the country for work in women’s studies (UC Santa Cruz) and a founder of one of the first college-level women’s studies program in the United States (CSU Sacramento), Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner currently serves as an adjunct faculty member in The Renée Crown University Honors Program, Syracuse Universi
Awarded one of the first doctorates in the country for work in women’s studies (UC Santa Cruz) and a founder of one of the first college-level women’s studies program in the United States (CSU Sacramento), Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner currently serves as an adjunct faculty member in The Renée Crown University Honors Program, Syracuse University and the St. John Fisher Executive Leadership Program.
Dr. Wagner was selected as one of “21 Leaders for the 21st Century” by Women’s E-News in 2015.
Founder and Executive Director of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Center for Social Justice Dialogue in Fayetteville, NY. and author of articles on historic house museums, she received the Katherine Coffey Award for outstanding service to museology from the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums in 2012.
Heather Allison Waters Co-Executive Director
Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner Founder/Co-Executive Director
Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner Founder/Co-Executive Director
Heather Allison Waters was raised in Fayetteville and returned in 2016, the same year she placed her November voting sticker on Matilda's memorial headstone in the Fayetteville Cemetery. A trained mediator and experienced major gift and capital campaign fundraiser, Heather has worked in the arts and culture and education sectors on four c
Heather Allison Waters was raised in Fayetteville and returned in 2016, the same year she placed her November voting sticker on Matilda's memorial headstone in the Fayetteville Cemetery. A trained mediator and experienced major gift and capital campaign fundraiser, Heather has worked in the arts and culture and education sectors on four continents. She is proud to have helped to create the Lender Center for Social Justice at Syracuse University. She holds a BA from Mount Holyoke College and an MS from Columbia University. Like Matilda, she is an advocate for the separation of state and religion, and she swore in on the code book when she was elected to the Manlius Town Board in 2019.
Vanessa Johnson Artist-in-Residence
Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner Founder/Co-Executive Director
Vanessa Johnson Artist-in-Residence
Vanessa has been working in partnership with the Gage Foundation for two decades, including as leader of the Gage Ambassador Program. Vanessa was named as one of New York State's "Creatives ReBuild" recipients and will work with the Foundation through 2024 to engage community audiences in programs, performances, and interactive exhibits t
Vanessa has been working in partnership with the Gage Foundation for two decades, including as leader of the Gage Ambassador Program. Vanessa was named as one of New York State's "Creatives ReBuild" recipients and will work with the Foundation through 2024 to engage community audiences in programs, performances, and interactive exhibits that have not had access to the Gage Center because of geographic distance, the lack of transportation, and a perception that the Gage Center is not relative to people of color communities. “I am excited to continue my 22-year partnership with The Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation, including the stories of Women of Color in its histories of women in social justice movements.” Vanessa is an experienced Griot, a storyteller in the West African tradition. She is a creative mixed media textile artist, and teaches sewing and fiber arts to youth. Vanessa is a writer and playwright, as well as an actor and performing artist. Visit Vanessa's website, https://www.vanessajohnsonstoryteller.com/ for info on her storytells, one woman shows, workshops, and diaspora travel opportunities.