View New Film: "Women Rising: The Scarsdale Suffragists"

Women Rising: The Scarsdale Suffragists tells the little-known story of the courageous women behind the suffrage movement in Scarsdale and how their work shaped the community.

Women Rising features trailblazers like Florence Bethell who lectured, wrote, marched and lobbied for womens’ right to vote - at a village, state and national level. In the face of apathetic and sometimes hostile attitudes toward women’s suffrage, the women used creative approaches to educate Scarsdale women on suffrage - from porch parties to suffrage dances. 

Their cause was closely tied to service projects that left a lasting legacy on this village. Not only did they publish the Scarsdale Inquirer newspaper, but the women initiated many of Scarsdale’s most important civic and arts programs. Among the organizations the suffragists and committees of the Woman's Club sparked or expanded are the Scarsdale League of Women Voters, the Scarsdale Foundation, the Scarsdale Ambulance Corp, Scarsdale Edgemont Family Counseling Services, and many more. 

Women Rising is narrated by trustee and Associate Scarsdale Village Historian historian Leslie Chang and includes interviews with Barbara Davis, Director of the Westchester County Historical Society, Linda Leavitt, former Editor-in-Chief of the Scarsdale Inquirer, Scarsdale Public Library Local History Librarian, Daniel Glauber, and Nancy Horrigan, Archivist for the Scarsdale Woman’s Club. The film is written and directed by Lesley Topping and produced by the Scarsdale Historical Society. 

A suffrage exhibit is also on display at the Scarsdale Public Library through January. The entire collection of our films can be viewed here.