The NYS Canal System and Crescent Boat Club
A Rich History Together
Floating Ideas: How the Erie Canal Helped Shape America examines the spread of ideas along the Erie Canal, with an emphasis on women’s rights, suffrage, and the quest for social justice. The film threads together movements to end slavery and secure women’s right to vote. Themes include: the influence of the Haudenosaunee on suffragists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Matilda Joslyn Gage; the women left out of the suffrage narrative who faced voting barriers despite the passage of the 19th Amendment; and expanding opportunities for women today.
