Constance Mandeville hosts "Fireside Chat" on Elizabeth Smith Miller's life April 10 at CCC

Apr. 3—PLATTSBURGH — A "Fireside Chat" on the Life of Elizabeth Smith, an influential American advocate and financial supporter of the women's rights movement, will be presented April 10 at noon by Constance Mandeville, former Clinton Community College history adjunct and Assemblyman D. Billy Jones' chief of staff.

The event will be held in the Moore Building, Second Floor Atrium, at CCC.

Elizabeth Smith Miller was the daughter of Gerrit Smith, businessman, philanthropist, Congressional Representative, abolitionist and founder of Timbuctoo in North Elba, and his second wife, Ann Carroll Fitzhugh.

The Smith home in Peterboro was a station on the Underground Railroad, according to nps.gov. Her mother, Ann Fitzhugh Smith frequently traveled the area in a closed carriage. On these trips she was often "replaced" by a veiled fugitive on her way to Canada.

Elizabeth was born Sept. 20, 1822, and in 1843 she married Charles Dudley Miller and moved to Geneva, N.Y.

"I was introduced to Elizabeth Smith Miller when I was an undergrad because she helped found the college I went to," Mandeville said.

"I went to Hobart and William Smith. So, William Smith College was founded by William Smith, and it was because Elizabeth Smith Miller and her daughter Anne (Fitzhugh Miller) convinced him to finance and open up a women's college in 1908 in Geneva."

There, Mandeville majored in history and women's studies and did a senior honors project on the dynamic mother-and-daughter duo.

"That's when I found out that Elizabeth Smith Miller's, cousin was Elizabeth Cady Stanton and that they were pen pals for a good portion of their lives and visited each other. The Library of Congress has these suffrage scrapbooks. Her and her daughter created them, and they covered a lot of the national and statewide suffrage movement. They're all available online, and is a really good record of the suffrage movement. That's a big part of their legacy are these scrapbooks. They are very, very, very detailed. They take a very long time to go through, but they have a lot of different primary sources just like newspaper clippings, letters with their friends. It's a very good documentation of the suffrage movement, and you can kind of see it from their perspective."

In 1837, Elizabeth Smith and her cousin Elizabeth Cady, and others, were introduced to the fugitive slave Harriet Powell and afforded the opportunity to speak with her for hours about her experiences, according to nps.gov.

Such meetings were arranged by Gerrit Smith to introduce his family and friends to the realities of slave life, and thereby encourage them to be involved in abolitionist efforts.

Miller is best known for the fact that she first wore the costume of Turkish pantaloons and knee length skirt popularized by Amelia Bloomer in The Lily.

Reportedly, she began wearing the outfit after seeing this type of clothing on a trip to Europe. The "Bloomer" costume was worn for some time by most of the leaders in the women's rights movement.

"She was one of the first people to wear Bloomers," Mandeville said.

"That was a big thing, and she wore them in D.C. when her father, Gerrit was in Congress. You could just tell she really cared about other people. I started from her connection to the Underground Railroad because of her dad, and she kind of just continued that, and you saw that with her kids, like her daughter, her involvement in the women's suffrage movement.

"They started the Political Equality Club in Geneva, which was kind of just like a human rights club, a progressive type club. They were definitely more of a society type people where they had a very large house on the lake and they hosted many people there. They were more philanthropic and more involved with progressive issues. Peace, too. Peace was big thing for them. World peace."

This free event is open to students, staff, faculty, administrators, and the public, providing an invaluable opportunity for the community to come together and learn about an inspirational figure in American history. Attendees can anticipate a thought-provoking dialogue that delves into Miller's achievements and lasting legacy.

The "Fireside Chat" presentation is proudly sponsored by Clinton Community College's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee and Cultural Affairs Committee, underscoring the college's commitment to fostering dialogue and understanding on issues of historical importance and social justice, according to a press release.

Email: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com

Twitter@RobinCaudell