Saga

. . . I won’t pretend

To be an historian, how could I, when I
have no idea

Of today’s date. Though I know we
embarked one morning early

In May, I have no idea how long ago that
was

And I don’t care. I breathe, I twist my
hair. I watch

The sea. At times it resembles an eye

But it isn’t watching me.


--from “The Distance” by Lyn Hejinian

"Of Suffragettes and Seamstresses"

A new exhibit, "Southampton Women Who Made a Difference," at the Southampton Historical Museum details the community's role in the women’s suffrage movement and recounts the contributions of various women throughout the town's history, including Lizbeth Halsey White and Abigail Fithian Halsey.

"At the entrance to the exhibition is a mannequin in a taffeta wedding dress — not a frilly white but a prim, dark plaid — standing next to an elaborate silver tea service. The dress, Ms. Stone said, belonged to Lizbeth Halsey White, the first woman to serve as the Town of Southampton’s historian, from 1923 to 1932, and a founder of the local chapter of the Daughter's of the American Revolution.

"She was also active in the movement to get women the vote, which is where the tea service comes in. To spread word of their cause, Ms. Stone said, 'One woman held a tea for 10 of her friends, and each of them was supposed to go home and have a party for 10 more friends.'"

New York Times, March 11, 2010
Arts | Long Island
Of Suffragettes and Seamstresses
By Aileen Jacobson