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Visitors can explore the park, and learn about the widespread movements that grew around Seneca Falls.
NPS / Karen Haas
Join us July 17-19, 2026 as we commemorate the 178th anniversary of the 1848 Women's Rights Convention!
Unfinished Resolutions
Women’s Rights National Historical Park is thrilled to announce the 178th Convention Days on July 17-19, 2026! This beloved community event commemorates the 178th anniversary of the writing of the Declaration of Sentiments and 1848 Women’s Rights Convention in Seneca Falls and neighboring Waterloo, New York, which gave rise to the American women’s rights movement.
In recognition of the American Semiquincentennial of independence on July 4, 2026 – celebrating freedom and 250 years since the nation’s founding – the theme of Convention Days 2026 is “Unfinished Resolutions.” Revolutionary women like the five convention organizers: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Martha Coffin Wright, Mary Ann M’Clintock, and Jane Hunt, did not wait passively for rights to be granted. They organized, protested, wrote their own Declaration of Sentiments asserting that “all men and women are created equal,” and risked ridicule and reprisal for insisting on women’s rights. Their legacy continues through the ongoing fight for universal rights and equality, which is not defined by what has already been resolved, but through collective willingness to confront what remains unfinished, 250 years later.
Join Women’s Rights National Historical Park this July 17-19, 2026 for special guest speakers, living history programs, ranger programs, family games and activities, and so much more, as we celebrate both revolutionary ideals and carry on the work of “unfinished resolutions.”
Patrick Steshorn of the Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor.
Erie Canal National Heritage Cooridor
Waterway of Change: 200 Years of the Erie Canal
Friday, July 17 - 11am at the Elizabeth Cady Stanton House
Saturday, July 18 - 10am at the Elizabeth Cady Stanton House
Back by popular demand, Patrick Stenshorn (Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor) will offer his walking tour: “Waterway of Change: 200 Years of the Erie Canal” on Friday, July 17 at 11am and again on Saturday, July 18 at 10am. The tour will launch from the Elizabeth Cady Stanton House, and include a ¼-mile walking tour with uneven terrain, stairs, and standing along the canal lock. An accessible (seated) version of the program will also be offered on Friday, July 17 at 1pm at the Stanton House porch.
The Erie Canal is one of the most important transportation routes in American history. When the canal opened in 1825 its effects on New York and the United States were immediate. The Erie Canal changed the map and social fabric of the United States as people, goods, and ideas moved along its route. Over 200 years of continuous operation, not only has the canal brought economic, social, and political change to the nation, but it has transformed through enlargement, mechanization, and more.
Join Patrick for the walking tour or Stanton “porch talk” version to learn all about the ways the Erie Canal has been an instrument of change throughout its history. More information about the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor will be available at the Community Expo, hosted at the Visitor Center on Friday and Saturday from 10am – 4pm.
Linda Franks, Ph.D., is the author of "An Uncommon Union: Henry B. Stanton and the Emancipation of Elizabeth Cady."
Photo Courtesy of Gwendolyn Craig/The Citizen; Brightman House Graphics. Book Cover. Upstate NY History, 2016.
"Brave Souls and Big Hearts": The Unexpected Ways That Three Generations of Stantons Personified the Promises of the Declaration, 1776-1876
Friday, July 17
1pm – 2pm in the historic Wesleyan Chapel
Women’s Rights NHP is thrilled to announce Convention Days 2026 featured speaker: Dr. Linda Frank, Professor of History at Cayuga Community College!
Throughout the nation’s first century, men and women of the Stanton family risked their physical safety, their economic security, and their reputations to bring the bold assertions and promises of equality that were articulated in the Declaration of Independence into reality. As the new nation prepared for war with Great Britain, members of the Stanton family were already on the battlefield fighting to manifest the Declaration’s lofty principles, and they continued in the decades to come by championing laws and policies in the town square and in demanding rights in their intimate lives at home. This talk looks at three generations of the Stanton family – spanning the nation’s first 100 years – and demonstrates the variety of ways that the Stantons worked to insure life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all.
Following the talk at 2pm – 2:30pm, please join Dr. Linda Frank and American’s National Park Bookstore (located in the next-door Visitor Center) for a book signing of An Uncommon Union: Henry B. Stanton and the Emancipation of Elizabeth Cady (2016).
About the Author: Linda C. Frank has spent more than a decade researching the Stanton marriage. Since earning her Ph.D. in United States History, she has written for a variety of publication, and she serves as a research consultant, writer, and public historian. She is currently Professor of History at Cayuga Community College, and lives in the heart of the beautiful Finger Lakes Region of New York State.
Dr. Judith Wellman and Laura Ladd Bierman of the 1816 Farmington Quaker Meetinghouse Museum.
1816 Farmington Quaker Meetinghouse Museum
The Declaration of Independence and the Declaration of Sentiments: A Joint Reading
Friday, July 17th
3pm – 4pm in the historic Wesleyan Chapel
Women’s Rights NHP welcomes back Dr. Judith Wellman, Laura Ladd Bierman, and the 1816 Farmington Quaker Meetinghouse Museum for a very special partnership program during Convention Days 2026!
On Friday, July 17, gather in the historic Wesleyan Chapel for: “The Declaration of Independence and the Declaration of Sentiments: A Joint Reading,” in partnership with the 1816 Farmington Quaker Meetinghouse Museum.
This program will be chaired by Laura Ladd Bierman (Women’s Rights Alliance of NYS) with a historical introduction by Judith Wellman (author of The Road to Seneca Falls and Executive Director of the 1816 Farmington Quaker Meetinghouse Museum). Experience two foundational documents read side-by-side by members of the Women’s Rights Alliance of NYS, Canandaigua Suffragists, Geneva League of Women Voters, and 1816 Farmington Quaker Meetinghouse Museum. Audience-generated questions and a brief panel discussion with historians Bierman and Wellman will conclude the program.
Visitors can learn more about the history and summer programs offered by the 1816 Farmington Quaker Meetinghouse Museum by visiting the Community Expo, hosted at the Visitor Center from 10am – 4pm.
Convention Days is an annual event held in the spirit of the 1848 Women's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls. Not only does the event commemorate the convention anniversary, it draws on the tenets of community, engagement, and activism that made the original convention a crucible of change.
Talks and presentations by scholars and people active in the field of women's history illuminate historical topics, while living history presentations and family programs provide interactive opportunities for learning.
Just as the 1848 convention brought together people from different geographical areas and walks of life in support of women's rights, Convention Days does the same for a modern audience.
There will be various activities across three separate properties:
The Visitor Center, Wesleyan Chapel, and Declaration Park, 136 Fall Street, Seneca Falls
The Elizabeth Cady Stanton House, 32 Washington Street, Seneca Falls (.9 miles from Visitor Center)
The M'Clintock House, 14 E Williams Street, Waterloo (3.5 miles from Visitor Center)
Other events not affiliated with the park will be taking place concurrently throughout Seneca Falls.
Public parking is available on the street and in various public lots, subject to availability. The Visitor Center lot will be reserved for those with accessibility needs, and the nearby Gould Hotel lot will be closed during Convention Days.
Parking is also available onsite at the Stanton House and M'Clintock House.
Nope! All park-sponsored activities are completely free and open to the public.
There are public restrooms inside the Visitor Center, and there will be portable toilets located behind the Visitor Center and near the Stanton House.
Yes! The Visitor Center and Wesleyan Chapel are fully accessible to visitors using mobility aids.
The M'Clintock House is also fully accessible, as the second floor is closed to the public.
The Stanton House is not accessible, however rangers will be onsite for any assistance. We also offer virtual tours of the historic buildings.
All sites include accessible parking areas.
Some programs are accompanied by ASL interpretation. See our schedule for details on specific programs with this accomodation.
July in New York can be unpredictable, but often hot! We suggest you plan for a warm day with potential showers.
There is a water bottle filling station located inside the Visitor Center. Food and drink are prohibited in park buildings, with the exception of water.
Suggested items to bring:
Sunscreen, sunglasses, hats, umbrellas, raincoats, handheld fans, reusable water bottle, snacks to eat while outside. (Please practice Leave No Trace principles, and dispose of all trash only in designated receptacles.)
