National Women's Hall Of Fame

Seneca Falls, New York, holds a legitimate claim to the title, "The Birthplace of Women's Rights". In 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton (a Seneca Falls resident), Lucretia Mott and 300 other women and men held the first Women's Rights Convention here. They emerged with The Declaration of Sentiments, modeled after the Declaration of Independence, beginning with the momentous phrase: "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men and women are created equal........." The National Women's Hall of Fame commemorates the participants in the struggle for women's rights, then and since. The women and men of Seneca Falls created the National Women's Hall of Fame in 1969, believing that the contributions of American women deserved a permanent home. In 1979, after a major fundraising drive, the Hall purchased an historic bank building in the heart of the Seneca Falls Historic District, renovating it to house the Hall's permanent exhibit, artifacts of historical interest, and offices.