Along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, Matilda Joslyn Gage was one of the “triumvirate” leaders of the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA). For some 20 years, she worked tirelessly to further the cause of women’s rights. Together with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony, Gage wrote the 1876 Declaration of Rights of Women and, risking arrest, she and Anthony presented it at the nation’s centennial celebration in Philadelphia.

Gage also played an integral part in preserving the record of the suffrage movement by co-editing the first three volumes of the “History of Woman Suffrage” with Stanton and Anthony.

Among the many other hats she wore, Gage was an abolitionist who opened her home as a stop on the Underground Railroad. She wrote about the superior position of Iroquois women, who, as part of their culture, are entrusted with the responsibility of their people’s survival. Influenced by their egalitarian culture, Gage in turn influenced the utopian feminist vision of her son-in-law, L. Frank Baum, in his 14 “Oz” books.

The 2007 Women’s History Month theme, “Generations of Women Moving History Forward,” recognizes women such as Gage, one of 14 women being honored by the National Women’s History Project. She is joined by other notables such as Civil Rights activist Virginia Foster Durr; Constance Baker Motley, the first African-American woman appointed to the federal judiciary; and Mary Ruthsdotter, co-founder of the National Women’s History Project.

The Library debuts a new Web site topic page in honor of its celebration of Women’s History Month. Featured are spotlights on celebrated figures such as Susan B. Anthony and Sandra Day O’Connor, along with resources for teachers and much more.