Matilda Joslyn Gage Home

 Matilda Joslyn Gage co-founded the National Woman Suffrage Association with Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton but when the NWSA merged with the more conservative American Woman Suffrage Association, Gage left to form the Woman's National Liberal Union. Besides the rights of women Gage also supported the rights of Native American and the anti-slavery movement.

       

The museum is small and mainly covers suffrage and abolition but there's an interesting link to the Wizard of Oz. Gage was the mother-in-law of Oz novelist L. Frank Baum. Baum and Maud Gage were married in the house in 1882 and Baum, encouraged and influenced by Matilda's outspokenness and radical (for the time) ideas, began writing stories for children. The Wizard of Oz, published in1900, was dedicated to Matilda Joslyn Gage and included many of Gage's beliefs such as the strength of women and the balance between white magic and black magic. 

The entrance to the museum is on the Walnut Street side of the house. A lift goes to the first floor where the museum is located. There's a steep threshold between two of the rooms but I think all of the rooms can be accessed by going through a different door.

The museum doesn't have a parking lot. Vehicles can be parked on Walnut Street but the street is pretty narrow. We parked a block east on Chapel Street. The sidewalk and curb cuts are in good condition with a few rough spots. Museum  43.02902, -76.00833