The Suffrage Bike Parade and Convening is a community event that celebrates the mobility and strength of women in our culture and the wisdom and energy they bring to the political process.
The event brings together the power of street presence and performance with community dialogue and education to raise women’s bodies, voices, and minds to the top of the civic agenda.
It was originally conceived by Ophra Wolf in 2015 to mark the 120th anniversary of the 1895 Women’s Suffrage Convention in the City of Newburgh.
In 2017, with the support of a grant from Humanities New York and the Newburgh Free Library, the event grew to also include presentations on the theme of Black Suffrage and a Bicycle Raffle.
The first bike parade was a short ride downhill on Broadway on a rainy November night – participants were asked to wear white to honor the Suffrage parades of the early 1900’s… and to assure visibility! It culminated in a Community Circle at the Safe Harbors Lobby at the Ritz, where a horizontal and equitable structure for discussion as a way of exploring what has grown and changed in our culture since (most) women in the US won the right to vote.
In 2018, we were honored to receive a grant from Humanities New York that allowed us to expand the scope of the event.
Bike Parade
Bike Raffle
Educational Speakers at Convening
Community Circle
