Amy Spingarn: Humility and Pride 63
Amy Spingarn: Humility and Pride by Camille Roccanova It is mid-August, 1914, in Amenia, New York. Women in headbands and long, white Grecian dresses parade across the lawn of Troutbeck, the Spingarns’ country estate. The line of women—members of the Dutchess County Woman Suffrage Association—squint in the sun, smile, and talk amongst themselves. A crowd looks on, the men in boater hats and starched white shirts, the women with parasols and crisp summer dresses.
Figure 1. Woman Suffrage pageant during the Amenia Field Day at Troutbeck, 1914. Amy Spingarn collection, Amenia Historical Society.
The crowd watches as a pageant unfolds: A young girl kneels, hands bound, at the feet of a woman wearing a crown and a dress covered in stars (Figure 1). The crowned woman holds a shield that bears the name “New York” along with an oversized question mark, effectively demanding to know when the state will honor women’s right to vote. Somewhere in the watching crowd is Amy Spingarn, mistress of Troutbeck and one of the many women that those who create history often choose to overlook— the ones that made history but did so behind the scenes.