Ideas The suffragist who was too radical for Susan. B. Anthony
Feb 26, 2026
Sally (Rush) Wagner, radical feminist scholar who restored Matilda Gage’s legacy. Angelica Shirley Carpenter, historian and biographer of Gage. Donna (Dawna) Dingwall, producer and narrator who unearthed archival material. They trace Gage’s abolitionist roots, her clashes with Susan B. Anthony over religion and race, links to L. Frank Baum and Oz, her attacks on organized religion, and the campaigns to revive her erased legacy.
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Gage's Statue Of Liberty Barge Protest
- Matilda Jocelyn Gage led a rain-soaked 1886 Statue of Liberty protest aboard a filthy cattle barge, using megaphones to shout "Votes for women."
- The stunt made the New York Times front page but is now a near-footnote in suffrage history, showing her public-direct-action style.
Gage's Influence On The Creation Of Oz
- Matilda influenced L. Frank Baum; she urged him to publish Oz stories he told her grandsons and shaped themes like good and bad witches.
- Scholars argue without Gage's readership and critique, Baum's Oz might not have existed as we know it.
Vote As A Step Toward Separating Church And State
- Gage viewed the vote as a stepping stone toward dismantling organized religion's control over women's lives.
- Her 1893 book Women, Church, and State argued religion was the "most grievous wrong" against women and tied suffrage to wider systemic reform.
