Homesite of Sarah Wallis, Mayfield Farm
Palo Alto, Santa Clara County, California
Marker Inscription
Homesite of Sarah Wallis Mayfield Farm Sarah Armstrong Wallis (1825–1905) was a pioneer in the campaign for women's voting rights. In 1870 she was elected president of California's first statewide suffrage organization which in 1873 incorporated as the California State Woman Suffrage Education Association. The home she built on this site, Mayfield Farm was a center of suffrage activities attracting state and national leaders such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Ulysses S. Grant. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 969 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the Women's Heritage Museum of Palo Alto and the City of Palo Alto, October 11, 1986.
Erected by California State Department of Parks and Recreation
The Story
On this Palo Alto ground stood Mayfield Farm, the home Sarah Armstrong Wallis built in the years after California statehood. A committed reformer, Wallis was elected in 1870 to lead California's first statewide suffrage organization, and her parlor became a gathering place for the movement's leading figures. In an era when women could not vote, the farm hosted national voices for the cause and helped knit California into the broader campaign for the ballot.
Why it matters
Sarah Wallis carried the national women's-suffrage struggle to the Pacific Coast decades before ratification, making this homesite a landmark in the long fight to extend American democracy to women.
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Related people
- · Sarah Armstrong Wallis
- · Susan B. Anthony
- · Elizabeth Cady Stanton
- · Ulysses S. Grant
Related events
- · California woman suffrage movement
Themes & tags
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