Press Releases
WCNY to Premiere Floating Ideas: How the Erie Canal Helped Shape America
by
June 16, 2021
WCNY, Central New York’s community-owned flagship public broadcaster, is pleased to announce the premiere of “Floating Ideas: How the Erie Canal Helped Shape America” on WCNY-TV on June 29 at 9 pm. The half-hour documentary airs again on WCNY-TV on July 4 at 1 pm.
“Floating Ideas: How the Erie Canal Helped Shape America” examines the spread of ideas along the Erie Canal, with an emphasis on women’s rights, suffrage, and the quest for social justice. The documentary was produced for the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor with funding support from the National Park Foundation, the National Park Service, and the New York State Canal Corporation. The
“WCNY welcomed the opportunity to work with the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor to produce and broadcast this story about the Erie Canal’s role as an information highway transporting ideas that transformed a young America,” said Mitch Gelman, WCNY President, and CEO. “WCNY looks forward to sharing the program with our viewers and PBS viewers across the state and beyond.”
The film threads together movements to end slavery and secure women’s right to vote. Themes include the influence of the Haudenosaunee on suffragists like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Matilda Joslyn Gage; the women left out of the suffrage narrative who faced voting barriers despite the passage of the 19th Amendment; and expanding opportunities for women today.
“The struggle began two centuries ago but is just as relevant today,” said Bob Radliff, Executive Director of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. “Although the Preamble of the Constitution begins with ‘We the People of the United States,’ expanding who “we” means to include women, Native Americans, and people of color has been a long and enduring fight. “Floating Ideas” explores the Erie Canal’s role in shaping the narrative and expanding our national identity.”
The broadcast of “Floating Ideas: How the Erie Canal Helped Shape America” is made possible with the support of The William G. Pomeroy Foundation.
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