Grace Bennett

Dorothy Wickenden Sheds Light on the Strength & Perseverance of Three Women Who Fought for Abolition & Women’s Rights

March 10, 2022 by Kendall Hammes

PHOTOS by Kendall Hammes To watch the interview, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWcSlStw8_E

Wickenden Urges a Visit to Auburn, NY, to Help Support a Bicentennial Event Celebrating Harriet Tubman’s Birth.

Plus other Highlights from a Chappaqua Library Author Talk

On Tuesday, March 8th, the Chappaqua Library invited Dorothy Wickenden, executive editor of The New Yorker and author of a new book, The Agitators, to a virtual discussion with Grace Bennett, editor and publisher of Inside Press Magazines. In her book, Wickenden successfully weaves the lives of three women in the mid-1800s whose outrage about the lack of rights for women propelled them to act, sometimes against all odds.

During the abolition movement–Francis A. Seward, Martha Coffin Wright, and Harriet Tubman–positively channeled their anger and resentment to having their voices heard. The Agitators: Three Friends Who Fought for Abolition and Human Rights illustrates how the women leaned on each other for support and with their strength and perseverance helped abolish slavery and gain the right to divorce and to vote.

Wickenden who is also a moderator for The New Yorker weekly’s podcasts admitted proudly that her book was a labor of love that took seven years to complete. She spoke about the importance of writing books about women’s struggles with social justice and she is hoping to shed some light on the forgotten who were the women of that epic historical time in America.

In addition to her extensive research, Wickenden told Bennett that she found her inspiration from reading her grandmother’s letters which depicted a period when women were seeking work outside the home. Coincidentally, her grandmother grew up in Auburn, NY, which is the very same place where Harriett Tubman resided for over 50 years, shepherding and housing former slaves. She urges her readers to go and visit Auburn which has since been revitalized and, this year, is honoring the Bicentennial of Harriet Tubman’s birth.

Joan Kuhn, program coordinator for the Chappaqua Library, welcomed Wickenden and Bennett to the Author Talk. Considering Chappaqua’s own history, Bennett noted the many references in the book made to Horace Greeley who founded The New York Tribune newspaper, an important vehicle for promoting abolition. Wickenden discussed the Tribune’s influence on the women and also the deep division of the nation’s media in those times, too! She also offered an explanation about the Quakers’ influence on those who made it their moral obligation to speak about the abolition of slavery.

You can still get a signed copy of Wickenden’s book at Scattered Books in Chappaqua. It would make a perfect gift for many young women who are interested in learning about the women’s suffrage movement!

To listen to the entire interview, visit:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWcSlStw8_E

Kendall Hammes, a junior at Horace Greeley High School, lives with her parents and two sisters in Chappaqua. She spends her time playing tennis, swimming and photographing. This is her first contribution to the Inside Press.

Chappaqua Library Author Talk with Dorothy Wickenden, Author of The Agitators: Three Friends Who Fought For Abolition and Women’s Rights

February 2, 2022 by InsidePress

March 8 @ 7pm

From the executive editor of The New Yorker, comes The Agitators: Three Friends Who Fought for Abolition and Women’s Rights, a riveting, provocative and revelatory history of abolition and women’s rights, told through the story of 3 women–Harriet Tubman, Frances Seward and Martha Wright–in the years before, during and after the Civil War.

“These friends are the examples we need right now–another time of divisiveness and dissension over our nation’s purpose ‘to form a more perfect union.’” –Hillary Rodham Clinton

Ms. Wickenden has offered to visit Scattered Books ahead of the event to sign copies which you can pre-order at info@scatteredbooks.com

Grace Bennett, publisher and editor, Inside Press, will interview Ms. Wickenden.

Please register at:

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_KJ6nv9HYRVS6VrlH-z2i5Q

Enjoy Our Debut Edition

March 8, 2019 by Grace Bennett

Grace’s cut and blow dry by Lisa Koebbe Bevan, owner and Master colorist at BELIEVE Beauty Lounge, a full service salon on 95 Manville Road in Pleasantville, believebeautysalon.com Makeup (and photo!) by Kara Delfino, karadelfino.com.

Please know that a lot of heart and soul went into producing this first issue of Inside Pleasantville! If you have lived in the area long enough, many of you may already have seen an Inside Press publication in a neighbor’s home, or perhaps at a real estate office–where the magazines make a giant impression (I’m told!) with area visitors considering a move here.

I’ve been publishing for 16 years after launching the first edition of Inside Chappaqua, The Magazine for New Castle and Beyond in April 2003. Five years ago, following that success, I decided to get two Castle pubs underway and produced our first Inside Armonk. And now here we are delighted to be covering your vibrant Mount Pleasant communities too with this first edition of an Inside Pleasantville!

I’m always grateful to my Inside Press team, including Caroline Rosengarden who lives ‘Inside Pleasantville’ with her beautiful family. She is positively a most enthusiastic proponent for the community.

Also, enjoy the work here by Lisa Samkoff, our consummate professional designer who brings a special flair to every page. Wonderful Stacey Pfeffer edits our Chappaqua and Armonk editions from which you may see some relevant articles appearing here too. First and foremost, as a publisher, I understand no community’s residents live in a bubble, so I do share from other communities, and will continue to as much as I can.

I also so appreciate Ryan Smith and Rick Waters, who designed and maintain our site theinsidepress.com. You can find all the stories here online too, a downloadable edition, along with other ‘in between postings,’ all as much as time and energy permit! Behind the scenes, we have Analia Boltuch, our invaluable account manager, and always a rotating group of talented ‘regular’ freelance writers and photographers. This issue’s cover work plus the photos for the Pleasantville Music Festival, for example, are from Pleasantville’s very own Lynda Shenkman, who shot many of my first Inside editions too.

Ultimately, this pub comes to you after 22 years of happy Westchester living, having raised two terrific children: my daughter, Anna, 26, and son Ari, 22, both living in the city. I also visit my dad a lot in Yonkers. He’s going on 97 and still in good health at a senior residence. Being empty nest, and having this amazing Inside Press team in place, I’m expanding our publishing efforts.

Chappaqua’s also is just a hop, skip and jump to Pleasantville. In fact, when I think of ‘fun times’ in Westchester, Pleasantville elicits those feelings enormously, whether it’s at gorgeous Rockefeller Preserve, or enjoying countless movies at the incomparable Jacob Burns Film Center, or even acting classes I discovered with Rachel Jones at the Howard Meyer Acting Studio/Axial Theater! In the meantime I can live vicariously enjoying others performing in stellar shows such as those at Arc Stages, or setting aside a day to dance or sing along with the mega talented musicians at the Pleasantville Music Festival.

All these places and institutions and more – don’t miss a terrific story on Cycle for Survival! – are covered in this debut edition, which I hope you will treasure and keep as a collector’s item. We will be ‘back again’ with a back to school September/October 2019 edition arriving in your home by late August too. Remember, you can read us online too at theinsidepress.com and follow our assorted musings primarily on Facebook and Instagram.

I am aiming for at least four editions in 2020, so stay tuned for more fun and meaningful coverage in which we will keep on ‘Sharing the Heart of Your Community.” And I’d be remiss if I didn’t also communicate a resounding THANK YOU to all the generous sponsors and contributors who made this edition and future ones possible. ENJOY!

Grace Bennett
Inside Press Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

Grace Bennett and Paul Elliot Honored at HHREC Gala

December 1, 2017 by Stacey Pfeffer

(Left to right): HHREC chair Valerie O’Keeffe; Kevin Plunkett, Deputy County Executive; HHREC honoree Paul Elliot; Mitch Ostrove; Grace; County Legislator Mike Kaplowitz; and HHREC Executive Director Millie Jasper

The White Plains-based Holocaust and Human Rights Education Center (HHREC) held their annual gala on October 26th. The room at the Mamaroneck Beach and Yacht Club was packed with supporters dedicated to the HHREC’s mission of “learning from the past, protecting the future.” Grace Bennett, publisher of both Inside Chappaqua and Inside Armonk magazines and Paul Elliot, the Founder & CEO of ELCO Management, a portfolio management company were the evening’s honorees. Also in attendance at the event were Congresswoman Nita Lowey, Westchester County Legislator Michael B. Kaplowitz, Deputy County Executive Kevin J. Plunkett, County Clerk Tim Idoni and New Castle Town Supervisor Rob Greenstein.

Bennett first became involved with HHREC after writing about her father, Jacob Breitstein, a Holocaust survivor in her “Just Between Us” editor’s column in Inside Chappaqua. A reader of the magazine introduced her to the non-profit and she has been an active leader in the organization ever since.

Grace received the Bernard J. Rosenshein Courage to Care Award. She joined HHREC’s Advisory Board in 2004. For the past 13 years, she has made innumerable contributions in her roles on the Board of Directors, the Advisory Board and GenerationsForward. As the daughter of two Holocaust survivors, Grace has a passion for Holocaust remembrance and has been instrumental in guiding our educational programs,” noted Millie Jasper, HHREC’s Executive Director. She has frequently profiled and highlighted HHREC’s achievements and programming through her magazines and via social media.

Elliot, who is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) has used his business acumen to help several non-profits including the Rabbinical Pension Fund, the Community Synagogue in Rye and the Neuberger Museum of Art in Purchase. He joined the Board of HHREC almost two decades ago.

“Paul was awarded the Eugene M. & Emily Grant Spirit of Humanity Award. He has been an active member of the Board of Directors for 19 years and has shown unwavering support for our programs and events. Most recently he spearheaded the creation of the Endowment Fund, which has seen considerable growth since its inception,” commented Japser.

The HHREC offers several workshops, traveling exhibits and subsidized trips for educators. The Holocaust Survivor Legacy Education Project, an interactive database of the oral history of Westchester survivors is used by teachers to educate their students about the Holocaust. The organization also created a Human Rights Institute (involving approximately 30 schools each year), which helps shape student leaders to fight hate and bigotry in all its forms by introducing the concept of being an ‘upstander’. In addition, the HHREC’s Speakers Bureau helps put a human face on the Holocaust by having survivors and/or liberators tell their stories. Each year the speakers reach more than 25,000 students and adults.

The evening concluded with a moving speech by Ellen Kaidanow, a GenerationsForward member who told the story of her mother-in-law also named Ellen Kaidanow, who was only 5-years-old when her mother, father and two sisters were all forced to move from their beautiful home in the Ukraine to a walled Jewish ghetto. Ellen tells the story of her mother-in-law’s life as a young girl in the ghetto and her miraculous tale of becoming the sole survivor of her family at age six. The GenerationsForward program consists of children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors recounting their family’s stories as the number of Holocaust survivors is dwindling every day.