Celebrating the Women of Cranaleith

Home / Celebrating the Women of Cranaleith


Cranaleith presented a day-long event celebrating great women, past and present who accomplished amazing feats in an effort to raise up the status of women.

Saturday, October 29, 2016

Program

PANEL DISCUSSION
Women & Social Responsibility: Past and Present, Values that Support Change
Moderator: Maureen McCullough, J.D.
Panelists:
Carrie N. Baker, J.D., Ph.D.
Sheila Jacobs, President, Women’s Business Forum
Judy Wicks, Founder, White Dog Cafe and the Sustainable Business Network

HOUSE TOURS

WELCOME & CEREMONY
Host: Veneta Lorraine, Cranaleith Executive Director
Speakers:
Stephanie Toothman, National Park Service; Keeper of the National Register & Associate Director for Cultural Resources
Mary Trainer, RSM, Cranaleith Founder
Historical Reenactments: Villa Joseph Marie H.S. Dramatic Society (Susan B. Anthony; Rachel Foster Avery; Minerva Parker-Nichols; Mother Catherine McAuley


Media Coverage

“Women who made Hillary’s rise possible spent time in this Philly house”, Philadelphia Inquirer, October 28, 2016, Inga Saffron.
“Notable Women Honored at Mill-Rae, New to National Register,” Philadelphia Inquirer, October 30, 2016, Rebecca Heilweil.
“A suffragist’s Philadelphia Home,” Philadelphia Inquirer, Memory Stream, November 13, 2016, Historical Society of Pennsylvania.

View more


Women of Strength & Vision Founder Members

Mr. & Mrs. Hugh Brown
Donna Buckley
Joan Buonanoce
Mary T. Donnelly
Ms. Jean Hurd
Lana Maier
Lori Maskovsky
Sharmain Matlock-Turner
Maureen H. McCullough, JD
Eileen Mirsch
Megan Nardi
Amy Neff
Beverly J. Nolan
Rosalie Phipps
Carol Poggio
Jane & James Riley
Pat Rosinski
Hon. Felice Stack
Beth Stack
Craig A. Stock
Elizabeth Trainer
Jacqueline Irene Trainer
Marianne Trainer
Karol Wasylyshyn, Psy.D.
Cherilyn Widell
Eileen Zaleski


Cranaleith History

Commissioned in 1890 and completed in 1891, Mill-Rae was designed by architect Minerva Parker Nichols on behalf of Rachel Foster Avery, a national figure in the women’s suffrage movement and a close friend and ally of Susan B. Anthony. Anthony herself stayed at the home many times during her speaking tours around the country, and Avery resided in the home during her tenure as Corresponding Secretary for the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association (NAWSA). The house signified a substantial investment in the cause of women’s suffrage, as Avery used her home to host fellow suffragists for both accommodations and meeting space.

Avery continued to own the house until 1905. In 1906, Joseph C. Trainer purchased Mill-Rae from the Smiths, renaming the home Cranaleith.The Trainer family owned Mill-Rae/Cranaleith for nearly a century, making few alterations to the property as it remained a private single-family residence. In 1996, the family created Cranaleith Spiritual Center as a not-for profit in partnership with the Sisters of Mercy.


Thank you to our sponsors