Syracuse, N.Y. (NCC News) – When you first meet Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner, you wouldn’t expect that she’s been arrested multiple times for civil protests or has an FBI file from her activism work in the 1960s.
“I had bleach blonde hair, lots of makeup,” says Dr. Wagner. “I was wearing heels and a knit suit and had ‘suburban’ written all over me, ‘suburban housewife.’”
Dr. Wagner came from a conservative, religious family in South Dakota, eventually moving to Sacramento with her ex-husband. But when watching the events of the sixties unfold on national television, she decided to take action, ultimately changing her entire life.
“The news was constantly the Vietnam war, it was being covered really regularly,” says Dr. Wagner. “And it was, I remember a picture of a North Vietnamese mother holding her baby. And the baby as I remembered had been napalmed.”
Watching this scene made her think of her young children, completely fine and safe, sleeping upstairs.
“I can’t not do something,” says Dr. Wagner. “And I got involved in ‘Another Mother for Peace’. And that lead one thing, to another, to another.”
Sally’s involvement with the Anti-War Movement led to her involvement with the Women’s Movement, and her passion for Matilda Joslyn Gage, a suffragist from Cicero, NY.
Her passion for Matilda Joslyn Gage brought Dr. Wagner to Syracuse, NY in the 90s, and she then began teaching at Syracuse University. She’s lived in the Westcott neighborhood ever since, due to its activism community.
Karen Mihalyi is a neighbor of Sally’s and an activist in the Syracuse area since the 60s.
“We’re a part of a major shift, a major transformation,” says Mihalyi in response to why she and Sally do the work they do. “And we saw ourselves as really being like really changing the world.”
“I fell in love with a dead woman, a suffragist,” says Sally, “A woman who in her major work, her final words are ‘we’re in the midst of a revolution, such as the world has never seen. We will overthrow every existing institution, the result will be a regenerated world.’ She wrote this in 1893.”
Over the years, Sally has been the recipient of many awards due to her work with activism and the women’s movement. At 82 years old, she is continuing to work towards justice, equality and a better world for everyone.
Package Transcript:
Nat sound:
00:11
Track 1:
00:10
When you first meet Dr. Sally Wagner, you wouldn’t expect that she’s been arrested multiple times for civil protests or has an FBI file from her activism work in the 1960s.
SOT 1:
00:15
“I had bleach blonde hair, lots of makeup, I was wearing heels and a knit suit and had suburban written all over me, suburban housewife.”
Track 2:
00:07
Dr. Wagner came from a conservative, religious family in South Dakota, eventually moving to Sacramento with her ex-husband.
SOT 2:
00:24
“The news was constantly the Vietnam war, it was being covered really regularly. And it was, I remember a picture of a North Vietnamese mother holding her baby. And the baby as I remembered had been napalmed.”
Track 3:
00:07
But witnessing the events of the 60s sparked Dr. Wagner to take action, ultimately changing her entire life.
SOT 3:
00:19
“That picture and I thought that mother’s baby is going to die. And my children are sleeping now, and they’re going to be fine. I can’t not do something.”
Track 4:
00:10
Sally’s involvement with the anti war movement led to her involvement with the women’s movement, and her passion for Matilda Joslyn Gage, a suffragist from Cicero, NY.
Stand Up:
00:12
“In the 90s, Sally moved to the Westcott neighborhood of Syracuse. Not only to become a professor at SU but because of the activism community present here since the Vietnam War and the 60s.”
SOT 4:
00:16
“We’re a part of a major shift, a major transformation. And we saw ourselves as really being like really changing the world.”
SOT 5:
00:19
“Everyday there are things that open up for me to be able to do. Are they big? No, they’re small, but they’re my piece of the work. And we all have a piece of the work. The world always opens up and offers us opportunities.”
Track 6:
00:02
Katie Nedder, N-C-C News.