The women arrive in Seneca Falls, N.Y., in everything from minivans to Mercedes, Birkenstocks to bobby socks, almost always with girls in tow.

They might be manicured moms, aunts in tie-dye or grandmothers in track suits, but their mission is the same, their words variations on this theme: "It wasn't always like it is today."

They want the younger ones to get it, to see what they have and to know how it was gotten.

Seneca Falls, an upstate New York village and former mill town trying to remake itself as a stop on the history trail and the Erie Canal, is home to a unique national park -- the Women's Rights National Historical Park -- several historic homes and the National Women's Hall of Fame.

It was in this bustling burg of textile mills and factories that the women's movement was founded at the first-ever Women's Rights Convention. Several hundred men and women came together in July 1848 at the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel for the hastily called convention, meant to address the gender inequities of the time, including that:

* Women could not vote.

* Women could not hold public office.

* Women could not own property (the same as minors, "lunatics and idiots").

* Higher education for women was considered unnecessary, and colleges would not admit them.

* Women could not sue in a court of law.

"We are assembled to protest against a form of government existing without the consent of the governed -- to declare our right to be free as man is free, to be represented in the government which we are taxed to support, to have such disgraceful laws as give man the power to chastise and imprison his wife, to take the wages which she earns, the property which she inherits, and, in the case of separation, the children of her love; laws which make her the mere dependent on his bounty. It is to protest against such laws as these that we are assembled today," said convention organizer Elizabeth Cady Stanton.

A lifelong devotion

This first public speech by Stanton marked the start of her lifelong devotion to the cause of women's rights. Stanton's home, a few blocks from downtown Seneca Falls, is a popular stop for those who make the pilgrimage there.

A National Park ranger gives tours of the modest house in a quiet neighborhood and tells of Stanton's history as the daughter of a wealthy attorney who had ensured that his daughters were well educated, which was unusual for the time. She married an attorney with political aspirations and strong convictions about freeing the country's slaves.

"She had many opportunities to realize that even though she was born to privilege, she would not be able to do what her brothers -- or husband -- would have been able to do with their lives," ranger Jack Shay explained to a tour group.

Stanton, whose husband was often away and eventually worked in President Lincoln's administration, gave her attention to the women's rights movement while raising five sons and two daughters, teaching them all to sew, cook, clean and enjoy athletics.

A visit to this national park, which actually is a handful of well-marked sights around Seneca Falls, is best begun with the modern, informative two-story visitor center, which offers multiple exhibits about women's changing roles, the fight for the right to vote, pay equity and more. There is also a brief film, a research center and many images of women from centuries ago until present.

An exhibit on politics notes that women got the vote in 1920, but in 1990, although women made up more than half the registered voters, fewer than 6 percent of the country's elected officials were female.

Other exhibits examine continuing debates, including whether women should be subject to the draft and whether all colleges should be required to admit both sexes.

Mills gave women work

Seneca Falls itself, which boasts that it was the model for the town of Bedford Falls in the Jimmy Stewart movie It's a Wonderful Life, was a thriving mill town at the time of the Women's Rights convention, and the mills gave many women their first opportunity to work outside the home.

A public park beside the Cayuga-Seneca canal -- part of the Erie Canal system -- is named for Stanton. Across from it stands the gray limestone facade of the town's last mill, the Seneca Knitting Mill, which closed in 1999.

The town's history is woven into a number of attractions.

The Seneca Falls Historical Society offers tours of its home, an 1855 mansion of 23 rooms maintained to depict Victorian life. It also has exhibits about local industries, children and women's rights.

The Seneca Museum of Waterways and Industry teaches visitors about the Seneca River and how it was harnessed to power the mills and other industries. There is an indoor waterfall, working hand pumps and a full-size canal boat that "sails" on a life-size section of the canal, showing how it helped bring local products to world markets and vice versa.

The National Women's Hall of Fame consists of biographical information, artifacts and a few interactive displays about the inductees, including Stanton, whose 1848 speech was mocked and criticized by newspapers and leaders across the country who thought women did not belong in public life and should not vote.

The hall of fame is not far from the site of Stanton's now-famous speech demanding basic rights for women. In the same hall are dozens of women who did what Stanton predicted they would -- succeed within the public sphere.

The hall of fame inductees include poet / novelist Maya An-gelou, painter Mary Cassatt, writer Willa Cather, politician Bella Abzug, singer Ella Fitzger-ald, aviator Amelia Earhart, actress Helen Hayes, athlete Billie Jean King, anthropologist Margaret Mead, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, astronaut Sally Ride, feminist author Gloria Steinem and entertainment mogul Oprah Winfrey.

Naedine Joy Hazell is a reporter for The Hartford Courant, a Tribune Publishing newspaper.

When you go

Getting there: Major airlines offer nonstop and connecting flights to Syracuse from BWI. From there, it's about a 50-mile drive to Seneca Falls. Driving from Baltimore, take I-83 north to Harrisburg, then take I-81 north to Syracuse and I-90 west to Seneca Falls. It's about 350 miles.

Women's Rights National Historical Park, 136 Fall St., Seneca Falls, N.Y. 13148

315-568-2991

www.nps.gov / wori

* Includes a number of historic sites that commemorate the first Women's Rights Conven-tion and the early leaders of the women's rights movement.

National Women's Hall of Fame, 76 Fall St., Seneca Falls, N.Y. 13148

315-568-8060

www.greatwomen.org

* From October through April, open Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; from May through September, Monday through Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; open year-round on Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. Admis-sion: $1-$3; family rate of $7.

For information about lodging, dining and attractions in Seneca Falls and New York in general, visit the New York state tourism Web site, www.iloveny.state.ny.us.