New York State Office of General Services Commissioner RoAnn Destito today announced that online registration is now available for special Capitol suffrage tours celebrating the centennial of women winning the right to vote in New York State and for the annual Capitol Hauntings tours of the New York State Capitol.

“This fall we will be showcasing two unique tours at the Capitol,” Commissioner Destito said. “The suffrage tour is a great way to learn about and honor the suffragists’ and New York’s role as the birthplace of the women’s right movement. The hauntings tour is one of the most popular of our special themed tours, and it presents a wonderful opportunity to take a supernatural look at history in our statehouse.”

Special Capitol Tours Celebrating the Centennial Anniversary of Women’s Suffrage in New York State

New York State is where the first Women’s Rights Convention was held in Seneca Falls in 1848 and where women won the right to vote in 1917, three years before the 19th amendment was ratified. This special one-hour tour will explore the connections between the Capitol and the historic fight for suffrage. It will feature an exhibit of artifacts selected to showcase the suffragists’ journey from earliest ambition to success. The tours also coincide with suffrage exhibits and events at the New York State Museum and the Albany Institute of History and Art.

The free Capitol suffrage tours will be offered:

• Thursday, September 14 at 11 a.m.
• Tuesday, November 7 (Election Day) at 5:30 p.m.
• Tuesday, November 14 at 5:30 p.m.
• Saturday, November 11 (Veterans Day) at noon.
• Saturday, December 9 at noon.

Capitol Hauntings Tours

This special tour, which explores the legends, folklore, and “ghost stories” connected to the historic state Capitol, begins on Monday, October 2.

In tales that mix history with the macabre, tour guides will tell shocking stories about the night watchman who died in the Capitol fire of 1911 and still makes his rounds today and the two United States presidents who visited the Capitol after they died.

Find out where the Assembly Chamber’s “lost” murals are located and what happened to the tormented artist who created them. Walking among the gargoyle-like carvings and strange carved faces, visitors will discover the location of the Capitol’s “secret demon” and evidence of a curse the demon may hold on the Capitol will be revealed, along with other dark secrets.

Given throughout the month of October, the free Capitol Hauntings tours will be offered:

• Weekdays at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
• Saturdays at noon.
• No tours will be offered on Columbus Day, Monday, October 9.

Space is limited, so pre-registration for both the suffrage and hauntings tours is required and can be done online at www.ogs.ny.gov or by calling (518) 474-2418). Weekday tours begin at the information desk in the Capitol’s State Street lobby, and Saturday tours start at the Empire State Plaza Visitor Center and Gift Shop in the underground North Concourse. Both tours last approximately an hour.