Water Cures were not only a place to get well, but often where radical ideas about the rights of women, abolition, women’s dress reform

 and temperance were promoted.  Learn about our regional water cure owners who contributed to some of the great social movements of the nineteenth century.  

Isabel and her mother visited the Elmira Water Cure when in need of restoration.

Jane Oakes has been involved with historic education for over forty years.  She taught hands-on classes at the Genesee Country Village and Museum, BOCES: Gifted and Talented programs, and the William Mills Mansion in Mt. Morris, NY.

She has also served as a consultant for regional museums in Western NY and advised on historic restoration of opera houses as well as re-enacting roles from the Revolutionary and pre-revolutionary periods.

Jane holds a BA in Theater with a minor in Anthropology and a MA in History.