Part 1. The context : converging paths -- Elizabeth Cady Stanton : growing up, 1815-35 -- Entering the world of reform : antislavery and woman's rights, 1835-40 -- Communities in transition : Seneca Falls and Waterloo, 1795-1840 -- Part 2. The movements : parallel paths -- Minding the light : Quaker traditions in a changing world -- Seneca Falls : abolitionist ferment -- Women and legal reform in New York State -- Part 3. The event : converging paths -- Adversity and transcendence, June 1847-June 1848 -- Declaring woman's rights, July 1848 -- The road from Seneca Falls, 1848-1982.