SOUTH HADLEY — A student at Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter Public School embarked this week on a 300-mile bike ride to Seneca Falls, N.Y., considered the birthplace of women’s suffrage, with a goal of registering as many new voters as possible along the way.
Charlotte Powell, 14, of Wilbraham, is not an avid bike rider, but she set out from the school on Wednesday afternoon to inspire people to exercise their most fundamental democratic right in the Nov. 8 general election and all others.
During an assembly at PVPA, the ninth grader explained her mission to the entire student body, who had gathered in the school’s theater at the end of the day. She spoke between rousing rounds of applause and whoops of “We love you!”
“A lot of people in our country don’t think that their vote matters, and so I want to inform them that their vote does matter,” she told the crowd. “It took a lot to get our rights to vote.”
Seneca Falls was the site of an 1848 gathering of about 300 people that is widely considered the first women’s rights convention. Participants signed the Declaration of Sentiments and a resolution demanding that women be allowed to vote, kicking off a generations-long battle to secure suffrage that only ended in 1920.
According to a map projected on a screen in the theater, one possible route to Seneca Falls is 294 miles while another is 302 miles; the longer route would take a bicyclist 27 hours in total.
Along the way, Charlotte — who won’t be able to vote herself for some four more years — will visit voter registration drives and hand out pledge coins that she said will serve as a reminder: “I promised Charlotte I would vote.”
Charlotte’s father, Russell Powell, is riding with her to watch for any emergencies, while her mother, Jennifer, follows her family in a minivan.
Reached on Thursday night, the Powells said they arrived in Lenox around 5 p.m. after riding 33 miles during the day. They were driving home to sleep, with an eye on returning to the Berkshires in the morning to pick up where they left off.
“It was pretty far and it was pretty hilly. It was a tough 33 miles, for sure,” Jennifer Powell said. “Traffic was getting heavier and people would just whizz by her. … She did it like a fierce warrior.”
On Friday, Charlotte is set to meet the Women’s Club of Albany, N.Y., for a reception with cider and doughnuts, plus a voter registration drive, followed by a guided tour of the New York State Capitol with a legislative official.
The Powells are scheduled to arrive in Seneca Falls, where they will visit the National Women’s Hall of Fame and other landmarks, on Monday afternoon.
“She did it as a personal challenge,” Jennifer Powell said of her daughter. “She hadn’t been a big bike rider, either. She and her dad have been practicing all summer, building up to this.”
Asked how he’s feeling after the long ride, Russell Powell said, “I’m hanging in there. Trying to keep up with her.”
“I’m proud of the whole adventure she’s on here,” he added. “I’m proud of what she’s trying to accomplish.”
Before she left, Charlotte said she was “excited. I’m not nervous about it.” About the raucous send-off she received from her classmates, she laughed and said, “It’s crazy!”
PVPA head of school Brent Nielsen encouraged students to register to vote when they can. Charlotte’s sense of civic responsibility, combined with her flair for creating costumes inspired by the suffragists, is “exactly what we expect to see from all of our students.”
“Maybe not the 300-mile bike ride,” Nielsen added, “but if you’re up for it, go for it.”
State Rep. Jake Oliveira, D-Ludlow, was in attendance on Wednesday to see Charlotte and her father get started. They rode out of the theater, with Charlotte in the lead, and Oliveira hopped in his car to join them at their first stop, a voter registration effort at Mount Holyoke College.
“It’s so important, especially as we’re celebrating 102 years of (women’s suffrage), of women who earned and fought for the right to vote. It was a long battle to do that over many years,” Oliveira said. “I ran for the House two years ago and had the closest election in Massachusetts, so I know firsthand that every vote matters.”
He said Massachusetts expanded voting rights in recent months, “so there’s no excuse not to get out there and exercise your constitutional right. I’m so glad Charlotte decided to use this occasion” to raise awareness by riding to “the heartbeat” of the women’s suffrage movement.
Massachusetts residents can register to vote online or check their registration status at VoteInMA.gov.
Brian Steele can be reached at bsteele@gazettenet.com.