This was most informative. Thank you!
The picketing at the White House that soon followed Inez Milholland’s death, and the incarcerations, the hunger strikes, the horrible treatment of the imprisoned suffragists and the very bad publicity that ensued are collectively considered to be the turning point in the suffragist movement. A national Turning Point Suffragist Memorial honoring Alice Paul, Inez Milholland, Lucy Burns and all those who fought for the American woman’s right to vote is being built near the site of the Occoquan Workhouse where many of the suffragists were incarcerated in 1917. I was told that Inez Milholland’s grandnephew has been very supportive of this effort. http://www.suffragistmemorial.org
We visited Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument over Thanksgiving with our 8 year-old daughter. It was a very moving experience for all of us and I would recommend it to anyone. There was a portrait of Inez Milholland there captioned with the message that she gave her life for woman’s suffrage. One of the Park Service employees gave us a brief explanation of her story, but I’m so glad to see this piece here — I was hoping to learn more about her.
Thank you for a wonderful article on yet another example for me of the truth of one of my favorite quotes from Harry S Truman.
[There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know.][1]
Having cut my political teeth during the 1981-82 ratification effort for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) and spending many hours w/ that generation of feminists, I consider myself at least slightly ahead of the ‘average bear’ on our shared herstory. But your piece was completely new to me in virtually every respect beyond my minimal knowledge of Alice Paul and President Wilson’s opposition to women’s suffrage. Again, thank you!
[1]: https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/h/harrystrum398848.html
I love this piece. It reminds me not to take for granted something that women actually died trying to accomplish and it’s not just the vote, it’s what goes with it. Full citizenship.
Women didn’t have full citizenship until after 1920. They took hers from her when she married a non citizen which means that a woman didn’t have the born right of citizenship in the United States of America until we got the right to vote and that was not very damn long ago.
So when we talk about sexism and guys don’t like hearing it and tell us to get over it - yeah. That’s sexist. Because women’s history is full of struggle and violence and pain that never failed to fall on women 20 times harder than the men involved. And it was only exceedingly grudgingly that men finally allowed us to be full citizens with rights.
Exceedingly grudgingly and some would take it back if they could.
Great article. And folks, our work is not done. Go to http://www.eracoalition.org/ and get active in ratifying the Equal Rights Amendment.
“Deeds, not words.”
Archive this article… it’s been up since last year… and only 7 comments --make that 8.