I am a Suffragist

I am a much better follower than a leader, but I often have good ideas I can develop into better ones when I meet with the right people. I also have a reforming spirit. If I were to choose a profession from the past, although I am not naturally a person who pursues danger, it would be that of a suffragist.

Suffrage derives from the word suffragium in Latin. Simply put, it means the right or privilege to vote. I would be a person pursuing that end.

During the bitter race for President in 2016, I heard a woman comment that the 19th Amendment should be struck from the Constitution so that her desired candidate would win. I was shocked. Women have fought so long and hard to own property, receive credit for their intellect and education, self-administer their wages, use contraceptives, hold a credit card, have an independent bank account, and defend themselves from ill-treatment in a relationship. 150 years of labor and selflessness by thousands of suffragists created a moment in time where we can hear a woman voicing that opinion.

Since the women's suffrage movement continued for decades, beginning in the early 1800s, with women protesting, marching, being arrested, jailed, beaten while chained to a wall, on hunger strikes, and restrained to be forcibly fed with tubes, all for the opportunity to put our marks on a ballot equally with a man, many of whom could not read or write, I would place myself as a young person perhaps age 25, in 1912 Washington, DC, luckily well educated at a well-known woman's college, with a tolerant husband who earns enough to support me, and our children, with a part-time nurse and housekeeper while I pursue this cause. As such, I will permit you to read some of the pertinent entries in my diary.

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January 1, 1913

My first meeting with Alice Paul occurred at the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA). She had recently returned from studying social work in England, where she met women protesting for the right to vote there, was jailed, and gleaned many successful though often brutal and violent protest methods. Upon her return to the United States, she settled in Washington, D.C. She rose quickly to become a leading contributor to the group. Alice and her friend Lucy Burns were organizing a women's march on the capitol set for the day before our new President's inauguration-that of Woodrow Wilson. March 3, 1913. Can you imagine?

I am so enthusiastic about the opportunity to be involved in this cause. We only have a couple of months to organize and set it up. Women representing every state in the Union are taking part. Alice's idea is to show that women can be both beautiful and intelligent and that we are worthy of representation in the government of the nation in which we reside. A democracy, in which only 50% of the population or less take part in governing themselves! It is to be the largest protest gathering Washington, D.C., has ever seen. Indeed, I believe it is the first of this size. Gone are the days when we sit back and write letters and sign petitions pleading for representation in our nation. We must be seen and heard!

Happy New Year! I'm sure it will be one.

February 1, 1913

The planning during the past month has been intense. Alice and Lucy somehow got approval from the police force. They will support us. Thankfully, they both have expertise in this area after being arrested in England during similar protests. They are fearful, however, that 100 men will not be enough to serve the parade route we have obtained a permit for, which runs from the Peace Monument down Pennsylvania Avenue, past the White House (where I am sure our outgoing President Taft will be packing his bags) and ending at Continental Hall. I believe at least 5,000 women will be in the procession, and we expect many more spectators, as they will be flooding in for the inauguration and will have nothing better to do that day!

My part to play in all this is small but crucial. I have found women to design and oversee the printing of the program for the event and organize the floats and the banners we will carry on the day of the procession. Communication is not my strongest suit, but one thing I have is the vision to advise and help revise ideas. Alice came up with the idea of organizing the parade by color to show that women can emerge from the darkness of the past. What a challenge convincing some women that they must all wear dark-colored garments, simultaneously explaining to others that they must wear pastels! When I showed the overall effect we expect the idea to have, most finally agreed without further complaint, but how true it is that not only men can be troublesome to persuade.

March 3, 1913

The day has arrived!

My husband was surprised by my enthusiasm for the event and a little concerned for my safety. He is a kind man. Since he had been planning to join the inauguration crowd, he went along part-way with me and surrendered me to my group of friends for our parade. He promised to find me at the other end of the route. Several women will speak, including Hellen Keller. I am so curious to see her and hope to meet her if the number of people is not too great. I cannot imagine how much she has overcome in her life to reach this place, and I would like to know what she thinks of our endeavor.

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We have lined up at the Peace Monument, and off we go. All women bands, riders, marchers, and floats, processing down the street. A cheer is going up from the sidelines. The police officers are struggling to keep up with us. I am toward the rear of the procession, so I can't quite tell what is happening, but the crowd appears to be closing in on the marchers. Now men are pushing back the melee, but they are not policemen. They seem to be National Guardsmen and male bystanders from within the crowd. The police have disappeared, and young men have replaced them! Boy Scouts! Now I can hear jeers and insults from the crowd in addition to the cheers. We must finish walking the route peacefully for our cause to obtain sympathy. Our lack of rights in a country that touts itself as a democracy is appalling.

It is unfortunate that all the women of color have been forced to the back of the parade because several states objected to their marching with white women. Even amongst women, we have so far to travel to find our liberty. Alice seemed worried that these states would withdraw their support and presence completely if their demands were not met and opted to pacify their protests rather than standing up to their prejudices. Unity is such a convoluted state to reach. Why is that? Why, if one has power, is it not used to benefit all within its reach?

The crowd has swelled and is pushing us to and fro, at one point completely stopping our progress down the avenue, but we have managed to complete our route. I feel shaken but am glad I thought to secure a canteen with water for the parade. I have not been able to catch sight of Alice or Lucy, but finally, I found my dear husband at the place we agreed to meet. His face was worried but lit up with relief when he saw me. He said many women were injured in the crowd and taken to the hospital for treatment. I had no idea before this that our cause would meet with such opposition. Now I am more determined than ever to win the right to vote.

March 4, 1913

It seems our march overshadowed Mr. Woodrow Wilson's inauguration. The newspapers report that almost no one greeted him at the train station upon his arrival yesterday. They were all watching our parade! The stories' reports estimate close to 8,000 marchers and over 500,000 spectators. They generally seem sympathetic to our cause and are horrified by the lack of support given by the police during the swelling of the crowd around us. One senator took note of police officers who were not doing their job to look into the case personally. Of course, 100 men to oversee a crowd of 500,000 is inadequate, and we had asked for more security from the beginning. Even we could not have expected so great a multitude. Thank goodness for the Pennsylvania and Maryland National Guard being on hand, as well as some agriculture students and of course, the Boy Scouts I saw.

June 5, 1916

Due to growing disagreements between Alice and National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) leaders, Alice has decided to start a new party. It is called the National Women's Party. It will focus on working at the national level to further our cause rather than the state level. We want nothing less than a constitutional amendment to guarantee our right to vote. Although it boasts a smaller number of women, I feel more sympathy with the direction she and Lucy want to take.

January 9, 1917

A few of our group met with President Wilson to persuade him to take up our cause and present it to the House of Representatives and the Senate. He turned us toward changing public opinion. I believe he would make more progress if he listened more to public opinion, and to his daughter, who is one of us.

January 10, 1917

Alice has come up with a brilliant idea after meeting the President yesterday. Members of our party, the National Women's Party, will stand in front of the White House with cloth banners each day until the entire world understands our plight. Perhaps then President Wilson will pay attention to our demands. One banner reads, "Mr. President, How Long Must Women Wait For Liberty."Some of the banners are composed of purple, white, and gold stripes, emblems of our organization. Alice designed the standards after the ones carried by the British suffragettes, replacing their colors with American symbols. The violet purple in our banners stands for loyalty and steadfastness to our cause. White at the center denotes the purity of our intentions, and the gold at the end is the color of light and life. All three have an equal place in our minds and hearts.

We will start today as we mean to strike while the iron is hot. We are determined to be "Sentinels of Liberty" in silent protest. This type of protest has never been used before in the United States. Rather than speaking and haranguing passersby, we will simply give them information by passing out our weekly newsletter, "The Suffragist".It is full of interviews and reports regarding our progress.

Recently the focus has shifted from persuading State Legislatures to allow women to vote. We have achieved some progress, to the credit of the individual states, but the rights are uneven from state to state. Our right to vote must be set in stone by a Constitutional Amendment. Cultivating support among the states has been good; however, it is too uneven concerning women's place in society. We must have equality of citizenship with men and each other, and there is no other way to achieve lasting success than to inscribe those words on the foundation of our democracy.

April 4, 1917

Our nation has embarked on a time of war, with many young men enlisting and preparing to go overseas. We are still determined to push forward our rights as we see them as citizens of this nation. Some see this as selfish behavior, but I fear nothing will change if we do not stand our ground as soldiers in this battle.

June 10, 1917

Well, I am glad to be writing this here this evening. Today I was arrested with all the other women picketing in front of the White House. The charge was obstructing traffic. I am thankful that, after several tense and unhappy hours of negotiation, the police released us without charges. My husband was waiting at the door of the police station for me. He was not happy, but he soon showed his sympathy to us after hearing we had done nothing to justify our arrest. The captain informed us, and we understand that a second offense would result in a jail term.

October 20, 1917

Alice Paul faced arrest again today.

October 22, 1917

Alice's sentence is a seven-month term in the Occuquan Workhouse in Virginia. This sentence is the longest any of us has received. Occoquan has substandard conditions. The prisoners there are receiving inedible meals crawling with worms.

November 14, 1917 The 'Night of Terror' as it is now named.

This night will live in infamy. Police officers arrested over 30 of our compatriots during our daily protest in front of the White House. As always, the police officers charged them with obstructing traffic; but we believe it was in response to our banner naming President Wilson as Kaiser Wilson. This banner inspired days of attacks upon our members in August. Our members were brought to Occuquan Workhouse in Virginia, where Alice is serving her sentence. We fear for their safety.

November 15, 1917

The horror of our friends' situations is unspeakable. We are beside ourselves. They were brutally tortured.

Lucy was beaten dreadfully and chained to a wall with her hands over her head for the entire night. Dora was shoved into her cell so violently, that she hit her head and lay unconscious. Alice Cosu thought Dora had been killed by the guards and she suffered a heart attack. The guards ignored her plight until this morning. Another woman was struck between the eyes with one of our standards.

It seems that Alice and one other of our members began a hunger strike and have been force-fed. Alice had been subsequently transferred to a psychiatric ward to break her will.

This time the public is on our side, horrified by the way we are being treated. If good can come from all of this, I hope it will show itself soon.

November 27, 1917

Alice, Lucy and many of the other prisoners have been released early thanks to public outcry over the barbaric treatment they have received.

It is a cause for joy, though they are ill and tired. We will need to step into the gap. I am now afraid to walk the picket line. I fear I am too easily intimidated, but I do not want to suffer such extreme physical abuse.

December - 1917 ( I have forgotten to write the date in my diary, but I assure you it was in December.)

Today as we gathered at our headquarters, there was a ceremony honoring all the women jailed for the cause. Each of those women received a pin commemorating their service. Nina Allender designed them. They are each shaped like a tiny jailhouse door, with hinges, a chain, and a lock. This pin is a small token for so great a sacrifice.

January 10, 1918

Representative Jeannette Rankin of Montana, the first and only woman ever elected to Congress, has opened a debate in the House of Representatives supporting our work. May her words prevail!

September 30, 1918

President Wilson has finally thrown the weight of his office behind our cause. Today he spoke in support of our cause in Congress. It is a historic moment, and it came none too soon.

May 21, 1919

The House of Representatives has passed the Susan B. Anthony Amendment!

Now on to the Senate!

June 4, 1919

The Senate has also passed the amendment. We packed the Senate gallery for the vote. It passed with two votes to spare 56 to 25. For our work to be completed and accepted, 36 states of the 48 must ratify it. It seems an enormous number of stumbling blocks on our path to success. Our work is not complete. Many women have left the capitol for various states to work with local women's groups.

June 10, 1919

The first three states have ratified the amendment! They are Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Alice has decided to sew a star onto one of our banners for each state that supports the amendment. I, along with many of the women watching her, shed tears of joy today.

August 18, 1920

We received word that Tennessee has ratified the amendment!

It is the 36th state we needed to do so. The 19th Amendment has passed into law. For the first time in my life, I will be able to cast a vote in an election.

We are gathering quietly in celebration today to watch Alice sew the long-awaited final star onto our banner. When finished, she hung the banner from the second-floor balcony of our headquarters.

August 26, 1920

The Secretary of State has certified the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States!

We have achieved a primary turning point in our goal.

My husband asked me how I intend to spend my free time. Perhaps I will take a law degree as Alice has planned to do.

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Thank you for reading my words. If you would like to see further fascinating information about the Women's Suffrage Movement in the United States I have provided links to the sources I used to write this story. All of the following sources were accessed on Thursday, June 22, 2023 through Saturday, June 24, 2023

The US National Archive Blog, 'What is Suffrage'

The US National Archive Blog, 'The Movement as a Mosaic: Alice Paul and Woman Suffrage'

National Public Radio Yes, Women Could Vote After The 19th Amendment — But Not All Women. Or Men

The American Bar Association 'Women's Suffrage Timeline'

Wikipedia 'Women Suffrage Procession'

National Park Service 'Series: Suffrage in Sixty Seconds'

Utah Women's History Better Days 2020 'Suffrage Colors Explained'

Wikipedia 'National Women's Party'

Wikipedia 'Silent Sentinels'

National Park Service 'State-by-State Race to Ratification of the 19th Amendment

National Archives '19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Women's Right to Vote (1920)'

University of North Carolina '1914-1920 Timeline'

Library of Congress 'Women of Protest: Photographs from the Records of the National Women's Party'

Virginia Commonwealth University Social Welfare History Project 'Rankin, Jeannette (1880-1973) Jeannette Rankin- First Woman Elected to the U.S. Congress'

National Park Service 'Jeannette Rankin: One Woman, One Vote'

Smithsonian National Museum of American History 'Alice Paul's "Jailed for Freedom" Pin'

City College of New York 'Alice Paul Hangs the Ratification Banner at Suffrage Headquarters'

United States Senate 'Women Suffrage Centennial Part III: The Last Trench'