Some of you may already be aware of the 1913 "March on Washington" by thousands of suffragists. That march took place the day before Woodrow Wilson's first inauguration. Unfortunately, not much progress on a federal amendment happened during President Wilson's first term, but the National Women's Party kept on determinedly pushing the federal government.
On inauguration day for Wilson's second term, March 4, 1917, Alice Paul and more than 1,000 suffragists marched to the White House to present President Wilson with resolutions demanding suffrage. Doris Stevens described conditions that day: "They marched in rain soaked garments, hands bare, gloves torn by the sticky varnish from the banner poles, and streams of water running down the poles into the palms of their hand."
Rain and sleet did not deter them - but all three gates to the White House were locked against the suffragists despite the elements. They marched four times all the way around the White House. A newspaper correspondent described the events thusly: "Had there been fifteen hundred women carrying banners on a fair day the sight would have been a pretty one. But to see a thousand women--young women, middle-aged women, and old women--and there were women in the line who had passed their three score years and ten--marching in the rain that almost froze as it fell...was a sight to impress even the jaded senses of one who has seen much."
Ironically, the rudeness of President Wilson and the unforgiving weather probably earned the suffragists more sympathetic press and helped the cause. It would be several more years, and many pickets later, that all American women would gain the right to vote. I'm grateful for these staunch suffragists and their devotion to the cause!
Source: "Suffragists in Washington, D.C.: The 1913 Parade and the Fight for the Vote," Rebecca Boggs Roberts, pages 76-78
On inauguration day for Wilson's second term, March 4, 1917, Alice Paul and more than 1,000 suffragists marched to the White House to present President Wilson with resolutions demanding suffrage. Doris Stevens described conditions that day: "They marched in rain soaked garments, hands bare, gloves torn by the sticky varnish from the banner poles, and streams of water running down the poles into the palms of their hand."
Rain and sleet did not deter them - but all three gates to the White House were locked against the suffragists despite the elements. They marched four times all the way around the White House. A newspaper correspondent described the events thusly: "Had there been fifteen hundred women carrying banners on a fair day the sight would have been a pretty one. But to see a thousand women--young women, middle-aged women, and old women--and there were women in the line who had passed their three score years and ten--marching in the rain that almost froze as it fell...was a sight to impress even the jaded senses of one who has seen much."
Ironically, the rudeness of President Wilson and the unforgiving weather probably earned the suffragists more sympathetic press and helped the cause. It would be several more years, and many pickets later, that all American women would gain the right to vote. I'm grateful for these staunch suffragists and their devotion to the cause!
 |
| Marching in the Rain! |
No comments:
Post a Comment