August 2015: Suffragist of the Month

Meet the August 2015 Suffragist of the Month: Dorothy Jones Bartlett (June 12, 1870 – July 21, 1956), by Paige Hackett, her great-great-granddaughter.

Dorothy Jones was born June 12, 1870 in South Trenton, NY, to Edward G. Jones of Wales and Ann Lewis Jones of NY. She was one of 13 children, 9 of whom survived to adulthood. Little is known about her early years other than her education at Whitesboro, NY. At age 24 she married Walter J. Bartlett in New York Mills, NY, June 5, 1895. She was described as brilliant, vivacious, and stubborn, all traits which made her an asset to the women’s suffrage movement, which she joined in 1913 as the first suffragette from Windham county. In 1917 at the picket lines in front of the White House, she was surrounded by other women bearing banners with slogans, while she happened to be holding an American Flag. As President Woodrow Wilson and other officials approached the group, a police officer demanded she give him the flag. She stalwartly refused and was arrested. The women were sentenced to 60 days in the Occoquan Workhouse or a $25 fine, which nearly all refused to pay.

“Some of the things we were subjected to would bring the blush of shame to the cheek of any true American,” she recalled. “We even were refused permission to buy, with our own money, milk and eggs that were needed by us to protect our health after being nauseated by feeding on wormy cereals and tainted meat. Men prisoners were allowed the privilege of buying tobacco and cigars because ‘it was not against the law,’ but there were no such favors for us.” During her time there she lost 13 ½ pounds. The workhouse superintendent was tyrannical and would revoke prison privileges over the slightest offenses such as complaining about the lack of fresh air. Their quarters were vermin-infested and unsanitary. “Why they even took away my wedding ring,” she said.

Dorothy was one of several women who refused to work at the workhouse, claiming political prisoner status. This status was not recognized by the board and she was sent to jail in Washington D.C. where she was placed in solitary confinement for 13 days. “When we were removed from the workhouse to the jail we hurried out in such a rush that we were not even given time to take along our night dresses and we had to sleep without such undergarments for a week.” The food in the jail was abominable… “we were fed pork 18 times in thirteen days and yet the food cards distributed say not to use pork or any kind of meat more than once a day. But we were forced to eat it and only half cooked at that… Catholics in the District of Columbia jail were refused fish on Friday and were forced to live on bread as they would not eat meat.” While in solitary, “we had no exercise, were not allowed books, to write letters or see friends.”

After her 60 day imprisonment, Dorothy made it her mission to make her experiences public knowledge. “The story of what we have been through has never been fully told, but I shall go from one end of the state to the other and I shall tell it to all who will hear,” she said. Her shrewdness and political savvy were essential in gaining publicity for the suffrage movement.

She was the first woman from Windham County, CT, to be elected to the General Assembly and remained there for six terms. She was a force to be reckoned with in the Legislature. She became friendly and conversed with Eleanor Roosevelt. She was a member of the Putnam Board of Education for 12 years. She was member of the Windham County Inquiry Board. She was the first president of the County Democratic Federation of Women’s Clubs.

Sources:

A Modern History of Windham County Connecticut, A Windham County Treasure Book. Volume II, edited by Allen B. Lincoln. Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company, 1920.

“Good Afternoon- A Personal Chat with Art McGinley.” The Hartford Times (Hartford, CT), March 27, 1941.

“Putnam, Mrs. Dorothy J. Bartlett Narrates Experiences in Workhouse and District Jail With Other Pickets Arrested in Washington.” The Norwich Bulletin (Norwich, CT), Nov. 7, 1919, p. 9.

“Jail at Brooklyn Superior to D.C. Institution.” The Norwich Bulletin (Norwich, CT), Nov. 17, 1917, p.15.

“Putnam.” The Norwich Bulletin (Norwich, CT), April 16, 1919, p. 11.

“Mrs. Bartlett Dies; Served in Assembly.” The Hartford Courant (Hartford, CT), July 22, 1956. p. 6B.

Photo from family collection.

How Do Millennial Women Feel About the Women’s Suffrage Movement?

By Lauriane Lebrun

Before I became an intern for the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial Association, I didn’t spend much time thinking about the history of women’s voting rights.  I had seen Iron Jawed Angels (2004) and learned some basic facts about the suffrage movement in school.  Yet, until recently, I was rarely prompted to think about the suffragists, their struggle, what they accomplished, and how it all affects us today.

I decided to reach out to some of my peers and ask them to share their thoughts about the movement.  Maya Benson from Lunenburg, MA and Aubrey S. from Seattle, WA generously volunteered to serve as my interviewees.  Maya is a Political Science major attending Wheaton College in Norton, MA.  Aubrey attends Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, NH, where she is working on a double-major in Creative Writing and Communications.  Read on to see their thoughts on gender equality, women’s history, and voting!

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LL: Do you feel like you are well-informed about the women’s suffrage movement? Was it taught in any of your history classes?

MB: I feel like I learned about the women’s suffrage movement somewhat in history classes growing up.  By the time I got to high school, my history class was AP U.S. History, and we mainly focused on events that would be on the AP test at the end of the year.  Women’s suffrage was focused on as much as I feel like it should’ve been.  When I got to college, my first semester I took an Intro to Women and Gender Studies class that really helped me grasp what the women’s suffrage movement was like, and how it has impacted women today. Within that class we learned about both the good and the bad of the movement, such as the racism that the women acted upon.

AS: I think I could be more informed about the suffrage movement. I understand the basics, but I don’t think it was well-taught in any form of history class I had — both World History and U.S. History. If there was a class purely on suffrage, feminism, and gender equality around the world, I would have taken that in a heartbeat because I think knowing all of the information about history is important.

LL:  Do you vote? Why or why not?

MB: I try and vote every election, no matter what. Sometimes being in college away from home can make it more difficult because I have to receive absentee ballots, but I try to always have my voice be heard. Voting is really the one thing as American citizens we can do to have our voice and opinions be heard. After all the people in this country have done to have representation and suffrage, it is absolutely ridiculous that only about half the people in the country vote during even the most important elections.

AS: I vote. I think it’s important to participate in the decisions of the country I am in. If someone doesn’t vote, I don’t think they have a right to complain about the political decisions made because they decided to not participate. So many people think their vote doesn’t matter, and in politics it does, even if it doesn’t seem like it.

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LL: Do you think it’s important to know about women’s history? Why or why not?

MB: It is very important to learn about women’s history, specifically because the history we learn in school is normally men’s history, and is told through the male perspective. Women have done so much for the world, and many times their impact is not noticed because of their gender. Women’s history is just as important as men’s history.

AS: I think it’s important to know about women’s history because women have always had an active role. Women inspire other women, and support other women. Representation is important, and I think by learning about women’s history, girls are inspired to follow in their legacy because they have role models.

LL: Do you think the suffragists would be satisfied with the status of gender equality today?

MB: I think that the suffragists would, in some cases, be satisfied with the equity between genders today, simply because when they were fighting for voting rights, they tried to ask for as little as they could, because that gave them a better chance to win. Nowadays, I think that there are so many more issues with gender inequality that they would not have even thought of, let alone wanted to fight for.  It is up to the feminists of this generation to find those areas of improvement and work for them as hard as the suffragists fought for our right to vote.

AS: I don’t think suffragists would be satisfied with the status of gender equality. They would be glad for some of the steps taken and the changes made. But they would also see that there’s still so much more to do with LGBTQ+ rights, and the inequality for people of color. I imagine they would have celebrated that a marriage between same-sex couples was to be recognized by all 50 states. But the next day they would have started work on the next thing.

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LL: How do you think the suffragists would feel about the number of women turning out to vote today? (According to CNN, 65.7% of eligible women voted in the 2008 U.S. election.)

MB: I think that suffragists would be appalled by how few people vote, no matter what the gender. With gender inequality still a pertinent issue in today’s society, it is important for women to not only vote, but also vote for their best interests to try and enact change.

AS: The suffragists would probably think: “We fought for you to have the right to vote. You should ALL vote. Use your vote and your voice to enact change. Don’t be complacent with the way things are.” But at the same time, figure out why women aren’t voting. Is there some inequality there? What is stopping them from voting? Because perhaps there is a valuable reason as to why 100% of women aren’t voting.

LL: What does gender equality mean to you?

MB: To me, gender equality means feminism: men and women not being treated differently based on their sex or gender.

AS: Gender equality means that no matter who you are (sexuality, gender, race, religion, socio-economic status, politically, etc.) you are treated as a person, and have rights as a person.

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Lauriane Lebrun is a Summer 2015 Online Communications Associate with the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial Association and an honors student at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, NH.

What is Empowerment?

By Lauriane Lebrun

Empowerment.  From “empower” (em-pou-er). “1) To give power or authority to; authorize, especially by legal or official means. 2) To enable or permit.”

I have been thinking about this word a lot.  As one will find in the design plans for the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial, “empowerment” is set to be the memorial theme.  But what does this word really mean?  Does the definition above do it justice?  Or is there something more to the concept of “empowerment,” something that goes beyond the “legal and official”?

I like this definition from the Self Empowerment and Development Centre, which digs a little deeper.  It describes empowerment as a number of capabilities that can be summarized with the statement “’I am personally responsible for my life and where I find myself.’ If I don’t like it, I have the power to change it and I have the right to do just that.  Through the proper use of choice I can change my life.”

So, according to the first definition, to be empowered is to be given power.  And the second definition suggests that to be empowered is to recognize the power one already possesses.  I think that for the suffragists, both of these elements—but mostly the latter—were necessary to success.  Before any government official had a hand in “giving” women the vote, women themselves had to realize that voting was their inalienable right.  Empowerment was a process that started with recognizing the potential for a better future.  The suffragists were then tasked with garnering enough strength, courage, and determination to make change happen.  Finally, they were empowered in the legal and official sense with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.

My issue with the first definition is that it fails to take this process into account.  It suggests that the oppressed are empowered only at the will of the privileged.  It brings to mind images of children getting permission from their parents to go play outside.  The personal side of empowerment—the notion of making change happen for oneself—is left out.  The suffragists weren’t simply given the vote because they asked for it.  They forced their way into a position of power.  They made politicians see reason.  They empowered themselves.

• The Empowerment Process: Taking a Stand

Elizabeth Cady Stanton wrote: “The general discontent I felt with woman’s portion as wife, mother, housekeeper, physician, and spiritual guide, the chaotic condition into which everything fell without her constant supervision, and the wearied, anxious look of the majority of women, impressed me with the strong feeling that some active measures should be taken to remedy the wrongs of society in general and of women in particular.  My experiences at the World Anti-Slavery Convention, all I had read of the legal status of women, and the oppression I saw everywhere, together swept across my soul, intensified now by many personal experiences.  It seemed as if all the elements had conspired to impel me to some onward step.”  And so, onward she went, empowering herself to, as she put it, “do and dare anything.”

• The Empowerment Process: Proving Them Wrong

On November 19, 1868 in Vineland, New Jersey, women spent the day voting in the presidential election—sort of.  As a form of demonstration, women set up their own ballot box at the polling place.  A reporter from The Revolution wrote: “Young ladies, after voting, went to the homes of their acquaintances and took care of the babies, while they came out to vote.  Will this fact lessen the alarm of some men for the safety of the babies of enfranchised women on election day?”  Events such as the Vineland women’s vote (which had an impressive turnout of 172 female voters) empowered suffragists by proving the opposition wrong.  While anti-suffragists predicted that women voters would neglect their children in favor of politics, these suffragists made it perfectly clear that they were capable of managing both going to the polls and taking care of babies.

• The Empowerment Process: Not Giving Up

The years 1918-1920 are often skimmed over in reports of the suffrage movement.  For the suffragists, however, these were a long, grueling two years.  The Silent Sentinels’ pickets and imprisonment, along with several other factors, had done much to gain support in favor of the Nineteenth Amendment.  Still, many anti-suffrage politicians wouldn’t budge.  It was often a “so close, yet so far” situation; for example, on February 10, 1919, the amendment was just one vote short of passage in the US Senate.  Later, when women’s suffrage had been ratified in thirty-five of the requisite thirty-six states, it almost seemed as if one last state was too much to ask for.  On June 2, 1920, Delaware nearly brought the struggle to an end when the upper legislature voted to pass the amendment—but then the lower chamber voted against it.  It is probably an understatement to say that the suffragists were disappointed and worn out at this point.  Even after the fateful vote on August 18, 1920 in Tennessee, opposition continued.  At last, on August 26, 1920, women were—“by legal and official means”—empowered to vote in every US state.  But I’m willing to bet they felt empowered in a few other ways, too.  They’re still empowering us today.

Additional Sources:
Century of Struggle: The Woman’s Rights Movement in the United States by Eleanor Flexner and Ellen Fitzpatrick, 1996

Lauriane Lebrun is a Summer 2015 Online Communications Associate with the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial Association and an honors student at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, NH.

June 2015: Suffragist of the Month

Meet TPSMA‘s June 2015 Suffragist of the Month: Beatrice Reynolds Kinkead (November 8, 1874 – November 11, 1947)

Beatrice Reynolds Kinkead of Upper Lake, California, 100 miles north of San Francisco, was a continent away from the infamous Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia, but it was almost inevitable that she would eventually journey from one place to the other. The same kind of drive and commitment that led her to excel in academics would carry over into her work for the suffrage movement.

Like many others, she became involved in the suffrage cause during her college years. In 1893, while she was an undergraduate at the University of California, a coalition of Golden State suffragists, W.C.T.U. members, and even a number of groups that had never been involved in suffrage before, united to get the State Legislature to pass a school- suffrage bill allowing women to vote at any school election and run for any school office. But it never became law. The Governor said he had concerns about the constitutionality of the measure, asked a law firm to study the matter, and by the time the lawyers made their report, the deadline to sign the bill had expired, a great convenience to the Governor, but a source of great exasperation to suffragists.

Though Reynolds was busy with her studies, becoming one of the first women to earn a B.A. from the University of California on February 12, 1895, and an M.A. in 1897 (her thesis was “The Vague Supposition in Plato”), she still found time to help the cause.  In 1896, while still pursuing her M.A., and teaching in a San Francisco high school, she was quite active in the local suffrage league. That year, suffragists convinced the legislature to bypass the governor, and put woman suffrage directly on the ballot for the state’s (male) voters to decide.

Though the referendum failed, due to a massive, last-minute campaign by alcohol interests, everyone who took part gained experience, and had the chance to work with nationally-known suffrage advocates.  Even Susan B. Anthony spent a substantial amount of time in California during the campaign, and clearly would have been a great inspiration to Reynolds and all the local suffragists she encountered on statewide speaking tours.

Reynolds became a teacher of Greek and Latin at a high school in Centerville, then in 1898 moved East to teach at the Shipley School in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. She must have made quite an impression, because by 1899 she was teaching Latin at Vassar, and was a “Fellow By Courtesy” at Bryn Mawr.  But in 1900 she moved back to California, teaching Greek at a Los Angeles high school for one year, then Greek and Latin at a San Francisco high school from 1901 to 1903. It was during this time that she married James Alan Kinkead, on August 8, 1902.

The young couple soon moved to Montclair, New Jersey, where Beatrice would give birth to four children (Robin, James, David and Donald) between 1906 and 1911. Though busy raising a family, the New Jersey Suffrage Referendum of 1915 would bring another suffrage campaign to her doorstep, and she could not ignore the call to duty.

The loss of the referendum in New Jersey, as well as defeats in three other big Eastern states two weeks later, plus impatience with President Wilson’s failure to endorse nationwide woman suffrage now made the National Woman’s Party’s militant tactics and total focus on the Anthony Amendment more attractive to her than the state-by-state approach and polite lobbying of Wilson by the National American Woman Suffrage Association.

She first began going down to D.C. to be a banner- bearing “Silent Sentinel” picket along the White House fence on “New Jersey Day” in February, 1917. But the friendly spirit of those pre-war days was long gone by July 14, 1917, when she and 15 other picketers were arrested on false charges of “obstructing traffic” on the wide Pennsylvania Avenue sidewalk.

After 6 months of widespread publicity for the Sentinels, and acute embarrassment for a President whose vigorous support for democracy worldwide was being conspicuously contrasted with his apathy toward bringing democracy to the female half of his own country, pro-Wilson judges set out to crush the dissenters through harsh sentences.

But jail terms of up to 60 days imposed for what – even if they had been valid – were trivial charges, backfired badly, so public sympathy for the pickets and outrage toward the Administration soon began to increase. Though willing to serve their full terms, the first pickets to be given lengthy sentences were quickly pardoned by the President, so Kinkead was in Occoquan for only three days.

In an interview given just after her release, she discussed her experiences in the prison, noting inedible food, crowded conditions, and the fact that the only water was in a bucket with a communal dipper.  She said that she accepted the pardon because she was told by the picket’s lawyer that President Wilson was about to endorse the Susan B. Anthony (nationwide woman suffrage) Amendment, and that since the pardon was unconditional, it would not interfere with her right to protest again. In fact, she noted: “All of the 16 who can will return. These women seek no notoriety. All could obtain it in more pleasant ways. They wish to stand for true democracy.”

Following the successful conclusion of the suffrage campaign, she spent the rest of her days as a translator of books, mostly for children, and generally about science. As the Second World War approached, she spent a good deal of time in the Soviet Union, and advocated greater cooperation between Americans and Russians against the growing threat of Fascism.

By the end of her life, she was back home in California, a state whose suffragists didn’t give up after the setbacks of 1893 and 1896, and who won the vote through a referendum in 1911, nine years before the 19th Amendment was ratified.

Sources:  After the Vote Was Won: The Later Achievements of Fifteen Suffragists by Katherine H. Adams and Michael L. Keene., pages 118-122;  Becoming Citizens: The Emergence and Development of the California Women’s Movement, 1880-1911 by Gayle Gullett, pages 80-82 ; “Bryn Mawr College Program, 1905-6”; “Picket Tells of Prison Life,” New York Times, July 22, 1917, page 5; Jailed for Freedom by Doris Stevens, part 8.Winning The Vote: The Triumph of the American Woman Suffrage Movementby Robert P. J. Cooney, Jr., pages 348-49.  Photo Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

February 2015: Suffragist of the Month

Meet TPSM‘s February 2015 Suffragist of the Month: Amy Juengling
(ca. 1886 – January 16, 1974)

Amy Juenling

Amy Juengling, born and raised in Buffalo, NY, was active in the National Woman’s Party and participated in the NWP’s picketing of the Woodrow Wilson White House. On November 10, 1917, Juengling set out with forty other NWP members to protest the imprisonment of Alice Paul at the DC Jail. More specifically, they were protesting a denial of Paul’s status as a political prisoner (Cooney, 357). Juengling marched in the first group of picketers who descended on the White House. They carried banners of purple, gold, and white – the colors of the suffrage campaign. The protesters were arrested as soon as they took their positions at the east and west gates of the White House (Cooney, 358). They were not sentenced and were ordered released(Irwin, 258). Just four days later, on November 14^th, Juengling and other picketers set out again to protest Paul’s treatment. Juengling was arrested as soon as she arrived at the White House, tried the same day, charged with unlawful assembly, and was sentenced to thirty days in prison or a fine of fifty dollars (Irwin, 260). Juengling and the other women refused to pay their fines and were taken to Occoquan Workhouse in Lorton, Virginia, to serve their sentences. Once there, the women fought to be recognized as political prisoners which guaranteed them certain rights, but the authorities refused.

During what would later be called the Night of Terror, in the early hours of November 15^th, the women, including Juengling, faced brutality at the hands of the Workhouse guards (Walton, 199). She and the other women were placed in small cells and were beaten. In protest of their treatment, the women began hunger strikes and were subjected to forced feedings by the guards (Irwin, 288). Kept from communicating with those outside the prison, the women wrote notes which were secretly smuggled out of the facility. Once word of their abuse was reported in the press, the public became outraged and called for the release of the suffragists. On November 27^th, Juengling and the other suffragists were released from the Occoquan Workhouse.

Juengling stayed involved with the National Woman’s Party after her arrest and imprisonment in Occoquan. On New Year’s Day in 1919, the National Woman’s Party began a new campaign called “watchfires of freedom.” She and other protesters burned the speeches of President Woodrow Wilson to call attention to his lack of involvement in the woman suffrage campaign (Cooney, 398). Wilson had verbally given his support to the passage of a woman’s suffrage amendment, but many members of the National Woman’s Party felt that Wilson should be more involved in the campaign (Cooney, 398).

Sources: Robert P.J. Cooney Jr., Winning the Vote: The Triumph of the American Woman Suffrage Movement (Santa Cruz, CA: American Graphic Press, 2005); Inez Haynes Irwin, The Story of Alice Paul and the National Women’s [Sic] Party (Fairfax, Va: Denlinger’s Publishers, 1977); Mary Walton, A Woman’s Crusade: Alice Paul and the Battle for the Ballot (New York: Palgrave Macmillian, 2010); photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.

January 2015: Suffragist of the Month

Meet TPSM‘s January 2015 Suffragist of the Month: Cora Week

Cora Week was an artist from New York City.  She was engaged with the National Woman’s Party (NWP) at several key events.  She was among those who came to Alice Paul’s window at the DC Jail on November 9, 1917, to communicate with their leader who had been in jail for some time.  They promised her they would picket at the White House the next day to protest her treatment.

The next morning 41 women formed the picket line with tricolored banners marching in formation from NWP Headquarters to the White House in five groups.   Ms. Week was in the first group.  There was a thick stream of workers passing who paused to look at them.  Involuntarily they applauded when the women were arrested on-the-spot.  The suffragists heard one voice of encouragement call out, “Keep right on! You’ll make them give it to you!”

The police charged them with “obstructing traffic” and they were tried on November 12.  The police testimony was refuted by defense witnesses.  After eloquent testimony by the suffragists, Judge Mullowney admitted he was embarrassed by the Administration and dismissed the pickets without sentence saying he would take the matter under advisement.   An hour later, 27 of the 41 women, plus a few additional women were out picketing again.  Despite their surprise at such determination, police managed to arrest all of the pickets, 31 in all. They were ordered to appear in court on November 14.  These pickets endured the “Night of Terror” at the Occoquan Workhouse which included beatings and verbal abuse.  Cora Week was among them.

Cora Week was again on the scene when the National Woman’s Party organized watch fires on the sidewalk in front of the White House to burn the president’s speeches on democracy in Europe.  She was again arrested on February 9, 1919, and served time in the DC Jail in an area that was re-opened to house the suffragists.   The environment was cold and rat infested.

Sources:  Inez Haynes Irwin, The Story of the Woman’s Party (New York: Harcourt, Brace, and Company, 1921), 251, 404, 407.  Photo from:  Women of Protest: Photographs from the Records of the National Woman’s Party, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.,http://www.loc.gov/item/mnwp000296/

December 2014: Suffragist of the Month

TPSM’s December 2014 Suffragist of the Month: Elizabeth Stuyvesant

Formerly of Cincinnati, she lived in New York City and was a professional dancer. She came from a family in which duty to country was valued.  Her great-grandfather died in the Revolutionary War, her grandfather in the Civil War, and her brother fought in France during World War I.  She acknowledged her father’s influence on her life: “Growing up under the influence of my father’s genuinely libertarian nature” she received respect and intellectual stimulation that propelled her into college, social work, and the suffrage movement (Filene, 26).

For five years she did social work in New York City; she was active in settlement work and in the campaign for birth control.  This brought her to decide to join the fight for woman’s political liberty through the suffrage movement.

She was a state organizer and active in the National Woman’s Party.  As a “silent sentinel” in 1917, she was arrested on July 4, 1917, while picketing the White House for suffrage and sentenced to three days in the District Jail.  She wrote “There was not one of us that did not come out of that experience with less awe for policeman, judge, and with established ideas and with a clearer understanding of the true nature of authority” (Adams, 35).  She continued picketing, and in August she was among those attacked by a mob at the White House as the observing police officers  did nothing to protect them.  She was struck and her blouse was torn from her body (Stevens, 90).

As a working professional woman – in the minority then — she wrote an essay, “Staying Free” published in The Nation, a liberal magazine.  Her essay was one of a series on the “Modern Women” of the 1920s.  Her professional work included that for the Socialist Party in the New York City mayoral election of 1917 (Showalter, 7).

Sources: Elaine Showalter (editor), These Modern Women: Autobiographical Essays from the Twenties (New York: Feminist Press at the City University of New York, 1989), 7.  Peter G. Filene, Him/Her/Self: Gender Identities in Modern America (Baltimore MD: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1974… 1998), 26.  Katherine H. Adams, Michael L. Keene, After the Vote Was Won: The Later Achievements of Fifteen Suffragists (Jefferson NC: McFarland and Company, 2010). Dora Stevens, Jailed for Freedom (Troutdale OR: NewSage Press, 1963).

Night of Terror Timeline: November 14-15, 1917

November 14th

#OTD 1917,12PM: We were sentenced to imprisonment @ Lorton's OccoquanWorkhouse when we refused to pay the fine (EllaFindeisen) #NightofTerro

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 14, 2014

Arrested #OTD 1917: Ada Kendell, Ruth Crocker, Katherine Fisher, Anna Guenter, Nina Samarodin, Hilda Blumberg, Ernestine Hara #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 14, 2014

Arrested #OTD 1917: Peggy Johns, Margaret Kessler, Paula Jacobi, Nellie Barnes, Eunice Brannan, Emily DuBois Butterworth #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 14, 2014

Arrested #OTD 1917: Lucy Burns, Alice Cosu, Lucy Daniels, Dorothy Day, Julia Emory, Ella Findeisen, Elizabeth Hamilton #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 14, 2014

Arrested #OTD 1917: Alice Gram, Myrtle Gram, Louise Hornsby, Amy Juengling, Hattie Kruger, Dora Lewis, Agnes Morey #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 14, 2014

Arrested #OTD 1917: Kathryn Lincoln, Mary Nolan, Mary "Minnie" Quay, Lovern Robertson, Phoebe Scott, Mary Short #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 14, 2014

Arrested #OTD 1917: Belle Sheinberg, Kate Stafford, Cora Week, Cammille Whitcomb, Matilda Young. #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 14, 2014

Whenever arrested in a group, the women selected 1 as spokesperson; if present, often Lucy Burns or Mrs. Lawrence Lewis. #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 14, 2014

#OTD 1917, 5PM: We arrived @ Lorton & were kept in the office in a small cottage (Kathryn Lincoln) #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 14, 2014

#OTD 1917, 5:05PM: When the woman @ the desk, Mrs. Herndon, attempted to ask the usual questions, the group refused to answer #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 14, 2014

#OTD 1917, 5:10PM: Mrs. Herndon said, "You will sit here all night then." And we waited for hours (Cora Weeks) #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 14, 2014

#OTD 1917, 5:30PM: Then one by one men came into the room. (Ella Findeisen) #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 14, 2014

#OTD 1917, 6PM: Mrs. Herndon kept trying to get us to answer. (Phoebe Scott) #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 14, 2014

One man said, "You had better answer up, or it will be the worse for you." (Phoebe Scott) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 14, 2014

Another man said, "I will handle you so you'll be very sorry you made me." We remained silent. (Amy Juengling) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 14, 2014

#OTD 1917: Mrs.Nolan (73yo & disabled) later said she could tell Mrs.Herndon, the desk lady, was afraid of what might happen #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 14, 2014

#OTD 1917,10PM: Mr.Whitaker, PrisonSuperintendent, burst into the room followed by more men, &more &more (Elizabeth Hamilton) #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

#OTD 1917: I stood & said, "We demand to be treated as political pris—…" (Mrs. Lewis) #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

"You shut up! I have men there glad to handle you," interrupted Whitaker. (Mrs. Lewis) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

#OTD 1917: "Seize her!" Yelled Whitaker & 2 men seized & dragged Mrs. Lewis out of our sight. (Lovern Robertson) #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

A man sprang at me. I said "I will come with you;do not drag me.I have a lame foot." They dragged me anyway. (Mrs.Nolan) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

Mrs. Nolan was the oldest imprisoned at 73. The just wanted her to pay a fine instead. She refused. #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

Mrs.Nolan: "I have a nephew fighting for democracy in France. I should be proud [to] die…for the liberty of American women" #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

They twisted my arms above my head, lifted me & slammed my back twice over a bench. (Dorothy Day) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

One man yelled "The damned suffrager…. I will put you through hell!" They pulled me down the hall… (Mrs. Nolan) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

They threw Mrs.Lewis doubled over like a sack of flour, & her head struck the iron bed which knocked her out (Mrs.Nolan) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

We all thought Mrs. Lewis was dead and wept. But later we were able to revive her. (Mrs. Nolan) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

Dorothy Day, back over the bench,cried to us for help.We tried but couldnot get out of the grasp of the men(PaulaJacobi) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

Mrs.Cosu became desperately ill w/ chest pains & vomiting. We called for help, but guards nearby ignored us (Mrs. Nolan) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

With only 2 blankets, we 3 shivered all night. (Mrs. Nolan) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

I took charge & first checked on the suffragists. I called out the name of each woman in the group. (Lucy Burns) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

The guard shouted, "Shut up!" (Lucy Burns) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

Not hearing from her, I call "Where is Mrs. Lewis?" Mrs. Cosu answered, "They have just thrown her in here" (Lucy Burns) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

The guard yelled that if they spoke again, he would put us in straitjackets. (Mrs.Cosu) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

Terrified, Mrs. Nolan and I kept quiet for a while. (Mrs. Cosu) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

When I continued to call 2my colleagues,guards cuffed my wrists &fastened them above my head 2 the cell door (LucyBurns) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

After the shackling, I continued to call out & was threatened with a buckle gag. (Lucy Burns) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

I could see what they were doing to Lucy and was desperate to help her. (Julia Emory) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

In defiance, I held up my arms in the same position as Lucy's. (Julia Emory) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

They took me alone to the male area &told me I was alone &the men could do what they pleased w/me (Mrs.HenryButterworth) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

I was terrified all night…

(Mrs. Henry Butterworth) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

November 15th

#OTD 1917, 8AM: I was taken to Whitaker. Asked if I would obey prison rules… #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

…I said I would not & demanded political prisoner status. (Paula Jacobi) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

#OTD 1917, 12Noon: All who had gone through the #NightofTerror refused food in the days that followed…
(Lucy Burns)

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

…Protesting being denied political prisoner status. (Lucy Burns) #OTD #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 15, 2014

Night of Terror Timeline: November 13, 1917

#OTD 1917, 1PM: A picket line of 31 of us went out from NWP to the White House. (Hilda Blumberg) #NightofTerror #suffrage

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 13, 2014

Banners were taken and destroyed, they proceeded with bare poles. (Hilda Blumberg) #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 13, 2014

#OTD 1917, 3PM: We began to think the administration had changed tactics, but suddenly we were all arrested. (Louise Hornsby) #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 13, 2014

#OTD 1917,8PM: We were kept overnight in the house of detention in 2rms w/8beds so some of us slept on the floor (MyrtleGram) #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 14, 2014

Countdown to the Night of Terror

Today we begin posting our timeline countdown to the Night of Terror. Follow us on Twitter @tpsm2020.

Timeline: November 9, 1917

AlicePaul had been in DC jail since Oct 20, 1917. On Nov 9, a group of suffragists went to visit her. #NightofTerror pic.twitter.com/OuItJvKHCY

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 9, 2014

This was the first time a large group had gone to visit Alice Paul in the DC jail. #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 9, 2014

The group arrived at Warden Zinkham's home, asking to see Paul. It was said that he was sick & could not see them.

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 9, 2014

The suffragists then dashed across the courtyard to call up to Paul in her room… #NightofTerror pic.twitter.com/h9iljU6tQm

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 9, 2014

5pm: 41 of us gathered outside & called up to Alice Paul at DC jail. We said we would protest her treatment (Katherine Morey) #NightofTerror

— TPSM (@TPSM2020) November 9, 2014