1953 Baton Rouge Bus Boycott

       Racism in the US is a controversial topic to discuss, especially events in the 20^th century. Even
 during the second world war, the military segregated whites from black soldiers. This racial division carried into the 1950s, which became a catalyst for Civil Rights movements across the country. The most famous boycott for the civil rights movement is Rosa Parks’ refusal to move to 

Figure 1. Carpool vehicle advertises "Free Ride". Image Courtesy of Earnest Richie Collection.

the back of the bus in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955. However, there was a similar yet less known version of that event.

Figure 2. A protestor directing other African Americans to use the free ride. Image courtesy of AAERG.

        In 1953, two years earlier, there was a boycott known as the Baton Rouge Bus Boycott of 1953. This event was the first large-scale boycott and inspired the Montgomery Bus Boycott. The boycott was started by the 1950 decision by the Baton Rouge City Council by supporting the financially strapped municipal bus company by revoking the licenses of nearly forty competing black-owned companies, which led African Americans using the segregated buses operated by city-owned bus company. 

 

        80 percent of the riders were African American, and there were forced to sit in the back of the buses while the front seats were reserved for white passengers. On February 25, 1953, the Baton Rouge city-parish council meeting, voted to end the city's code to allow blacks to occupy the same seat or sit on the front of a white passenger. It abolished reserved seating but required blacks to board the buses from the back to the front and white passengers from front to back. However, the law went unenforced and for nearly three months, the front ten bus seats remained reserved for white passengers, even on routes going through black neighborhoods.  

As the boycott grew, the Baton Rouge City’s Bus transportation was starting to face financial problems

Figure 3. An empty Baton Rouge pulls up to an empty bus stop. Image courtesy of the Ernie Richie Collection.

and as a result, black and white leaders negotiated to end the boycott. After the meetings, Rev. Jemison broke the news to a mass meeting held at Memorial Stadium and although some African Americans applauded the deal, there were some that wanted to continue the boycott. 

    In the end, how this event became controversial to the early civil rights movement is because the leader, Rev. T.J. Jemison, capitulated too quickly to the city demands. The reverend agreed and the boycott came to an end. The compromise was the city bus companies reduced the number of white seats but retained the rule that African Americans had to sit in the back or stand, even if there was a seat saved for a white passenger was empty. 

Figure 4. Rev. T.J. Jemison escorting Mary Briscoe and Sandra Ann Jones after they were released on bond. Image courtesy of NBC.

     How this relates to Gaudium et Spes, can be interpreted as this. The Baton Rouge City Council kept buses segregated by color of their skin and as such, many black people were upset that they were being forced to comply with a rule that made them get up from their seats in favor of white people. As a result, they protested that it would not just benefit the black community of Baton Rouge, but for all blacks in the United States and as the city’s rules were abusing that authority not to enforce that law.

Figure 5. Reverand T.J. Jemison shakes hands with Dr. Matin Luther King Jr. Image courtesy of Ernest Richie.

Figure 6. Protestors Carpooling in protesting the Baton Rouge City's Bus Segregation. Image courtesy of the BlackPast.

     In conclusion, although this event was largely forgotten to the times of history, this was the catalyst that sparked the Civil Rights Movements in the coming years and the eventual “victory” of the Civil Rights in the 1960’s.  

Tractorcade

Tractorcade

In February of 1979 farmers from the American Agriculture Movement (AAM) protested to defend their rights. To try and force a change in agriculture policy these farmers drove their tractors to Washington DC. Coming from all over the farmers lined the roads outside of D.C with thousands of tractors. Nearly 3,000 farmers aimed to make the sale of farm commodities at sub-parity prices illegal and to form a National Board of Agriculture Producers. 

Tractors gathered in front of the Capital. Photo by Smithsonian Institution Archives.  

The lines of tractors on the road created major traffic jams throughout the city. The farmers protested, blocking the avenue for weeks. The farmers were eventually blocked into the National Mall by police buses. City officials wanted to maintain peace during the protest but was eager to have the Tractorcade leave. While the farmers braved the cold winter in protest, President Washington ordered the farmers to pay one million dollars for being a nuisance to taxpayers and dealing damage to the National Mall. The citizens living in Washington D.C. were unhappy with the protest because of all the delays and traffic issues they were causing.  Despite the protests adding cost, unhappy citizens, and being confined to the mall parking lot they refused to leave. 

Tractor plowing snow during the 1979 Tractorcade. Image courtesy of Smithsonian Institution Archives. 

The winter off the protest the weather changed and a severe snowstorm fell in D.C.  The only vehicles able to move on the snow covered ground were the tractors. The members of AAM came together and helped the city of DC by plowing the snow off the streets. They plowed hundreds of cars out of the snow and helped get nurses and doctors to nearby hospitals. Helping clear the streets. This helped the farmers gain sympathy from the citizens, but even with more of their support it did not do much for the cause. After weeks of demonstrations the American Agriculture Movement became unorganized. Some farmers flipped a vehicle, threw parts, and threw a live goat over the White House fence. The police chief ordered that all future Tractorcades should be banned unless the farmers could get organized. 

This protest relates to the teachings of Gaudium et spes because the farmers organized a peaceful protest. The members of the American Agriculture Movement did not agree with the laws and guidelines set by the government so they protested for the rights they believed they were entitled to and did so by staying in the limits drawn by natural law and the Gospels.

Due to growing cost and unorganization the farmers the tractorcade was ended. The government continued to foreclose farms and businesses. The AAM did not create the dramatic change they had hoped but since then they hold a major role in Agriculture policy making in D.C.. 

Cooper's Donuts Riots

            Throughout history, but especially most recently in history, homosexual, transgender, and drag individuals have been outcasted and mistreated by mainstream society.  Because of this discrimination, many members of the LGBTQ Community felt threatened and began to seek comfort amongst themselves.  These individuals also began to stand together to show that they too had rights and were indeed citizens of the United States that were protected under the Constitution of the United States of America.  One of the earliest significant riots for gay, lesbian, transgender, and drag rights came in May of 1959 in Los Angeles, California, at a local donut shop called Cooper’s Donuts. 

            The riot was sparked by unrest among the LGBTQ Community in relation to police tendencies in the area.  The Los Angeles Police Department or LAPD was notorious for arresting individuals based solely on their sexual orientation.  More often than not, these individuals did little more than walking down the street being their true selves.  The area surrounding Cooper’s, pictured below, was well-known as a heavily gay community, often called the “gay ghetto.”  Due to these ridiculous arrests, targeting by police officers and senseless raids of local bars and restaurants, the gay community at Cooper’s had turned to violence when three of their fellow community members were placed under arrest.

Cooper’s Donuts Shop, circa 1950s.  Image courtesy of Spy Hollywood.

            John Rechy, one of the three that was targeted on this night in May of 1959, is now a novelist that has written about his experiences in this rough period of history in Los Angeles.  As he and two other fellow members of the gay community were placed under arrest in front of Cooper’s Donuts, the customers of Cooper’s had had enough.  The patrons began to throw their products at the police officers in protest of the arrests and ridiculous accusations of not following the law.  Police officers were pelted with donuts, coffee, and paper plates by the individuals in the shop.  The attack eventually became too much for the few police officers present and they were forced to leave the scene.  John Rechy was able to flee the area and avoid arrest shortly after the police officers left.  However, soon the LAPD returned and in far greater numbers.  The patrons of Cooper’s Donuts and the gay community refused to back down and chose to pursue justice for their fellow community members as they instigated an even larger protest that would shut down the main road for a whole day.

Sign supporting the Cooper Donuts Riots, circa 1959. Image courtesy of Spy Hollywood.

            In the 20^th Century, many riots for gay rights have ensued to help those individuals that identify as homosexual, transgender, and drag maintain the rights that are guaranteed under the Constitution of the United States of America.  However, the Cooper’s Donut Riots are extremely important to the rest of these riots.  This particular riot is considered to be the first major riot for gay rights in modern history.  These riots may not have been the most violent in nature but certainly these riots raised the questions of why are some people guaranteed rights and not others? 

Cooper’s Donuts Shop, circa 1950s.  Image courtesy of Spy Hollywood.

            These events can be viewed in several different lenses.  One of these lenses is the Catholic view of the riots and the bigger issue of gay rights.  Despite the common belief, Catholics are not necessarily against gay persons.  Rather, Catholics are against the marriage aspect of the community.  However, the document Gaudium et spes sheds a far different light than what is commonly thought of as the Catholic view.  The document states in a portion of the piece that the governing body is responsible for good of all citizens.  I feel that this is a striking point as these riots are a result of a government that did not live up to these standards. 

You can learn more about these riots and other struggles surrounding gay rights by clicking The Pridela and C Donuts.

Memphis Sanitation Strike

                                                              

50 Years after Their Historic Strike, Memphis Sanitation Workers Are Still Fighting. Mother Jones,  Eli Day, March 21, 2018. 

     The Memphis Sanitation Strike occurred during the Civil Rights Movement. It was a strike by black Americans in Memphis, Tennessee to fight against discrimination through neglect and abuse of black workers. They were being oppressed by the city of Memphis. The black workers were being treated unfairly, and were striking for recognition of their union, for the rights of economic equality and equal treatment of the black workers who were being oppressed.    

     On February 1, 1968 sanitation workers named, Echol Cole and Robert Walker were crushed by a trash truck they were riding in while trying to stay dry during a rain storm. They were in the back where the garbage is thrown, seeking shelter, when it accidentally released the mechanism of the truck that ultimately lead to their death. Coincidentally, on that same day another incident occurred, when twenty-two sewer workers were sent home without pay because it was raining, while the white supervisors were still kept on the job and able to keep their pay. The labor discrimination against African Americans had reached a breaking point.

      Historically, the lives of the black workers had always been a struggle. The workers would only make $1.80 an hour which is very low. Since the wages were so minute a majority of the workers met the standards for welfare, and many had to count on food stamps to provide for their families. Some black workers even had to work a second job in order to make ends meet. On a daily basis the workers would lift garbage that was very unsafe and be dripping all over them. In addition, their superiors would treat them unjustly just like they were nothing. When the weather was hazardous, they were sent home with no pay while the whites would receive all the money on a normal day. The workers also had no benefits which included no pension or a vacation. Below is a sample pay stub from a black worker in January 1968 right before the strike showing the unfair wages.

Image of PAY Stub , from Sanitation Worker. Omeka RSS, January 31, 1968.

     On February 12 more than 1,300 of the sanitation workers would strike for better safety on the job, more money, and union recognition. The union originally tried to go out on a strike in 1966, but it failed due to the fact that the workers could not gather the support of people in Memphis. However, this environment the workers were accustomed to, took a turn for the worse when a new mayor was elected. Henry Loeb, the new mayor, declined an offer to dispose of trucks that were in disrepair, and to give the worker’s pay for overtime. Additionally, the fight had become more than labor discrimination, it had also become about the respect and dignity of the black population of Memphis.  One of the eyewitnesses to the strike, Bill Lucy, talked about the strike in the   I Am A Man Exhibit Symposium. 

Memphis Sanitation City Hires Replacement Workers, NBC News Photo Blog, Richard Copley, March 28, 1968.    

  

    Then on February 22, the strike almost ended when a sit in of sanitation workers happened and the City Council voted to recognize the union and increased wages. However, the mayor would not accept the vote and threatened to replace the strikers. After this occurred, a riot took place towards demonstrators who filled the streets and the police took them down with mace and tear gas.  A couple days after this incident, ministers came to the decision to use tactics that would be civil instead of with malicious intent. Roy Wilkins and Bayard Rustin, civil rights leaders arrived in Memphis to help the sanitation workers.

     The longer the strike lasted, more black people rallied around the workers in the community in Memphis.  Martin Luther King was already involved with the workers and the  Poor People’s Campaign who were fighting for economic opportunity and equality. He made Memphis part of this campaign and stood up for dignity for all jobs, even sanitation workers, in his effort to better the lives and civil rights of the black workers in Memphis. Martin Luther King was involved with a city-wide boycott to help the workers in their strike. King’s effort was aided by Reverend James Lawson who was a pastor in Memphis, and a guide for the workers.  Martin Luther King was a key figure in this strike. King led the sanitation workers on the demonstration, but it turned violent and the march stopped. He came back to Memphis for a peaceful march and delivered his last speech,  I’ve Been to the Mountaintop in Memphis, on April 3, 1968, urging strikers to continue until the end and not give up. This is the last time that Martin Luther King would be involved with a civil rights protest. King would be assassinated the next day.

    Despite the death of Martin Luther King, Jr., the mayor still refused to meet the demands of the strikers. After pressure from the governor of Tennessee and President Johnson, on April 16, 1968 negotiators finally struck a deal allowing the City Council to recognize the union and ensuring that there would be better wages for the workers. The deal brought the strike to an end but later the union had to threaten to strike again to guarantee that the city would follow through with what it said. The strike was an important milestone to labor rights and civil rights of the oppressed black workers of Memphis, Tennessee and shed light on how the government discriminated and unfairly treated African Americans. As in accordance with the Gaudium et Spes, they were striking against the oppression of the public authority, the city of Memphis, its mayor, and defending their rights against that abuse.

The Longest Walk

The Longest Walk

Native American Marchers, Location Unknown, Courtesy of National Museum Of The American Indian.

The Longest Walk was a demonstration performed in 1978 by many Native American tribes who felt dishonored and disadvantaged by the US Government. Some natives thought that the situation that surrounded the independence and self-determination of the land reserves were in danger in more ways than one. Firstly, Native people such as Phillip Deere who saw the Government actively dissolve the Native Identity and replacing it with the American one. Others saw that there were many bills on the floor in Congress that, if passed. Would restrict land and property rights of native people on their own reserves.

The Protest was aimed to garner support from all around the US by conducting a march starting in San Francisco and ending in Washington DC. It would also be symbolic in many ways since not even a hundred years prior, the Native Americans were marched westward by the United States. While on the route to DC, the group of 2,800 demonstrators would spit up. One portion taking a more northern route while the other taking a more southern route. Each would stop often and make small demonstrations, garnering support from local Native and Non-Natives alike. Some notable people that voiced their support for the demonstrators were Muhammad Ali and Stevie Wonder.

Native American Protestors with Famous Figures Mark the End of the Longest Walk Protest, Washington DC courtesy of NMAI (National Museum of the Native American).

This photo has them alongside several protestors while on one of their routine stops.[1] The history of Native Peaceful Resistance against the US Government is interesting in the NMAI (National Museum of the Native American) article and it describes how The Long Walk fit into the history of the Protests across the United States.

A Native American elder named Phillip Deere spoke to the group of demonstrators while they were stopped in Boulder Colorado, stating his fear that ‘Indians’ all around the United States are being indoctrinated away from their natives’ cultures. He voiced his fears that when he looks around at the reservations, he sees Natives in American Schools, driving American Cars, working American Jobs, and conducting their business in an American Way. This brought great fear to him because he did not want to see the culture of his people relegated to the history books. That ironically, are largely written by the American viewpoint. Deere’s exact words plus a audio recording of him speaking can be found on the Descendant Of Gods blog website.

Another goal of the Protesters was to attempt to strike down the 11 Bills that were being debated in Congress that concerned many rights that the Native Peoples had. The Bills concerned property rights of the reservations. Most importantly the right for Native Americans to hunt and fish on the reservation lands. The idea of the Government further restricting what the Natives could and could not do on their own reservations is what caused the march to gain such traction within the Native American Community. The march in smaller part also was motivated by the way the US Government was picking certain Tribes to be ‘Recognized’ which granted them special autonomy with how they could impose their own laws, set their own property rights within the reservation, as well as being tax exempt from State and Local taxes.  The Tribes wanted a reform in how exactly the government picks what tribes to be ‘Recognized’ and which tribes to be ‘Not Recognized’.

This protest relates to the Catholic Gaudium et Spes where the right of the people who are oppressed by a Government power to demand for equal representation. These groups of unrecognized people are being unfairly treated by the Government when special privileges are given out to other Native American Tribes. Which is only the most recent of offenses that the Federal Government has committed against Native Americans as a whole. As history teaches us that the Unites States has been notorious for repeated dishonoring of treaties, rewriting territorial boundaries and forced migration all throughout the history of the groups feuding. If there are going to be special privileged afforded to Native American groups under the jurisdiction of the United States. The Gaudium teaches that all people should be treated fairly under the law and the moment the government becomes tyrannical through its policies, it becomes the right of the people affected to speak out for their rights.

The Protest was able to garner enough support and the 11 Bills in Congress were never passed into law, The Long Walk was deemed successful by its organizers and it is considered one of the cornerstones of Native’s peaceful resistance against the US Government in the fight for their rights. The Long Walk would happen several more times throughout the late 20^th century and each walk was dedicated to a different topic related to the defense of Native American life, culture, and health. The Longest Walk has a website that describes its history and missions if you are interested in further reading.

---

Lithuanian Recognition Rally

On June 1, 1990, thousands of Lithuanian Americans protested on the Capitol steps in an attempt to pressure on President Bush to recognize Lithuania as an independent state. These demonstrators also had the support of two Senators, Alfonse M. D’Amato (R-N.Y.) and Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove). At the time, the Soviet Union occupied and oppressed Lithuania under the leadership of Mikhail S. Gorbachev. This communistic regime limited the rights of Lithuanians and fiercely repressed any protests within the country. Lithuania declared its independence on March 11, 1990, but no states recognized their decree. After continued violent responses by the Soviet Union, Lithuanians demanded that the United States recognize their independence.

Lithuania was constantly annexed and occupied by both Germany and the USSR throughout World War II. After the war was over, the Red Army invaded Lithuania and established its Soviet rule. Officials from Moscow were sent to establish local governance, who enforced sovietisation. The citizens of Lithuania were forced to adapt a Soviet way of life through Soviet-like institutions, laws, customs, and tradition, which were promoted primarily through propaganda. However, this process was also instilled through fear and eradication of all Lithuanian symbols, art pieces, writings, etc. The country’s history was rewritten, its achievements were belittled, and Stalin was to be venerated. Its citizens were encouraged to join the Communist Party and any speech or expression against communism was censored. In an attempt to spread secularization, any religious association was prohibited, and the communist state promoted atheism. All of this encouragement, persecution, prohibition, and promotion had underlying connotations of brutal consequences. Citizens who were openly against communism could be jailed, tortured, or even killed. More often than not, those who resisted were deported to Siberia by the hundreds of thousands and left to die.

Even from the beginning of the occupation, Lithuanians organized armed resistance to reestablish capitalism and regain their sovereignty. They also coordinated various protests, including the Baltic Way and the TV Tower protest. Those who were able, escaped from the Soviet Union’s rule as Displaced Persons, many of whom ended up in America. Lithuanian-Americans gathered together often to keep their language, culture, and traditions alive. Because they knew that the United States was one of the greatest superpowers of its time, many would rally Representatives to recognize the Baltic states. On March 11, 1990, Lithuania declared its independence from the Soviet Union, becoming the first nation in the USSR to do so.

The Baltic Freedom Rally on Capitol Hill urged President Bush to recognize Lithuania’s sovereignty and allow democracy to spread to the Baltics. Representative D’Amato, inLithuanian, declared that Lithuania will be free. Protesters traveled from all over America to listen to these Senators and display a unifying voice against the Soviet Union. This demonstration became the first major public outcry in America against Soviet occupation. Many claimed that President Bush had some type of agreement with Gorbachev to ignore the atrocities that were occurring within the USSR.

1. 

   Lithuanian Recognition Rally, circa 1990, Image courtesy of United Press International

The individuals on Capitol Hill were advocating for their people abroad. Many protestors were immigrants themselves, who recently escaped to America. To place this demonstration in a larger context, it signifies the unity among people to fight for freedom and the beginning of the fall of the Soviet Union. These people were fighting for the common good of all the Baltic states, regarding all occupied states as separate from the Soviet Union. The Catholic encyclical, Gaudium et Spes, clearly advocates for protests that benefit the entirety of human citizens. This Baltic Rally promoted the recognition of independent nations as well as the human rights violations by the Soviet Union.


Lithuania’s history is a mystery to most people, so, if you would like to learn more about this small country against the Baltic Sea, True Lithuania offers a comprehensive overview. The time period referenced in this blog post, the late 20^th century, is described at the bottom of the page.
Because of protests like these, President Bush recognized the independence of the Baltic states. The official announcement of such recognition is during a press conference from his vacation home in Kennebunkport, Maine.

The Los Angeles Riots of 1992

            In April of 1992 Los Angeles California was plunged into the worst civil unrest that the city had seen since the Civil Rights era of the 1960’s. Fueled by anger surrounding the acquittal of four white police officers accused of savagely beating an African-American resident of Los Angeles, Rodney King, protest turned to riot with the savage beating of a white truck driver, Reginald Denny, at an intersection in South Central Los Angeles. Rodney King’s beating had been clearly videotaped by a bystander, who witnessed the Los Angeles Police Department deliver 56 baton blows while King lay on the ground. Violence began at the intersection of Florence and Normandie Avenues in South Central L.A. and the police left the residents to fend for themselves as the city devolved into chaos. Violence, looting, and arson continued largely unchecked for the next three days as National Guard Troops began to secure the area. It wasn’t until the arrival of Federal troops on May 3^rd that the majority of the uprising was quelled. Federal troops were stationed in the area until May 27^th when tensions were finally normal enough.

A truly staggering toll was taken on the city of Los Angeles. In the course of the riot property damage and destruction, looting, arson, and outright assault of all types was the norm. Videos of the destruction, desperation, and disorder broadcast at the time on national news networks are now available on YouTube and show just how lawless unpoliced Los Angeles became. The videos are difficult to watch and truly unbelievable at times. The riot was truly destructive. 54 people died in the violence, over 2,300 people were injured, and estimates of property damage are around $1 Billion.

While this violence was in many ways senseless and motivations may have differed from person to person, the initial impetus was the acquittal of the officers in the Rodney King trial. This racial tension that lay underneath the violence was interesting in that 1992 was an election year. In fact, primary elections would take place in Los Angeles County and California as a whole just one week after the National Guard fully retreated from Los Angeles. This Primary narrative ignores a large group of people who also found themselves in the middle of the racial battle which raged in South Central Los Angeles. The prominent Korean-American community there found their businesses threatened with violence and looting due to their own publicized legal trial regarding the killing of an African-American woman by a Korean-American shopkeeper who believed the woman was attempting to rob a convenience store. Soon Ja Du, the defendant in the trial, was only sentenced to probation for a voluntary manslaughter charge, and many in the African-American community were angered by what they saw as leeway given to someone who committed a violent act against another African-American. Community members of the time would have applied this context to the trial of the police officers who beat Rodney King. Impacts on the Korean-American community can also be seen in this interactive timeline from the Los Angeles Times, which also gives a better context to when many of these events took place.

            The Los Angeles Riots of 1992 were not a protest in the way that many were in the 20^th Century. Their harsh and deadly violence often contradicted any goal that protesters/rioters had, and there was simply no organization. However, the riot was certainly carried out to send a message to those in power, especially those white citizens of Los Angeles who had turned a blind eye to the violence carried out by the hands of the Los Angeles Police Department. Though the protest had no agreement or outcome which produced direct change, it highlighted something troubling about race in the 20^th Century: between the race riots of the 1960’s and the early 1990’s, many things had not changed.

Though race relations have gotten better and better, they were certainly still divided enough in the late 20^th Century, and now into the 21^st Century to prompt this type of behavior. Gaudium et Spes encourages people to participate in the kinds of communities that improve life for all members, and while the rioters of 1992 Los Angeles certainly did not improve their communities, their government also failed to develop a world in which they could flourish and do so equitably. While governments look to changes in the future they must also look back at the failings of government in times like the 1992 Los Angeles Riots.

Korean-American citizens of Los Angeles defend themselves and their businesses from rioters. Courtesy of CNN.

A looted and destroyed store is surveyed by a Los Angeles County Sherriff’s Deputy. Courtesy of NBC Los Angeles.

The Women’s Suffrage Parade of 1913

Women Suffrage Procession, 1913 official program- Courtesy of National Women’s Party Collection, Sewell-Belmont House and Museum, Washington D.C. Library of Congress.

            The Women’s Suffrage Parade of 1913 was the first major national efforts to protest the rights for women suffrage. By the time of the parade, it marked sixty years of women fighting for suffrage. The parade took place in Washington, D.C., on March 3 which was one day before the inauguration of President Woodrow Wilson. The parade was initiated by Alice Paul who was a part of the National American Women Suffrage Association. Riding atop a white horse, lawyer and activist Inez Milholland led over five thousand suffragists. One of the main goals of the parade was to encourage the making of a constitutional amendment to legally allow women to vote. The march featured 8,000 marchers, including nine bands, four mounted bridges, twenty floats, and an allegorical performance near the Treasury Building. The parade was off to a great start until it reached the route along Pennsylvania Avenue became swarmed with men in town for the inauguration for President Wilson.

            The men that were in the street for the inauguration started to push and ridicule the marchers in the parade. Some of the women were even tripped and assaulted. The police that were already there to parole the inauguration had no sympathy for the women and showed indifferent to the struggling people in the parade that were getting assaulted. Before the day was over many marchers were hospitalized amounting to over one hundred. Although many were injured the women did not give up and finished the parade. As a result of all the people who got injured during the parade amplified the event and the cause into a major new story and led to congressional hearings. At these hearings, D.C. superintendent of the police lost his job for not helping the poor defenseless marchers. Many historians later have credited this parade for giving the suffrage movement a new wave of inspiration and purpose. What began in 1913 took another seven years to make it through to Congress. In 1920, The nineteenth Amendment secured the vote for women.

            The Library of Congress has great sources that talk about the Women Suffrage parade of 1913. Many influential pictures and quotes from the pamphlet they had during the parade, Marching for the Vote: Remembering the Women Suffrage Parade of 1913. Under each picture, there are long descriptions that describe the image and what is going on during this time which helps those who are reading get a sense of the event and what the women were doing to fight for their suffrage rights. Another outside link I found very influential with this topic is a Historical overview of the Nationals Women’s Party. This party is responsible for the women who led the Women’s Suffrage parade of 1913 Alice Paul and Inez Milholland. Not only is the party responsible for two influential women who led the parade but the women who were a part of the parade came from the party as well. These women involved wanted their voices heard and in doing so marched towards Washington in 1913, Historical Overview of the National Woman's Party.

            In the Gaudium et Spes reading we have for our class it talks about people coming together to become a community. All are welcome to form a political community and within this political community are very diverse. Of those who come together to create a community must lead and protect the rights and liberties of those within the community even though solutions may vary between differing opinions. This topic is a common theme throughout the 20^th century as women were in a constant fight for their liberties. Below there is a photo taken of the parade in 1913 showing the enormous crowd that had brewed women marching and wanting to fight for women suffrage rights. There were men there trying to stop the parade but the women would not back down.

Crowd converging on marchers and blocking parade route during March 3, 1913, inaugural suffrage procession, Washington, D.C. Leet Brothers, photographer, National Woman's Party Records, National Park Service. 

“Artifact Walls - The National Woman Suffrage Parade, 1913.” National Museum of American History, July 5, 2017. National Museum of American History.