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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 20th 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.
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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.
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“Artifact Walls - The National Woman Suffrage Parade, 1913.” National
Museum of American History, July 5, 2017. National Museum of American History.
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ReplyDeleteit interesting that the police just allowed the men to assault the women protestors. Im also curious as to why the men would have wanted to hurt the protestors at all. It goes to show exactly why they were protesting because they weren't given the respect they deserved and they wanted it. As a result of the attack I think eventually ended up helping the protest because it brought way more attention to the problem. This relates to my last blog post over the Tractorcade because in both cases they would not stop until they got what they deserved. The women protestors continued to protest even with the men trying to stop them and the farmers continued to protest even after being confined to the parking lot and fined. It shows the drive that the protestors had and how strongly they believed in their rights.
ReplyDeleteI find it so inspiring that the first major women's parade was so large. The 8,000 demonstrators marched proudly and many were injured / hospitalized for their bravery. Many women were attacked by those who disagreed with them. It is so sad that peaceful demonstrations, like this one, can turn violent purely because there are people who disagree. Reacting violently, no matter what the peaceful protest is about, is always wrong. These reactions will not change the minds of the protesters - it will only encourage them to continue.Only discussion and academic debate can bring about a change in people's minds.
ReplyDeleteThis post also relates to my blog about the March for Life because both issues that these groups are fighting for began as a small protest and have developed into large demonstrations. People rally behind a group when they exercise their freedoms to peacefully express their protest.
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