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| Lucy Burns in the Occoquan
Workhouse |
On
November 15, 1917, suffragists imprisoned after picketing the White
House
faced violent attacks at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia. Lucy
Burns, Dora Lewis, and other members of the National Woman's Party
were brutally beaten and abused, according to affidavits. Lucy
Burns was handcuffed and forced to hang from the top of her cell,
while some witnesses say Dora Lewis suffered a heart attack.
The abuse was ordered by the superintendent, W.H. Whittaker, in an
attempt to teach the suffragists a lesson. The courage and
conviction expressed by the National Woman's Party inspired more
volunteers to join the picket line and eventually convinced the
public and elected officials to support the suffrage amendment.
Doris Stevens recorded this and other stories from the campaign for
suffrage in Jailed for
Freedom, her memoir chronicling the work of the National
Woman's Party. On this historic day, it is important to reflect on
the sacrifices of the hundreds of women who gave so much for the
right to vote. |
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Toast
the Woman's Vote
The
Sewall-Belmont House & Museum was thrilled to collaborate with
sixteen organizations and Athena Vineyards to host Toast the
Woman's Vote on November 4, 2010.Friends
and supporters convened at the historic Tayloe House, the second
headquarters of the National Woman's Party, to toast 90 years of
woman suffrage. Alice Paul (shown above) and thousands of women
marched from this location to picket the White House from 1917 to
1919. Sam Bennett, President and CEO of the Women's Campaign Forum,
presented an analysis of the status of women voters and candidates
as guests toasted 90 years of women voting.
The
photos above along with others from the event have been posted to
Flickr here.
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