07/15/2018
Today in Mighty Girl history, 16 of the "Silent Sentinels," the group of suffragists who picketed in front of the White House for two and a half years for women's suffrage, were arrested in 1917. The women were charged with “obstructing traffic” and sentenced to 60 days in jail at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia. The Silent Sentinels were organized by the National Woman's Party, led by suffrage leaders Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. The vigil began on January 10, 1917 and continued every day and night, except Sunday, until June 1919 when the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution passed both the House and the Senate.
Many of the nearly 2,000 different women who participated in the vigil were arrested at various times. Although President Woodrow Wilson pardoned the 16 arrested on July 14 after three days, Alice Paul and others were famously arrested in October of that year. Paul was sentenced to seven months in prison. When she returned to the Occoquan Workhouse with a group of 32 suffrage prisoners, they endured what became known as the "Night of Terror" when they were brutalized by nearly 40 guards. In protest of the abuse and dreadful conditions at the Occoquan Workhouse, Burns and Paul joined other suffragists in a hunger strike.
Fearing that one of the women would die and lead to more negative press attention, the warden ordered the women be force fed. Historian Eleanor Clift recounts that the force feeding of Lucy Burns required "five people to hold her down, and when she refused to open her mouth, they shoved the feeding tube up her nostril" -- a dangerous and extremely painful feeding method. Widespread press coverage of these abuses, along with on-going protests, strongly influenced the Wilson Administration who declared, in January 1918, that women's suffrage was urgently needed as a "war measure" and asked Congress to act.
The suffragists' dedicated efforts brought the attention of the world to the struggle for women’s rights in America, and led to the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920. This marked the victorious end of a 72-year long struggle to achieve equal voting rights for women which had begun at the first women's right conference organized by Elizabeth Cady Stanton in Seneca Falls, New York in 1848.
For an excellent youth-friendly introduction to the fight for women's suffrage in the US, we highly recommend "Rightfully Ours: How Women Won The Vote" for ages 9 and up at https://www.amightygirl.com/rightfully-ours
For two new books about the heroic women of the U.S. Suffrage Movement, we highly recommend "Roses and Radicals" for ages 10 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/roses-and-radicals) and "Votes for Women!" for ages 13 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/votes-for-women)
To learn more about Alice Paul and Lucy Burns' fascinating story and their important legacy in securing women's right to vote, the film "Iron Jawed Angels" is highly recommended for viewers 13 and up at https://www.amightygirl.com/iron-jawed-angels
To introduce children and teens to more amazing women of the Suffrage Movement, check out the reading recommendations in our post, “How Women Won the Vote: Teaching Kids About the U.S. Suffrage Movement, ” at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=11827
And, for our favorite t-shirt honoring women throughout history who were willing to shake up the system, check out the "Well behaved women seldom make history" t-shirt -- available in a variety of styles and colors for all ages -- at https://www.amightygirl.com/well-behaved-women-history-shirt
