Suffragette Flag: Flag of the National Woman's Party. They were American women who wanted to vote. In silent non-violent protest they stood in front of The White House holding flags and banners which quoted President Wilson's own speeches about democracy. They remained there in shifts for months regardless of weather. But no one had ever picketed The White House.

Their action was viewed as unpatriotic in some circles. Then, US entry into WWI increased the mob violence against them. It was war time and they were accused of "being against The President". They were labeled "unpatriotic." Children spit on them. Men assaulted them. The police stood by and watched. The government arrested the women themselves, rather than their attackers, for "obstructing traffic."

Demonstrations spread to other cities. The women were beaten by police in Boston. In New York, they were "attacked by police, soldiers and onlookers."  Hundreds of them were arrested for "obstructing traffic." In defense of their civil liberties, many who could have avoided prison by paying fines refused to so. Their position was that they had not broken any law and that their arrests were politically motivated. The Wilson administration refused to yield and its tolerance dwindled.

All they wanted to do was vote.

With the escalating political climate, earlier government leniency gave way to harsher sentences and treatment. Prison "became more closely synonymous with compromised health and bodily harm." Conditions included primitive sanitation, meager food full of insects and worms, isolation, psychological duress. Their protests continued in jail with hunger strikes and refusal do their work assignments. "The Night of Terror"  November 15, 1917 in Occoquan Work House seems to have been a calculated attempt to end the picketing. Women were beaten, knocked unconscious and handcuffed with their arms above the head. The government tried to get their leader, Alice Paul, declared insane.

All they wanted to do was vote.

On March 4, 1918 A US Federal Appeals court declared unconstitutional the detainment of all White House suffrage pickets. No one was prosecuted or even in trouble for their unlawful arrests and imprisonment. And arrests would still go on elsewhere.

In the end, they won. President Wilson changed his position to support women's suffrage. By the time it was achieved with the 19th amendment in 1920, 168 NWP members had served time.

My information and the direct quotes are taken from The Library of Congress web site:

Library of Congress summary of NWP tactics   PDF File of the full essay

This is the flag they used to celebrate their victory.

Alice Paul sews a star on to a "ratification banner" (from Library of Congress Collection)

You see, as the 19th amendment made its way through the approval process, the ladies sewed a star on their flag each time another state ratified it.

They needed 36. Many states had defeated the amendment. It came down to the great State of Tennessee, a lady named Febb Ensminger Burn
and her son Harry, a state legislator who opposed ratification.

On August 18, 1920 the legislature was deadlocked and so the measure would fail. Then in a moment of high drama, 24 year old Harry Burn suddenly changed his vote in a role call. That morning he had received a letter, still in his pocket, from his mother in which she urged him "Don't forget to be a good boy" and to "vote for suffrage."

#H140 $49.00 19th Amendment Victory Flag 3x5' Rugged outdoor nylon, heading and grommets

"When Tennessee the 36th state ratified, Aug 18, 1920, Alice Paul, National Chairman of the Woman's Party, unfurled the ratification banner from Suffrage headquarters" From the Library of Congress web site

The organized struggle, begun 1848 in Seneca Falls, NY, had ended in Nashville, TN. It had taken the combined efforts of millions of women. Their ultimate willingness to be arrested and abused had finally shocked the nation into supporting their cause. Those who had begun the struggle did not live to see the victory. Those who completed the struggle were not born when it had begun. Where would we be without people among us who are willing to change the world?

This was their flag. Remember it the next time you don't vote!

Cool Links Related to this topic

Library of Congress More from the same collection

Library of Congress summary of NWP tactics

PDF File of the full essay