Government, Politics, and Reform

George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln are all represented in the Museum's collections—by a surveying compass, a lap desk, and a top hat, among other artifacts. But the roughly 100,000 objects in this collection reach beyond the possessions of statesmen to touch the broader political life of the nation—in election campaigns, the women's suffrage movement, labor activity, civil rights, and many other areas. Campaign objects make up much of the collection, including posters, novelties, ballots, voting machines, and many others. A second group includes general political history artifacts, such as first ladies' clothing and accessories, diplomatic materials, ceremonial objects, national symbols, and paintings and sculptures of political figures. The third main area focuses on artifacts related to political reform movements, from labor unions to antiwar groups.

One half of a set of Woman Suffrage Objection and Answer Banners.
Description
One half of a set of Woman Suffrage Objection and Answer Banners. This banner was used in White House pickets supporting woman’s suffrage.
These banners took some of what suffragists considered the most ridiculous objections to woman suffrage and pointed out their folly using disarming humor. This set paired the Objection, "Women are TOO PURE for the DIRTY POOL of politics" and "Answer If the Pool is dirty THE TIME HAS COME TO CLEAN IT. Women have had Long Experience Cleaning up after Men."
associated institution
National Woman's Party
associated person
Paul, Alice
ID Number
1987.0165.154
catalog number
1987.0165.154
accession number
1987.0165
On January 11, 1914 Elizabeth Kent of the Congressional Union for Woman’s Suffrage presented Alice Paul with a silver loving cup "in affectionate recognition of her wisdom, her devotion and her courage." It was Paul’s twenty-ninth birthday.
Description
On January 11, 1914 Elizabeth Kent of the Congressional Union for Woman’s Suffrage presented Alice Paul with a silver loving cup "in affectionate recognition of her wisdom, her devotion and her courage." It was Paul’s twenty-ninth birthday. At this meeting Alice Paul announced her daring new strategy: campaigning to defeat members of the political party in power (at that time the Democratic Party) until that party officially supported woman suffrage. This change from the more conservative state-by-state lobbying efforts fractured the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association and the Congressional Union for Woman’s Suffrage. Paul split off from the National American Woman Suffrage Association and eventually formed the National Woman’s Party.
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1914-11-01
referenced
Paul, Alice
ID Number
1987.0165.158
accession number
1987.0165
catalog number
1987.0165.158
Alice Paul saved this fragment of one of the most controversial banners used by the National Woman’s Party in picketing the White House. The note on the fragment reads, "'Kaiser’ Wilson Banner East Gate White House Monday, Aug.
Description
Alice Paul saved this fragment of one of the most controversial banners used by the National Woman’s Party in picketing the White House. The note on the fragment reads, "'Kaiser’ Wilson Banner East Gate White House Monday, Aug. 13, 1917".
In January 1917, discouraged by President Wilson’s continued opposition to the suffrage amendment, Alice Paul, the leader of the National Woman’s Party (NWP) posted pickets at the White House gates—the first people to ever picket the White House. These "silent sentinels" stayed on duty in all weather and in the face of threats, taunts, and physical violence. Using their banners and their quiet courage they asked, "Mr. President How Long Must Women Wait for their Liberty?" and "Mr. President What Will you do for Woman Suffrage?" Hoping to provoke a response, the language on the banners became more inflammatory. They used the president’s own words against him and pointed out the hypocrisy of his leading the country into the First World War to defend freedom while denying it to the women of his own country. This fragment is from a banner that read, "Kaiser Wilson Have You Forgotten Your Sympathy With the Poor Germans Because They Were Not Self-Governed? 20,000,000 American Women Are Not Self-Governed. Take the Beam Out of Your Own Eye." Crowds that believed the pickets’ activities were disloyal in a time of war attacked the suffragists and destroyed their banners but the picketing continued.
Location
Currently not on view
associated date
1917
associated institution
National Woman's Party
commemorated
Wilson, Woodrow
associated person
Paul, Alice
ID Number
1987.0165.113.1
catalog number
1987.0165.113.1
accession number
1987.0165
One half of a set of Woman Suffrage Objection and Answer Banners.
Description
One half of a set of Woman Suffrage Objection and Answer Banners. This banner was used in White House pickets supporting woman’s suffrage.
These banners took some of what suffragists considered the most ridiculous objections to woman suffrage and pointed out their folly using disarming humor. This set paired the Objection, "Women are TOO PURE for the DIRTY POOL of politics" and "Answer If the Pool is dirty THE TIME HAS COME TO CLEAN IT. Women have had Long Experience Cleaning up after Men."
associated institution
National Woman's Party
associated person
Paul, Alice
ID Number
1987.0165.147
catalog number
1987.0165.147
accession number
1987.0165
Poster from a 1924 pageant, "Forward into Light"” about the life of Inez MilhollandA labor lawyer, World War I correspondent, public speaker, social activist, and New York society figure, Inez Milholland was the idealized image of a suffragist.
Description
Poster from a 1924 pageant, "Forward into Light"” about the life of Inez Milholland
A labor lawyer, World War I correspondent, public speaker, social activist, and New York society figure, Inez Milholland was the idealized image of a suffragist. Believing that people would respond to the parade’s symbolism and spectacle, she rode as its herald. Her strong and feminine figure symbolically led the way to a brighter future for women. Milholland suffered from pernicious anemia, she had been warned by doctors that constant vigorous campaigning would be dangerous to her health but disregarded their concerns to further promote the cause. She collapsed and died in 1916 while traveling to promote woman suffrage. She became the martyred heroine of the movement, forever remembered as the 1913 parade’s inspiring herald.
Location
Currently not on view
associated institution
National Woman's Party
associated person
Paul, Alice
depicted (sitter)
Milholland, Inez
ID Number
1987.0165.114
catalog number
1987.0165.114
accession number
1987.0165
One half of a set of Woman Suffrage Objection and Answer Banners.
Description
One half of a set of Woman Suffrage Objection and Answer Banners. This banner was used in White House pickets supporting woman’s suffrage.
These banners took some of what suffragists considered the most ridiculous objections to woman suffrage and pointed out their folly using disarming humor. This set paired the Objection, "It would make women less attractive to men" with the Answer "If to be attractive means to be silly and irresponsible Yes. It depends on what you like."
Location
Currently not on view
associated institution
National Woman's Party
associated person
Paul, Alice
ID Number
1987.0165.144
catalog number
1987.0165.144
accession number
1987.0165
This is the first of four bracelets displaying charms for the states that voted to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).The 19th amendment giving women the right to vote was ratified on August 18, 1920.
Description
This is the first of four bracelets displaying charms for the states that voted to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).
The 19th amendment giving women the right to vote was ratified on August 18, 1920. Women had won the vote but not full equality, so Alice Paul and the National Woman’s Party took up the fight for equal rights. Believing that the more she understood about law the more useful she would be, Paul went back to school and earned three law degrees. In 1923 she drafted the text of the Equal Rights Amendment and worked for women’s equality in national and international forums for the rest of her career. In 1972 when Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment designed to guarantee protection against sexual discrimination for women under the law and sent it to the states for ratification, Paul began a set of charm bracelets. She added a charm engraved with the date that each state ratified the amendment. She had started her fourth bracelet when she suffered a stroke in 1974. An Ohio state charm dated 2/7/74 was the last one that she added. Alice Paul died on July 9, 1977, at the age of 92. She would never know that the amendment for which she had fought so long and hard would not be ratified.
This bracelet has charms representing states that had ratified the amendment after its passing. There are charms for Hawaii, New Hampshire, Delaware, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, Tennessee, Alaska, Rhode Island, and New Jersey.
The ERA failed to meet the requisite number of state ratifications (38) by Congress’ deadline of June 30, 1982 and so was not adopted as a Constitutional amendment. It has since been reintroduced several times.
Location
Currently not on view
associated institution
National Woman's Party
associated person
Paul, Alice
ID Number
1987.0165.039
catalog number
1987.0165.039
accession number
1987.0165
Women who participated in suffrage picketing received "Silent Sentinel" pins to honor their service.
Description
Women who participated in suffrage picketing received "Silent Sentinel" pins to honor their service. The small silver banners are engraved, "Without Extinction is Liberty." The reverse is engraved, "For service in the cause of the freedom of women Presented by the National Woman’s Party." The phrase "Without Extinction is Liberty" is drawn from a Walt Whitman poem, "By Blue Ontario’s Shore":
"Without extinction is Liberty, without retrograde is Equality,
They live in the feelings of young men and the best women,
(Not for nothing have the indomitable heads of the earth been
always ready to fall for Liberty.)"
In January 1917, discouraged by President Wilson’s continued opposition to the suffrage amendment, Alice Paul, the leader of the National Woman’s Party (NWP) posted pickets at the White House gates—the first people to ever picket the White House. These “silent sentinels” stayed on duty in all weather and in the face of threats, taunts, and physical violence. Using their banners and their quiet courage they asked, "Mr. President How Long Must Women Wait for their Liberty?" and "Mr. President What Will you do for Woman Suffrage?" Hoping to provoke a response, the language on the banners became more inflammatory. They used the president’s own words against him and pointed out the hypocrisy of his leading the country into the First World War to defend freedom while denying it to the women of his own country. Crowds who believed the pickets’ activities were disloyal in a time of war attacked the suffragists and destroyed their banners. In July the police began arresting the pickets for "obstruction of traffic." When they refused to pay fines they were imprisoned. When they went on hunger strikes to demand the rights of political prisoners they were forcibly fed—a painful and invasive procedure. The pickets continued despite the risk. Paul had endured such treatment while she was in England. Although she knew what lay ahead and that she, as the organizer of the picketing, would receive a harsher sentence, she insisted on taking her place on the picket line. She was arrested in October. While in jail she was forcibly fed and threatened with commitment to an insane asylum. Reports of the long sentences, abuse, and the courage of the suffragists became public and all prisoners were released in November.
presenter
National Woman's Party
associated person
Paul, Alice
ID Number
1987.0165.036
catalog number
1987.0165.036
accession number
1987.0165
Women who participated in suffrage picketing received "Silent Sentinel" pins to honor their service.
Description
Women who participated in suffrage picketing received "Silent Sentinel" pins to honor their service. The small silver banners are engraved, "Without Extinction is Liberty." The reverse is engraved, "For service in the cause of the freedom of women Presented by the National Woman’s Party." The phrase "Without Extinction is Liberty" is drawn from a Walt Whitman poem, "By Blue Ontario’s Shore":
"Without extinction is Liberty, without retrograde is Equality,
They live in the feelings of young men and the best women,
(Not for nothing have the indomitable heads of the earth been
always ready to fall for Liberty.)"
In January 1917, discouraged by President Wilson’s continued opposition to the suffrage amendment, Alice Paul, the leader of the National Woman’s Party (NWP) posted pickets at the White House gates—the first people to ever picket the White House. These “silent sentinels” stayed on duty in all weather and in the face of threats, taunts, and physical violence. Using their banners and their quiet courage they asked, "Mr. President How Long Must Women Wait for their Liberty?" and "Mr. President What Will you do for Woman Suffrage?" Hoping to provoke a response, the language on the banners became more inflammatory. They used the president’s own words against him and pointed out the hypocrisy of his leading the country into the First World War to defend freedom while denying it to the women of his own country. Crowds who believed the pickets’ activities were disloyal in a time of war attacked the suffragists and destroyed their banners. In July the police began arresting the pickets for "obstruction of traffic." When they refused to pay fines they were imprisoned. When they went on hunger strikes to demand the rights of political prisoners they were forcibly fed—a painful and invasive procedure. The pickets continued despite the risk. Paul had endured such treatment while she was in England. Although she knew what lay ahead and that she, as the organizer of the picketing, would receive a harsher sentence, she insisted on taking her place on the picket line. She was arrested in October. While in jail she was forcibly fed and threatened with commitment to an insane asylum. Reports of the long sentences, abuse, and the courage of the suffragists became public and all prisoners were released in November.
presenter
National Woman's Party
user
Paul, Alice
ID Number
1987.0165.038
catalog number
1987.0165.038
accession number
1987.0165
This is the flag of the National Woman’s Suffrage Congressional Union.In 1914 Alice Paul split from the more conservative National American Woman Suffrage Association, eventually founding the National Woman’s Party.
Description
This is the flag of the National Woman’s Suffrage Congressional Union.
In 1914 Alice Paul split from the more conservative National American Woman Suffrage Association, eventually founding the National Woman’s Party. It replaced British suffragettes’ green with yellow as the new American suffrage color.
Alice Paul and Lucy Burns felt that more should be being done to lobby Congress directly and that American suffragists could adapt the tactics of spectacle and political pressure employed by the British "suffragettes." Their new National Woman’s Party (NWP) used parades, petitions, protests, and eventually pickets in an ambitious campaign for a woman suffrage amendment.
Location
Currently not on view
associated institution
National Woman's Party
associated person
Paul, Alice
commemorated
National Woman's Suffrage Congressional Union
ID Number
1987.0165.124
catalog number
1987.0165.124
accession number
1987.0165
This card certifies that the bearer has donated funds to the National Woman’s Party.
Description
This card certifies that the bearer has donated funds to the National Woman’s Party. One of the ways in which both women and men could support woman’s suffrage was by donating funds to groups such as the National Woman’s Party to be used to run the rallies, parades, marches and conventions they organized. Even if a suffragist couldn’t support the cause in person, the option to donate to fund those who could gave them a way to still participate in the fight.
Location
Currently not on view
issuing authority
National Woman's Party
associated person
Paul, Alice
ID Number
1987.0165.070
catalog number
1987.0165.070
accession number
1987.0165
One half of a set of Woman Suffrage Objection and Answer Banners.
Description
One half of a set of Woman Suffrage Objection and Answer Banners. This banner was used in White House pickets supporting woman’s suffrage.
These banners took some of what suffragists considered the most ridiculous objections to woman suffrage and pointed out their folly using disarming humor. This set paired the Objection, "It would make women less attractive to men" with the Answer "If to be attractive means to be silly and irresponsible Yes. It depends on what you like."
Location
Currently not on view
associated institution
National Woman's Party
associated person
Paul, Alice
ID Number
1987.0165.149
catalog number
1987.0165.149
accession number
1987.0165
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1914
unspecified
National Woman's Party
Paul, Alice
ID Number
1991.3016.582
nonaccession number
1991.3016
catalog number
1991.3016.582
This photograph shows Lucy Branham with a banner protesting the treatment of suffrage leader Alice Paul.In January 1917, discouraged by President Wilson’s continued opposition to the suffrage amendment, Alice Paul, the leader of the National Woman’s Party NWP) posted pickets at t
Description
This photograph shows Lucy Branham with a banner protesting the treatment of suffrage leader Alice Paul.
In January 1917, discouraged by President Wilson’s continued opposition to the suffrage amendment, Alice Paul, the leader of the National Woman’s Party NWP) posted pickets at the White House gates—the first people to ever picket the White House. These "silent sentinels" stayed on duty in all weather and in the face of threats, taunts, and physical violence. Using their banners and their quiet courage they asked, "Mr. President How Long Must Women Wait for their Liberty?" and "Mr. President What Will you do for Woman Suffrage?" Hoping to provoke a response, the language on the banners became more inflammatory. They used the president’s own words against him and pointed out the hypocrisy of his leading the country into the First World War to defend freedom while denying it to the women of his own country. Crowds who believed the pickets’ activities were disloyal in a time of war attacked the suffragists and destroyed their banners. In July the police began arresting the pickets for "obstruction of traffic." When they refused to pay fines they were imprisoned. When they went on hunger strikes to demand the rights of political prisoners they were forcibly fed—a painful and invasive procedure. The pickets continued despite the risk. Paul had endured such treatment while she was in England. Although she knew what lay ahead and that she, as the organizer of the picketing, would receive a harsher sentence, she insisted on taking her place on the picket line. She was arrested in October. While in jail she was forcibly fed and threatened with commitment to an insane asylum. Reports of the long sentences, abuse, and the courage of the suffragists became public and all prisoners were released in November.
Lucy Branham, a leader of the National Woman’s Party, was arrested while picketing the White House in September 1917 and served two months in the Occoquan Workhouse and District of Columbia Jail.
Location
Currently not on view
associated institution
National Woman's Party
associated person
Paul, Alice
depicted
Branham, Lucy
photographer
Harris and Ewing
ID Number
1991.3016.111
catalog number
1991.3016.111
nonaccession number
1991.3016
Several different scenes of the 1913 suffrage parade and pageant in Washington, DC were available on postcards, a popular souvenir.
Description
Several different scenes of the 1913 suffrage parade and pageant in Washington, DC were available on postcards, a popular souvenir. This card shows the crowd of spectators at the March 3, 1913 suffrage parade.
On the day before the 1913 presidential inauguration, more than 5,000 women marched up Pennsylvania Avenue demanding the right to vote. Women from around the country came to Washington in a show of strength and determination to obtain the ballot. More than 10,000 spectators crowded the parade route. Some were simply boisterous but others were hostile. They spilled past the barriers and off the sidewalks, clogging Pennsylvania Avenue. Police officers were unable or unwilling to hold back the crowds and after the first four blocks the parade stalled as the marchers couldn’t pass through the mob. A cavalry unit from Fort Myer was finally called in to restore order and the parade finished hours late. The public was horrified, and a one-day event became an ongoing story, with demands for an investigation of the police department’s failure to protect the women.
Location
Currently not on view
associated institution
National Woman's Party
associated person
Paul, Alice
ID Number
1991.3016.070
catalog number
1991.3016.070
nonaccession number
1991.3016
Several different scenes of the 1913 suffrage parade and pageant in Washington, DC were available on postcards, a popular souvenir. The parade’s floats and marching sections represented women’s organizations and the progress of women’s rights.
Description
Several different scenes of the 1913 suffrage parade and pageant in Washington, DC were available on postcards, a popular souvenir. The parade’s floats and marching sections represented women’s organizations and the progress of women’s rights. The tableau on the steps of the U.S. Treasury building illustrated the ideals of Justice, Charity, Liberty, Peace, and Hope.
On the day before the 1913 presidential inauguration, more than 5,000 women marched up Pennsylvania Avenue demanding the right to vote. Women from around the country came to Washington in a show of strength and determination to obtain the ballot. More than 10,000 spectators crowded the parade route. Some were simply boisterous but others were hostile. They spilled past the barriers and off the sidewalks, clogging Pennsylvania Avenue. Police officers were unable or unwilling to hold back the crowds and after the first four blocks the parade stalled as the marchers couldn’t pass through the mob. A cavalry unit from Fort Myer was finally called in to restore order and the parade finished hours late. The public was horrified, and a one-day event became an ongoing story, with demands for an investigation of the police department’s failure to protect the women.
Location
Currently not on view
associated dates
1913
associated institution
National Woman's Party
associated person
Paul, Alice
ID Number
1991.3016.075
catalog number
1991.3016.075
nonaccession number
1991.3016
The Suffragist was created in 1913 by Alice Paul and the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage (later the National Woman’s Party) to spread women’s political news and garner public support for a suffrage amendment.
Description
The Suffragist was created in 1913 by Alice Paul and the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage (later the National Woman’s Party) to spread women’s political news and garner public support for a suffrage amendment. In addition to a wealth of informative articles, the newspaper featured large political cartoons drawn by Nina Allender that gave visual impact to the paper’s message. After the passage of the 19th amendment in 1919 The Suffragist ceased publication.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1917
associated institution
National Woman's Party
associated person
Paul, Alice
publisher
Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage
ID Number
1991.3016.585
catalog number
1991.3016.585
nonaccession number
1991.3016
In this newspaper clipping, a crowd of men tears apart a suffrage picketer’s banner.
Description
In this newspaper clipping, a crowd of men tears apart a suffrage picketer’s banner. The caption questions the motives of the men who insist they are "patriots" even as they protest the women’s rights to free speech and electoral representation.
In January 1917, discouraged by President Wilson’s continued opposition to the suffrage amendment, Alice Paul, the leader of the National Woman’s Party NWP) posted pickets at the White House gates—the first people to ever picket the White House. These "silent sentinels" stayed on duty in all weather and in the face of threats, taunts, and physical violence. Using their banners and their quiet courage they asked, "Mr. President How Long Must Women Wait for their Liberty?" and "Mr. President What Will you do for Woman Suffrage?" Hoping to provoke a response, the language on the banners became more inflammatory. They used the president’s own words against him and pointed out the hypocrisy of his leading the country into the First World War to defend freedom while denying it to the women of his own country. Crowds who believed the pickets’ activities were disloyal in a time of war attacked the suffragists and destroyed their banners.
Location
Currently not on view
associated institution
National Woman's Party
associated person
Paul, Alice
ID Number
1991.3016.445
catalog number
1991.3016.445
nonaccession number
1991.3016
Currently not on view
Location
Currently not on view
unspecified
National Woman's Party
depicted
Paul, Alice
photographer
Clinedinst
ID Number
1991.3016.047
catalog number
1991.3016.047
nonaccession number
1991.3016
The Suffragist was created in 1913 by Alice Paul and the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage (later the National Woman’s Party) to spread women’s political news and garner public support for a suffrage amendment.
Description
The Suffragist was created in 1913 by Alice Paul and the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage (later the National Woman’s Party) to spread women’s political news and garner public support for a suffrage amendment. In addition to a wealth of informative articles, the newspaper featured large political cartoons drawn by Nina Allender that gave visual impact to the paper’s message. After the passage of the 19th amendment in 1919 the The Suffragist ceased publication.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1919
associated institution
National Woman's Party
associated person
Paul, Alice
publisher
Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage
ID Number
1991.3016.587
catalog number
1991.3016.587
nonaccession number
1991.3016
This is the fourth of four bracelets displaying charms for the states that voted to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).The 19th amendment giving women the right to vote was ratified on August 18, 1920.
Description
This is the fourth of four bracelets displaying charms for the states that voted to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).
The 19th amendment giving women the right to vote was ratified on August 18, 1920. Women had won the vote but not full equality, so Alice Paul and the National Woman’s Party took up the fight for equal rights. Believing that the more she understood about law the more useful she would be, Paul went back to school and earned three law degrees. In 1923 she drafted the text of the Equal Rights Amendment and worked for women’s equality in national and international forums for the rest of her career. In 1972 when Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment designed to guarantee protection against sexual discrimination for women under the law and sent it to the states for ratification, Paul began a set of charm bracelets. She added a charm engraved with the date that each state ratified the amendment. She had started her fourth bracelet when she suffered a stroke in 1974. An Ohio state charm dated 2/7/74 was the last one that she added. Alice Paul died on July 9, 1977, at the age of 92. She would never know that the amendment for which she had fought so long and hard would not be ratified.
This bracelet has charms representing states that had ratified the amendment after its passing. There are charms for Montana, Ohio, and Maine.
The ERA failed to meet the requisite number of state ratifications (38) by Congress’ deadline of June 30, 1982 and so was not adopted as a Constitutional amendment. It has since been reintroduced several times.
Location
Currently not on view
associated institution
National Woman's Party
associated person
Paul, Alice
ID Number
1987.0165.042
catalog number
1987.0165.042
accession number
1987.0165
This is the second of four bracelets displaying charms for the states that voted to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).The 19th amendment giving women the right to vote was ratified on August 18, 1920.
Description
This is the second of four bracelets displaying charms for the states that voted to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).
The 19th amendment giving women the right to vote was ratified on August 18, 1920. Women had won the vote but not full equality, so Alice Paul and the National Woman’s Party took up the fight for equal rights. Believing that the more she understood about law the more useful she would be, Paul went back to school and earned three law degrees. In 1923 she drafted the text of the Equal Rights Amendment and worked for women’s equality in national and international forums for the rest of her career. In 1972 when Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment designed to guarantee protection against sexual discrimination for women under the law and sent it to the states for ratification, Paul began a set of charm bracelets. She added a charm engraved with the date that each state ratified the amendment. She had started her fourth bracelet when she suffered a stroke in 1974. An Ohio state charm dated 2/7/74 was the last one that she added. Alice Paul died on July 9, 1977, at the age of 92. She would never know that the amendment for which she had fought so long and hard would not be ratified.
This bracelet has charms representing states that had ratified the amendment after its passing. There are charms for California, Wyoming, South Dakota, Oregon, Minnesota, New Mexico, Vermont, Connecticut, and Washington.
The ERA failed to meet the requisite number of state ratifications (38) by Congress’ deadline of June 30, 1982 and so was not adopted as a Constitutional amendment. It has since been reintroduced several times.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1972-1973
associated institution
National Woman's Party
associated person
Paul, Alice
ID Number
1987.0165.040
catalog number
1987.0165.040
accession number
1987.0165
Women who participated in suffrage picketing received "Silent Sentinel" pins to honor their service.
Description
Women who participated in suffrage picketing received "Silent Sentinel" pins to honor their service. The small silver banners are engraved, "Without Extinction is Liberty." The reverse is engraved, "For service in the cause of the freedom of women Presented by the National Woman’s Party." The phrase "Without Extinction is Liberty" is drawn from a Walt Whitman poem, "By Blue Ontario’s Shore":
"Without extinction is Liberty, without retrograde is Equality,
They live in the feelings of young men and the best women,
(Not for nothing have the indomitable heads of the earth been
always ready to fall for Liberty.)"
In January 1917, discouraged by President Wilson’s continued opposition to the suffrage amendment, Alice Paul, the leader of the National Woman’s Party (NWP) posted pickets at the White House gates—the first people to ever picket the White House. These “silent sentinels” stayed on duty in all weather and in the face of threats, taunts, and physical violence. Using their banners and their quiet courage they asked, "Mr. President How Long Must Women Wait for their Liberty?" and "Mr. President What Will you do for Woman Suffrage?" Hoping to provoke a response, the language on the banners became more inflammatory. They used the president’s own words against him and pointed out the hypocrisy of his leading the country into the First World War to defend freedom while denying it to the women of his own country. Crowds who believed the pickets’ activities were disloyal in a time of war attacked the suffragists and destroyed their banners. In July the police began arresting the pickets for "obstruction of traffic." When they refused to pay fines they were imprisoned. When they went on hunger strikes to demand the rights of political prisoners they were forcibly fed—a painful and invasive procedure. The pickets continued despite the risk. Paul had endured such treatment while she was in England. Although she knew what lay ahead and that she, as the organizer of the picketing, would receive a harsher sentence, she insisted on taking her place on the picket line. She was arrested in October. While in jail she was forcibly fed and threatened with commitment to an insane asylum. Reports of the long sentences, abuse, and the courage of the suffragists became public and all prisoners were released in November.
presenter
National Woman's Party
associated person
Paul, Alice
ID Number
1987.0165.037
catalog number
1987.0165.037
accession number
1987.0165
This is the third of four bracelets displaying charms for the states that voted to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).The 19th amendment giving women the right to vote was ratified on August 18, 1920.
Description
This is the third of four bracelets displaying charms for the states that voted to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA).
The 19th amendment giving women the right to vote was ratified on August 18, 1920. Women had won the vote but not full equality, so Alice Paul and the National Woman’s Party took up the fight for equal rights. Believing that the more she understood about law the more useful she would be, Paul went back to school and earned three law degrees. In 1923 she drafted the text of the Equal Rights Amendment and worked for women’s equality in national and international forums for the rest of her career. In 1972 when Congress passed the Equal Rights Amendment designed to guarantee protection against sexual discrimination for women under the law and sent it to the states for ratification, Paul began a set of charm bracelets. She added a charm engraved with the date that each state ratified the amendment. She had started her fourth bracelet when she suffered a stroke in 1974. An Ohio state charm dated 2/7/74 was the last one that she added. Alice Paul died on July 9, 1977, at the age of 92. She would never know that the amendment for which she had fought so long and hard would not be ratified.
This bracelet has charms representing states that had ratified the amendment after its passing. There are charms for Texas, Colorado, West Virginia, Wisconsin, New York, Michigan, Maryland, Massachusetts, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.
The ERA failed to meet the requisite number of state ratifications (38) by Congress’ deadline of June 30, 1982 and so was not adopted as a Constitutional amendment. It has since been reintroduced several times.
Location
Currently not on view
associated institution
National Woman's Party
associated person
Paul, Alice
ID Number
1987.0165.041
catalog number
1987.0165.041
accession number
1987.0165

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