Photograph: Suffrage Procession, 1917

Photograph: Suffrage Procession, 1917

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Description
This photograph shows picketers marching from the National Women’s Party headquarters to their posts in front of the White House.
In January 1917, members of the National Woman's Party (NWP) became the first people to picket the White House. This photograph shows picketers marching from the National Women’s Party headquarters to their posts in front of the White House. Protesting the government's failure to pass a constitutional amendment enfranchising women, NWP members, led by Alice Paul, began picketing the White House. Their purple, white, and gold banners asked President Woodrow Wilson, "Mr. President what will you do for woman suffrage?" and "Mr. President how long must women wait for liberty?" Tolerated at first, the "silent sentinels" were increasingly seen as an embarrassment to the administration. As the United States entered the First World War, the NWP pickets' banners often pointed out the hypocrisy of fighting for democracy and freedom in Europe while denying it to women at home. In June 1917, the D.C. police began arresting picketers for obstructing sidewalk traffic. 90 women were sentenced to terms ranging from 60 days to six months in the Occoquan Workhouse. When their demands to be treated as political prisoners were ignored, they went on hunger strikes and were forcibly fed. The publicity surrounding their ordeal generated public sympathy for the suffragists and their cause.
Location
Currently not on view
Object Name
photograph
associated institution
National Woman's Party
Physical Description
paper (overall material)
Measurements
average spatial: 5 in x 7 in; 12.7 cm x 17.78 cm
ID Number
1991.3016.065
catalog number
1991.3016.065
nonaccession number
1991.3016
Credit Line
Alice Paul Centennial Foundation, Inc.
subject
Women's Suffrage
Equal Rights Amendment
Voting Rights
March, Rally, Demonstration, or Other
Women's History
See more items in
Political and Military History: Political History, Women's History Collection
Government, Politics, and Reform
Woman Suffrage
Data Source
National Museum of American History
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