The Democracy Limited - Prison Special

From prison to people

In February 1919 the women of the National Women’s Party went on a cross country railway tour to demand immediate action by congress on the women’s suffrage amendment and share the “brutal and lawless measures of the Administration to suppress the lawful agitation for suffrage” with the American public. The tour visited sixteen cities strategically including stops in several southern states where suffrage was not heavily supported. Twenty-Six of the ladies who participated in the tour had been imprisoned for their participation in the Washington DC pickets and watch-fire protests as part of the ‘Silent Sentinels’ and related their experiences to the awaiting crowds in every city they visited. Mrs Abby Scott Baker said of the tour

“We intend to make it clear to the people, that the administration is responsible for the fact that American women are forced to endure imprisonment in their effort to secure the passage of the amendment. The idea that prevails that President Wilson has done everything he could for suffrage. But the fact is that, though he spoke for it, he neither proceeded nor followed his speech, by any effective effort to secure the passage of the amendment; that he has never demanded a party caucus on this measure, as he has on those which he has pushed with vigor: that he has urged the election of men who he knew would vote against suffrage, has failed to denounce the ones who refused to support him on this issue as he has denounced his opponents on other issues"

The original plan for the tour included decorating their train-car with prison bars and suffrage slogans, but the United States railroad administration refused to permit the car to travel unless all decorations were kept inside the car to be viewed through the windows. Despite this setback and the expense of the tour (estimated to be around $20,000) the ladies set out quickly - just a month after it was announced that the issue of suffrage was being postponed indefinitely by the Senate.

Productions included speeches, songs and dramatic reenactments often performed by ladies in replicas of the prison uniforms they wore while detained in the Occoquan Workhouse. Pamphlets and flyers were distributed to the crowd with detailed accounts of their incarceration and a list of grievances against the Wilson administration. The crowds were large and even in places where it was not expected, they were moved to sympathy by the women’s experiences.

Congress passed the 19th amendment just three months after the end of the tour in June 1919. It would be another fourteen months before it was ratified by the states.

Sources: St Louis Globe Democrat 1919; New York Times 1919; The Suffragist, February 1, 1919, pg. 10

~K.Kozemczak

Suffrage in the news April 1920

St Louis Post Dispatch, April 22 1920

It may seem like by 1920 that the ratification of the 19th Amendment was a foregone conclusion, after all the women of Missouri had won the right to vote in their state the previous March, but by April of 1920 only 35 states had ratified the Amendment out of the required 36. The fight was still on to make suffrage a right for every woman in the country. Here’s what was going on in suffrage in April 1920:

-April 21, 1920 Campaigns for the Suffrage Amendment were waged in several states in the hopes that one of them will be the key 36th state to ratify. A delegation of 100 members of the Vermont Equal Suffrage called on Governor Clement with the request that he call a special session of the legislature to vote on the suffrage question. The St. Louis Star and Times

-April 22, 1920 Missouri women became part of the political process for the first time at the Democratic State Convention in Joplin, MO. Several women from across the state participated in the session including many who had been active in the suffrage movement. Notably, Mrs J W McKnight stood as the first women to preside at a State Committee meeting. St Louis Post Dispatch

April, 23, 1920 - Mrs Walter McNab Miller was selected by the Missouri Suffrage Association to represent the women of Missouri at the special session of the Connecticut Legislature for ratification of the 19th Amendment. When asked about this campaign she said 'There is no matter of greater moment to the women of the United States than the coming drive to be waged by women throughout the length and breadth of Connecticut This is even more important, because of the failure of Delaware to come to the rescue just as we were on the eve of a great victory for the women of our country’ The St Louis Star and Times

~K.Kozemczak

Three Missouri Suffragists you may have never heard of

Phoebe Couzins. Photograph by unknown, ca. 1904 Missouri History Museum Photograph and Print Collection / https://mohistory.org/collections/item/resource:146931

Phoebe Couzins was born in St. Louis in 1842. She was a member of the Ladies Union Aid Society during the Civil War, and after the War she joined the St. Louis Woman Suffrage Association, and later the National Woman Suffrage Association. She was the first woman to graduate from Washington University School of Law, in 1871. She only practiced law for 2 months before dedicating herself to the women’s suffrage movement. She was a very impressive public speaker, and lectured for Suffrage across the US. In 1887, she became the first female US Marshall in the country.

In her later years, Couzins changed her position and began to speak out against Suffrage, and against Prohibition. As a result, she lost many of her friends and supporters, as well as her sources of income. She died in 1913 in an unoccupied house in St. Louis, and her funeral at Bellefontaine Cemetery was attended by only her brother and 5 other people. She was buried wearing her US Marshall’s badge. She lay in an unmarked grave until 1950, when a headstone was placed by members of the Women’s Bar Association of St. Louis.

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Victoria Clay Haley was born in  Macon, Mississippi in 1877 and moved to St Louis as a child. She was the first vice-president of the St Louis Chapter of the Young Women’s Christian Association and president of the Federated Colored Women's Clubs of St. Louis as well as a talented writer and public speaker. She dedicated a great deal of time to public works and social causes including serving on the executive committee of the Frederick Douglass Home and the St. Louis chapter of the Colored Women's Unit of the Council of National Defense during World War I.

When the Mississippi Valley Suffrage Conference was held in St Louis in 1913, Victoria attended after noticing that the leaders of the conference had rejected a suffrage bill in Missouri that excluded black women. Some members of the conference and the Buckingham Hotel management attempted to remove her from the hall as the hotel did not serve black guests, but Victoria held her seat and with support from the conference leadership returned for additional sessions. She returned to the same conference the following year.

After the fight for the vote was won she directed outreach programs to black female voters and served as an alternate member of the Missouri delegation to the Republican National Convention in 1920.

Sources: Biographical Sketch of Victoria Clay Haley written by Nell Shea, fl. 2017 (Alexandria, VA: Alexander Street, 2017); & St. Louis Post-Dispatch St. Louis, Missouri 04 Apr 1913, Fri

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Rose O'Neill is known best for her Kewpie dolls, but she was also a feminist, suffragist, writer, and liberated woman. She spent time in New York and Branson, MO, using her considerable fame to campaign for women's voting rights between 1914 and 1918.  She was frequently in attendance at suffrage parades and often found that her artistic fame came in handy in drawing attention to the unfair treatment of women and minorities. She supported many worthwhile causes such as the Red Cross and the National Tuberculosis Society.

The Kewpie Korner Kewpiegram by Rose O’Neill appeared in newspapers across the United States from 1917 through 1918. These small cartoons with poems promoted woman suffrage and other controversial subject matter.

An April 14, 1915, profile of O’Neill for the New York Tribune featured some of O’Neill’s more strident statements in support of suffrage:

Man has made and ignorantly kept woman a slave. He has forced upon her certain virtues which have been convenient to him. He has damned as intuition her greatest virtue, knowledge.

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Woman is the philosopher. What she knows man must figure laboriously through logic. For centuries she has borne the greatest insult of the world, but she is now to be emancipated.

Sources: Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and Bonniebrook Museum

Thank-you to our contributors: Jeanne Spencer, Edna Dieterle & Katherine Kozemczak

3 Missouri Suffrage Facts

...you may have never heard before.

Gov. Gardner of Missouri signing resolution ratifying amendment to U.S. Constitution, Library of Congress

1. The Women’s Suffrage Association of Missouri was created on May 8, 1867 by ladies who had learned the ropes of managing an organization through their involvement with the Ladies Union Aid Society during the Civil War.

2. The Equal Suffrage League of St Louis was founded on April 10, 1910 following renewed interest in the cause. They were responsible for some of the largest organized protests in St Louis including National Suffrage Day in April 1914 and the Golden Lane Protest in June 1916.

3. On July 3, 1919 Missouri became the eleventh state to ratify the Susan B Anthony Amendment granting women the right to vote. It was one of the US states that did so within the first month after Congress passed the Amendment and had passed it's own state level suffrage bill earlier that March. The state bill was passed on the last day of the Jubilee Convention of the National American Women Suffrage Association, which was being held at the Hotel Statler in St Louis, Missouri.

Find out even more about the women's suffrage movement at our next event To Ask for Freedom at Bellefontaine Cemetery on July 14, 2018 at 2:00 pm.

We are looking for more suffragists and suffra-gents to march with us at events throughout 2018-2020. Sign-up online for our e-newsletter and get an invitation to our private Facebook Group or reach out to us if you have any questions.

We also have an easy guide to help you get started.

Dress Like a Suffragist!

Women's Suffrage group at headquarters, Wash DC, 1917

Are you interested in dressing like a suffragist and marching with us in the upcoming 19th Amendment Centennial Celebrations? If you haven't delved into historic clothing before, the late Edwardian Era is an easy place to start. Here are a few tips to help you get started.  

• Round brimmed hats with simple trim were common.

• Blouses had long or 3/4 length sleeves and wide collars. Shawl and sailor collars were popular.

• Ladies wore ankle length a-line style skirts with stockings.

• When walking outdoors a lady would wear walking boots. For our purposes a pair of plain comfortable flats will do.

• Ladies wore very little jewelry due to funds being put toward the war effort. Simple brooches and costume jewelry became fashionable.

• Hair was styled into a loose low bun.

• For cooler weather events ladies would wear long belted wool coats often with fur accessories (faux fur is recommend) including muffs and stoles

• There are many photos online of ladies in 1918-1920 and beautiful fashion plates- just remember marching clothing was practical and comfortable!

Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, 1921 / Women's Suffrage Group at Headquarters, Wash DC, 1918

We are planning meetings throughout the year for ladies and gentleman interested in participating in upcoming Women's Suffrage Centennial Events. For more in depth clothing / fashion guides, email updates and more information about local meet-ups sign up for the Mourning Society: St Louis Suffrage League

Don't miss out on our next event (as either a participant or a spectator) To Ask For Freedom at Bellefontaine Cemetery on Saturday July 14, 2018 at 2pm.  Activities will include a march, the singing of suffrage songs and a rally celebrating the words of famous St Louis Suffrage leaders such as Virginia Minor, the first president of the Woman's Suffrage Association of Missouri, Edna Gellhorn, organizer of the 1916 Golden Lane Protest, and Florence Wyman Richardson, the first president of the St. Louis Equal Suffrage League. This event is free and open to the public but registration is required - We will update this event with a link once registration is open.

Check this event out on Facebook!

We need you!

Help celebrate the centennial of the key years of the Women's Suffrage Movement from 1918 to 1920 with us! We are looking for ladies and gentleman to participate in living history events over the next few years culminating in the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment.

Click here to find out how you can sign-up for events!

If you are interested in historic clothing, the early 20th century is an easy and inexpensive place to start plus you'll have the opportunity to learn more about the national fight for the right to vote and the women of Missouri who led the way! You can learn more about the movement and the fashions of 1918 at our next event:

WWI, Wilson and Women's Suffrage at Jefferson Barracks - While the United States was entrenched in WWI, women waged their own war at home marching for the right to vote! Learn how St. Louis women were involved in this struggle, and how you can put together an era- appropriate outfit to join in upcoming events as we forge ahead to 2020 and the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment.

Free to the public - Join this event on Facebook

So, what does this have to do with mourning? Nothing at all! The Mourning Society started recruiting ladies to interpret the St Louis Golden Lane Protest of 1916 for Bellefontaine Cemetery's 2016 Decoration Day Event. We had a great response and it was so much fun that we decided to look for more events we could participate in. It also gives us a chance to do something outside of our usual busy season in the fall.

The Mourning Society has participated in Bellefontaine Cemetery's 2016 Decoration Day, The League of Women Voters Celebrate the Vote and we've created our own program To Ask For Freedom: 100 Years of Women's Suffrage celebrating the words of famous St Louis Suffrage leaders such as Edna Gellhorn, organizer of the 1916 Golden Lane Protest, and Florence Wyman Richardson, the first president of the St. Louis Equal Suffrage League.

If you would like us to participate in an upcoming event you can contact us here or through our Facebook Page.

Join the Suffrage Cause!

The Mourning Society of St Louis is participating in To Ask For Freedom: The Fight for Women’s Suffrage on Saturday July 1 at 10AM at Bellefontaine Cemetery!

We are looking for like-minded ladies and gentleman who would like to dress in 1917 attire and march with us to celebrate 100 years of the Women’s Suffrage Movement and the Suffragists of Bellefontaine Cemetery.

It is astonishingly easy to put together a 1917 style outfit from things found in vintage shops, thrift stores or even items you may already have in your closet! This is also a great way to get started if you are interested in historic clothing and reenacting without making a big investment.

This is the first of what we hope will be a series of Women’s Suffrage events culminating in a Centennial Celebration of the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 2020.

To register for this event as a participant and find out more about putting together a 1917 ensemble please Contact Us.

If you are interested in attending this event as a spectator click here to register for this free event!

Upcoming Event! To Ask For Freedom

Photo from the Library of Congress

Ask For Freedom: The Fight For Women's Suffrage - Saturday July 1

Join us for this living history event celebrating the Women's Suffrage Movement and the Suffragists of Bellefontaine Cemetery! The ladies will begin their march at 10:00 am and make their way to Wild Wood Valley for a rally celebrating the words of famous St Louis Suffrage leaders such as Edna Gellhorn, organizer of the 1916 Golden Lane Protest, and Florence Wyman Richardson, the first president of the St. Louis Equal Suffrage League.

After the rally,  guests are free to visit with the ladies of the St Louis Suffrage Movement and learn more about national events 100 years ago.

Space is limited and reservations are required.  To assist with traffic and parking at the event space, we ask that you choose between two arrival times – 9:30 AM or 10:00 AM. Click here to register.

Enlist Now!

We are recruiting like-minded suffragists to march with us during this 1917 interpretation. To sign-up as a participant or if you have questions about getting started wearing historic clothing please reach out to us though our Contact page.

Suffragists Needed!

The Mourning Society of St Louis is participating in the Celebrate the Vote Festival on September 3, 2016 and we are looking for fellow suffragists who would like to join us dressed in 1916 attire to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the Golden Lane Protest here in St. Louis.

It is astonishingly easy to put together a 1916 style outfit from things found in local vintage shops, thrift stores, or even items you may already have in your closet.

This is a good introduction into historic clothing for anyone who is interested but not ready to make a big commitment. We can help with any questions you may have.

Just like the 1916 protest, suffragists should wear white or cream 1916 era clothing. Ladies should wear a hat, gloves and stockings. We are already scandalizing everyone by asking to vote - so please cover your head or you may end up getting arrested! Shoes can be either period appropriate styles or plain modern flats.

The ladies of the Golden Lane carried yellow parasols. This is optional of course but who doesn’t like carrying a parasol?

Want to sign up to join us the day of the event or have a bunch of questions? Contact us here.

For ideas and inspiration check out our 1916 Golden Lane Pinterest Board

For more information about the Celebrate the Vote Festival click here