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AMERICAN SUFFRAGIST MARKER DEDICATION, AUGUST 26, 2021
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HON. DONALD S. BEYER, JR.
of virginia
in the house of representatives
Friday, August 20, 2021
Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of the American Suffragist Marker Dedication occurring on August 26, 2021.
In November 1917, on the sidewalks outside the White House, women stood on the pavement in silence. They stood in rain and shine and cold, brandishing signs demanding passage of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution. With passage, would come the right to vote for most American women.
In mid-November 1917, 32 suffragists were arrested in front of the White House. Many were past the age of 60. The charge was ``Obstructing Traffic.'' The ``Silent Sentinels'' were ordered to be imprisoned at the District of Columbia (Occoquan) Workhouse in Lorton, Virginia.
Along with unwashed bedding, putrid food and fetid water, the women were subjected to undue hardships and torture, resulting in the infamous November 14, 1917 ``Night of Terror.'' A number of women prisoners were threatened, chained to their cells, beaten and hurled against walls, floors and metal fixtures. One woman suffered a heart attack and was denied prompt medical attention. A few days later, violent force feedings began for suffragists who had initiated a hunger strike in retaliation against the brutality.
Bruised, ill and broken, the suffragist prisoners were brought to Alexandria, Virginia on November 27, 1917, for a hearing at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Judge Edmund Waddill, Jr., agreeing the women's treatment had been unduly harsh, ordered the release of the suffragists from Occoquan. Freed from the brutality of Occoquan, many resumed their cause for enfranchisement.
The 19th Amendment was ratified August 18, 1920. Certification of the Amendment by U.S. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby occurred a few days later, on August 26, 1920. August 26 is now known as Women's Equality Day.
This Women's Equality Day, August 26, 2021, Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson, the Office of Historic Alexandria and Alexandria Celebrates Women will dedicate an historic marker to honor the women who bravely endured imprisonment and torture in their efforts to gain equality at the ballot box and to recognize the site of the landmark hearing that took place in Alexandria.
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SOURCE: Congressional Record Vol. 167, No. 148
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