Today in Herstory: Suffragists Met with Support While Picketing President Wilson (12jan1917)

[niyad]

Today in Herstory: Suffragists Met with Support While Picketing President Wilson





January 12, 1917: Today was a very good – though quite frigid – one for the “Silent Sentinels” of the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage. They are standing next to the White House gates with suffrage banners and their tricolor standards from 9 AM until 5:30 PM each day until President Wilson endorses the Susan B. Anthony (nationwide woman suffrage) Amendment, then uses his considerable influence to get it approved by a Congress controlled by his fellow Democrats.

Though the idea of picketing was only suggested three days ago and implemented day before yesterday, this colorful protest has now stirred interest not just citywide, or even nationwide, but around the world. Among the many donations that came in today was one from Dora Lewis, of Philadelphia, who is spending the winter in Shanghai, China. Even there she heard of the picketing, and immediately wired $300 to help with expenses. Though certainly the most distant donor, she was not the most generous of the day. That honor went to Mary Burnham, also of Philadelphia, who gave $1,100. Sophie G. Meredith of Richmond, Virginia, gave $350.



Not all donations are in the form of money, of course. Two gentlemen stopped by briefly to give boxes of candy to the picketers as a sign of their support, and an elderly woman donated many hours on the picket line, even though the “official” pickets were initially reluctant to accept her offer because she wasn’t dressed warmly enough. But she told the Congressional Union members:
For twenty years I have been in the civil service… They advance the men over the women there. You women of the Union exposed the civil service two years ago, and now I want to work with you.
She was then warmly accepted into the ranks and spent the rest of the day as a 13th Sentinel.

The day’s most appreciated non-monetary donation arrived in the form of a large shipment of oilcloth raincoats. They’re big, heavy, strictly practical and not at all in the typical style of women’s rainwear. But they certainly seem capable of fulfilling their intended purpose of protecting the pickets from even the worst storms that the city will inevitably throw at them. Of course, the hats with the wide brims at the back my make passersby wonder if the White House is under siege by suffragists or being protected by the Fire Department, but the Congressional Union’s purple, white and gold banners, surrounding others bearing the message: “MR. PRESIDENT, WHAT WILL YOU DO FOR WOMAN SUFFRAGE?” should clear up any doubts.

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http://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2015/01/12/today-in-herstory-suffragists-met-with-support-while-picketing-president-wilson/