Why women should vote ...

[marybet]

WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE

This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers;
they lived only 90 years ago.

Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right
to go to the polls and vote.

The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed
nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking
for the vote.

And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing
went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of
'obstructing sidewalk traffic.'

[See the attached file]
(Lucy Burns)
They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above
her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping
for air. < /B>

(Dora Lewis)
They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her
head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate,
Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack.
Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging,
beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.

Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917,
when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his
guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because
they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right
to vote. For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their
food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms.

(Alice Paul)
When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike,
they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured
liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks
until word was smuggled out to the press.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/suffrage/nwp/prisoners.pdf

So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because-
-why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work?
Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining?

Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's new
movie 'Iron Jawed Angels..' It is a graphic depiction of the battle
t h ese women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling
booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder.

All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the
actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote.
Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege.
Sometimes it was inconvenient.

My friend Wendy, who is my age an d studied wom en's history,
saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk
about it, she looked angry. She was--with herself. 'One thought
kept coming back t o me as I watched that movie,' she said.
'What would those women think of the way I use, or don't use,
my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just
younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.' The
right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again.'

HBO released the movie on video and DVD . I wish all history,
social studies and government teachers would include the movie in
their curriculum I want it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere
else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing,
but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think
a little shock therapy is in order.

It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to
persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she
could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch
the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave.
That didn't make her crazy.

The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often
mistaken for insanity.'

Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the women you know.

We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so
hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote
democratic, republican or independent party - remember to vote.

History is being made.

I got this in an email, the pictues didn't copy but it is still riveting.

 

[Laura]

Votes for Women!

 

[chris1gill]

I could say something snarky in a partisan time, but with the gravity, will just say thank you for forwarding...

 

[lindalinda]

Amazing story, I didn't know much about it to be honest.

 

[wdw4life]

That brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for posting.

 

[Biscuitsmom31]

Wow. I knew that women went through a lot to get the vote. I had no idea it was that bad.

 

[NMAmy]

If you have not seen it, please rent Iron Jawed Angels. It's an amazing movie and I say a little thank you to all those women every time I vote.

 

[penguin087]

No matter who you vote for these women didn't go through this so we could sit home on election day. Get out there and vote Ladies!

 

[Amirah95]

Great as always. Thanks for posting this Marybet.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Thanks for the reminder (I always vote). I've got to watch the movie.

 

[MushyMushy]

No matter who you vote for these women didn't go through this so we could sit home on election day. Get out there and vote Ladies!

All that and more -- some of them with total opposition from their husbands. All they had were their convictions and one another.

Also amazing to note that of all the protests and picketing, the only people who were harmed were the women themselves. You can't say the same for many other causes. As I recall, the only deaths that occurred happened as a result of the forced tube feeding during the hunger strikes. It's a fascinating time in our history.

 

[chris1gill]

You should repost this on November 3rd.... We have a duty to these women regardless of who or how we vote.

 

[beckmrk04]

Thank you for the reminder of what past generations went through so I could have a say. I feel a renewed sense of gratitude, and I will carry that with me to the polls.

 

[3jsmommy]

Thanks, I will definitly watch the movie!
I'm proud to be an american woman because of women like that!

 

[Jennifer S]

Our right to vote is an important one. I think as women we can all agree on this. I'll can't wait to vote.

 

[Briarmom]

Off to put the movie in my netflix.

 

[nhrenee]

Very powerful stuff! Wow. Thanks for the reminder.

 

[WildernessBride]

WHY WOMEN SHOULD VOTE

This is the story of our Grandmothers and Great-grandmothers;
they lived only 90 years ago.

Remember, it was not until 1920 that women were granted the right
to go to the polls and vote.

The women were innocent and defenseless, but they were jailed
nonetheless for picketing the White House, carrying signs asking
for the vote.

And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden's blessing
went on a rampage against the 33 women wrongly convicted of
'obstructing sidewalk traffic.'

[See the attached file]
(Lucy Burns)
They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above
her head and left her hanging for the night, bleeding and gasping
for air. < /B>

(Dora Lewis)
They hurled Dora Lewis into a dark cell, smashed her
head against an iron bed and knocked her out cold. Her cellmate,
Alice Cosu, thought Lewis was dead and suffered a heart attack.
Additional affidavits describe the guards grabbing, dragging,
beating, choking, slamming, pinching, twisting and kicking the women.

Thus unfolded the 'Night of Terror' on Nov. 15, 1917,
when the warden at the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia ordered his
guards to teach a lesson to the suffragists imprisoned there because
they dared to picket Woodrow Wilson's White House for the right
to vote. For weeks, the women's only water came from an open pail. Their
food--all of it colorless slop--was infested with worms.

(Alice Paul)
When one of the leaders, Alice Paul, embarked on a hunger strike,
they tied her to a chair, forced a tube down her throat and poured
liquid into her until she vomited. She was tortured like this for weeks
until word was smuggled out to the press.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collecti.../prisoners.pdf

So, refresh my memory. Some women won't vote this year because-
-why, exactly? We have carpool duties? We have to get to work?
Our vote doesn't matter? It's raining?

Last week, I went to a sparsely attended screening of HBO's new
movie 'Iron Jawed Angels..' It is a graphic depiction of the battle
t h ese women waged so that I could pull the curtain at the polling
booth and have my say. I am ashamed to say I needed the reminder.

All these years later, voter registration is still my passion. But the
actual act of voting had become less personal for me, more rote.
Frankly, voting often felt more like an obligation than a privilege.
Sometimes it was inconvenient.

My friend Wendy, who is my age an d studied wom en's history,
saw the HBO movie, too. When she stopped by my desk to talk
about it, she looked angry. She was--with herself. 'One thought
kept coming back t o me as I watched that movie,' she said.
'What would those women think of the way I use, or don't use,
my right to vote? All of us take it for granted now, not just
younger women, but those of us who did seek to learn.' The
right to vote, she said, had become valuable to her 'all over again.'

HBO released the movie on video and DVD . I wish all history,
social studies and government teachers would include the movie in
their curriculum I want it shown on Bunco night, too, and anywhere
else women gather. I realize this isn't our usual idea of socializing,
but we are not voting in the numbers that we should be, and I think
a little shock therapy is in order.

It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to
persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she
could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch
the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave.
That didn't make her crazy.

The doctor admonished the men: 'Courage in women is often
mistaken for insanity.'

Please, if you are so inclined, pass this on to all the women you know.

We need to get out and vote and use this right that was fought so
hard for by these very courageous women. Whether you vote
democratic, republican or independent party - remember to vote.

History is being made.


Thanks for posting this Marybet! I had a women in American history class last semester and we saw the film Iron Jawed Angels and I had never realized just how harshly suffragettes were treated by our government. Voting is worth fighting for.