Be part of a living monument

When I am passionate about a subject, I talk about it. A lot. With the conviction of an evangelist. (I’ve told y’all about my Kentucky, Southern Baptist upbringing!) One of my facebook friends recognizes historical and contemporary women, by posting about them on their birthdays.  On September 19, she posted about the American suffragist Mabel Vernon. Ms. Vernon is remembered for twice interrupting speeches of President Wilson. In one instance, she yelled out, “Mr. President, if you sincerely desire to forward the interests of all people, why do you oppose the national enfranchisement of women?” At another, while Wilson was addressing Congress, she pulled out a large banner, which she had snuck in under her coat. As soon as Wilson said the words, “Puerto Rico,” Vernon and her conspirators unfurled the banner over the gallery rails where they were sitting. The banner read, “MR. PRESIDENT, WHAT WILL YOU DO FOR WOMAN SUFFRAGE?”

Most of the people on this facebook page had not heard of Ms. Vernon and were impressed with her ingenuity and courage. One noted, “At least people were more civil back then. I wish they were today.”

As an evangelist, I had to set the record straight. Ms. Vernon was one of the first White House picketers arrested for demanding that women receive the right to vote. Although the suffragists were doing everything “by the law” (they had lawyers check out their every  move), and were simply standing silently by the White House, holding banners, the police arrested them for “blocking traffic.” The women kept protesting, and the police kept arresting. The judge became harsher and harsher with the sentencing, eventually sentencing some of the women to months at a local workhouse. During one night, MARINES were called in to guard the prison and keep out the press. The women went on hunger strikes. They were force fed raw eggs, through their noses, which caused massive bleeding and nausea.  One prisoner, Lucy Burns, spent a night with her hands cuffed above her head, because she repeatedly demanded that the women be treated with respect. Despite their arrests, the women continued to protest, and their actions were directly responsible for the passage of the 19^th amendment to the US Constitution, giving women the right to vote.

Upon reading this on facebook, one woman wrote, “Why do we not learn about this in history class? I hope there is at least a monument to these women?”

There is not.

In fact, the closest thing there is to a monument is this wax replica of a suffragist being force fed. You can see it at the workhouse where they were held in Virginia.

A monument to Martin Luther King Jr. was recently dedicated in Washington DC, on the National Mall. Many speak about how his nonviolent resistance movement was inspired by Gandhi. Did you know that Ghandhi was inspired by SUFFRAGISTS? In 1906, a young Gandhi witnessed British Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst leading women in passive resistance and hunger strikes. He wrote, “If even women display such courage, will the Transvaal Indians fail in their duty and be afraid of gaol?” Two Americans – Alice Paul and Lucy Burns - became involved in the British suffrage movement while studying in England and brought Pankhurst’s tactics back to the United States. These two Americans were the ones who organized the White House pickets. Lucy Burns spent more time in prison than any other suffragist in the country.

To this day, there is only one national monument to the women’s suffrage movement in the US (today’s featured picture), and it commemorates the women who started the movement in the 1800s. There is nothing for the women who ended the century of struggle.

The monument is known formally as the Portrait Monument to Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony and was sculpted by Adelaide Johnson (1859-1955) from an 16,000-pound (7,300 kg) block of marble in Carrara, Italy. The detailed busts are surrounded by rough-hewn marble at the top of the sculpture. This part of the statue, according to some, is left unfinished representing the unfinished work of women’s rights. The monument was presented to the Capitol as a gift from the women of the United States by the National Woman’s Party (the very women who picketed the White House!) and was accepted on behalf of Congress by the Joint Committee on the Library on February 10, 1921. The unveiling ceremony was held in the Rotunda on February 15, 1921, the 101st anniversary of the birth of Susan B. Anthony, and was attended by representatives of over 70 women’s organizations. Shortly after its unveiling, though, the statue was moved into the Capitol Crypt, until HCR 216 ordered it placed in its current location, in the Rotunda, in May 1997.

Today is National Election Day in the United States. Will you honor the memory of the suffragists who fought for your voice, by voting? Consider it a “living monument” to their efforts. Do this, in remembrance of them.

(And one of these days, I’m getting something in marble installed near the White House!)