6 Incredible Suffragists Who Helped Women Gain the Vote

<script async data-uid&equals;"defcacd1dd" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;fierce-maker-9650&period;kit&period;com&sol;defcacd1dd&sol;index&period;js" data-jetpack-boost&equals;"ignore" data-no-defer&equals;"1" data-no-optimize&equals;"1" nowprocket><&sol;script>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;3 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad5667 " id&equals;"quads-ad5667" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;text-align&colon;center&semi;padding&colon;0px 0 0px 0&semi;" data-lazydelay&equals;"0">&NewLine;<script async src&equals;"&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<&excl;-- HH3 --> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-9266290638607128" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"2439182190" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"auto"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine;&lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<div id&equals;"fb-root"><&sol;div>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter size-full wp-image-6629" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;historyhustle&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;09&sol;Officers-and-members-of-National-Union-of-Societies-to-Equal-Citizenship-after-Royal-Assent-to-the-Equal-Franchise-Act-on-2-July-1928-scaled&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Officers and members of the National Union of Societies to Equal Citizenship after Royal Assent to the Equal Franchise Act on 2 July 1928&period;" width&equals;"2560" height&equals;"1621" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>With the 2020 presidential election looming&comma; now is a good time to remember the struggle women faced in earning the right to vote in the U&period;S&period; and the U&period;K&period; While the fight for women’s rights is still very real today&comma; one hundred years ago the battle for a woman’s right to vote was sometimes fierce because our fellow sisters grew tired of living under archaic rules&period; For these women suffragists&comma; it was a struggle marred by violence&comma; with the Night of Terror perhaps being the most devastating example&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>On the night of November 14&comma; 1917&comma; 33 women gathered outside the Occoquan Workhouse in Lorton&comma; Virginia&period; The women had been arrested a few days earlier after protesting at the White House&comma; where Woodrow Wilson was President&period; Holding banners and placards&comma; the women called on Wilson to support a federal amendment that would give all women in the U&period;S&period; the right to vote&period; But Wilson was unsympathetic and as America entered into World War I in April 1917&comma; he became even less so&comma; and in a June letter to his daughter he wrote that the suffragists &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;seem bent on making their cause as obnoxious as possible&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Tensions continued to build until that terrible November night when the women demanded to be treated as political prisoners&period; What they got instead were surly prison guards who’d been ordered by superintendent William H&period; Whittaker to teach the women a lesson&period; The guards threw them into dank&comma; filthy cells and the beatings began&period; Some were shackled to the ceilings and forced to stand all night&semi; one woman was slammed onto the iron arm of a bench twice&comma; another woman had her head smashed into an iron bed and lost consciousness&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>But for many women&comma; brutality merely strengthened their resolve and this movement is known for some truly remarkable suffragettes in the United Kingdom and the United States&period; These sisters fought the long and often bloody battle that led to the 19th Amendment that gave millions of American women the right to vote in 1920&comma; while our British sisters earned the right to vote in 1918 when Parliament passed the Representation of the People Act in 1918 and The Equal Franchise Act in 1928&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h2>6 Incredible Suffragists<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>For the fierce women warriors below&comma; the fight began in the 18th century&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<ol>&NewLine;<li><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;historyhustle&period;com&sol;incredible-suffragists-who-helped-women-gain-the-vote&sol;&num;Sojourner">Sojourner Truth<&sol;a><&sol;li>&NewLine;<li><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;historyhustle&period;com&sol;incredible-suffragists-who-helped-women-gain-the-vote&sol;&num;Emily">Emily Davison<&sol;a><&sol;li>&NewLine;<li><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;historyhustle&period;com&sol;incredible-suffragists-who-helped-women-gain-the-vote&sol;&num;Elizabeth">Elizabeth Cady Stanton<&sol;a><&sol;li>&NewLine;<li><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;historyhustle&period;com&sol;incredible-suffragists-who-helped-women-gain-the-vote&sol;&num;Emmeline">Emmeline Pankhurst<&sol;a><&sol;li>&NewLine;<li><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;historyhustle&period;com&sol;incredible-suffragists-who-helped-women-gain-the-vote&sol;&num;Ida">Ida B&period; Wells<&sol;a><&sol;li>&NewLine;<li><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;historyhustle&period;com&sol;incredible-suffragists-who-helped-women-gain-the-vote&sol;&num;Constance">Constance Lytton<&sol;a><&sol;li>&NewLine;<&sol;ol>&NewLine;<div id&equals;"quads-ad6" class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad6">&NewLine;<div id&equals;"outbrain&lowbar;widget&lowbar;0" class&equals;"OUTBRAIN" data-widget-id&equals;"GS&lowbar;9" data-src&equals;" " data-ob-template&equals;"HistoryHustle" data-ob-mark&equals;"true" data-browser&equals;"chrome" data-os&equals;"win32" data-dynload&equals;"" data-idx&equals;"0">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"ob-widget ob-grid-layout GS&lowbar;9 ob-cmn-GS&lowbar;9" data-dynamic-truncate&equals;"true">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"ob-widget-items-container">&NewLine;<div class&equals;"ob-dynamic-rec-container ob-recIdx-0 ob-o" data-pos&equals;"0">&NewLine;<p><a name&equals;"Sojourner"><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>1&period; Sojourner Truth c&period; 1797&quest;—1883<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<h3><img class&equals;"aligncenter wp-image-6328 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;historyhustle&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;09&sol;Sojourner-Truth-African-American-suffragists&period;jpg" alt&equals;"portrait of Sojourner Truth&comma; one of the famous suffragists of her time" width&equals;"776" height&equals;"1024" &sol;><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>Born into slavery in upstate New York&comma; Isabella &lpar;later Van Wagener&rpar; became the first known African-American suffragette&period; Upon emancipation in 1823&comma; Sojourner became an itinerant preacher and reformer who supported herself with menial jobs&period; An outspoken women’s rights activist&comma; she traveled throughout the eastern United States&comma; attending conventions dedicated to these rights&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>A powerful and magnetic person&comma; Sojourner Truth captivated audiences with her unique oratory&comma; even winning over a few skeptics in the process&period; In 1853&comma; the author Olive Gilbert was inspired to write the Narrative of Sojourner Truth&comma; and the book was a lifeline for Sojourner&comma; who sold copies to earn money&period; She became friends with Harriet Beecher Stowe&comma; another famed abolitionist&comma; and writer&comma; who came to call her the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Lybian Sibyl&comma;” in a story that appeared in The Atlantic in 1863&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>During an electrifying speech at the Akron&comma; Ohio&comma; women’s convention in 1851&comma; she delivered her now-famous &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Ain’t I A Woman” speech&period; There’s currently some controversy surrounding this speech because it’s written in the dialect that was common among slaves of the south while Sojourner grew up in Dutch-speaking New York&period; Whatever the case&comma; the speech is moving and powerful&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Well&comma; children&comma; where there is so much racket there must be something out of kilter&period; I think that &OpenCurlyQuote;twixt the negroes of the South and the women at the North&comma; all talking about rights&comma; the white men will be in a fix pretty soon&period; But what’s all this here talking about&quest;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>That man over there says that women need to be helped into carriages&comma; and lifted over ditches&comma; and to have the best place everywhere&period; Nobody ever helps me into carriages&comma; or over mud-puddles&comma; or gives me any best place&excl; And ain’t I a woman&quest; Look at me&excl; Look at my arm&excl; I have ploughed and planted&comma; and gathered into barns&comma; and no man could head me&excl; And ain’t I a woman&quest; I could work as much and eat as much as a man — when I could get it — and bear the lash as well&excl; And ain’t I a woman&quest; I have borne thirteen children&comma; and seen most all sold off to slavery&comma; and when I cried out with my mother’s grief&comma; none but Jesus heard me&excl; And ain’t I a woman&quest;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>Then they talk about this thing in the head&semi; what’s this they call it&quest; &lbrack;audience member whispers &OpenCurlyQuote;intellect’&rsqb;&period; That’s it&comma; honey&period; What’s that got to do with women’s rights or negroes’ rights&quest; If my cup won’t hold but a pint&comma; and yours holds a quart&comma; wouldn’t you be mean not to let me have my little half measure full&quest;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>Then that little man in black there&comma; he says women can’t have as much rights as men&comma;’ &OpenCurlyQuote;cause Christ wasn’t a woman&excl; Where did your Christ come from&quest; Where did your Christ come from&quest; From God and a woman&excl; Man had nothing to do with Him&period;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>If the first woman God ever made was strong enough to turn the world upside down all alone&comma; these women together ought to be able to turn it back&comma; and get it right side up again&excl; And now they is asking to do it&comma; the men better let them&period;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>Obliged to you for hearing me&comma; and now old Sojourner ain’t got nothing more to say&period;”<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This powerful speech cemented her place in American history as a champion for women’s rights and the right to vote&comma; and she was welcomed into the White House by President Abraham Lincoln in 1864&period; Later that year&comma; the National Freedman’s Association Relief Association appointed her as &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;counselor to the freed people at Freedman’s Village&comma; in Arlington Heights&comma; Virginia&period; She was an unflinching advocate for the rights of Black men and women to vote&comma; and in 1875 Sojourner returned to Battle Creek&comma; Michigan&comma; where she’d lived in years past&comma; and continued to lecture until her death in 1883&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a name&equals;"Emily"><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>2&period; Emily Davison October 11&comma; 1872—June 8&comma; 1913<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter wp-image-6329 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;historyhustle&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;09&sol;Emily-Davison&period;jpg" alt&equals;"portrait of Emily Davison" width&equals;"776" height&equals;"1024" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Born in London&comma; England&comma; Emily Davison paid the ultimate price for fighting for the right to vote when she stepped in front of the king’s horse during the Epsom Derby&period; Questions have been raised in the decades since over her controversial death&comma; with some claiming she was a reckless anarchist and others calling her a brave martyr for the cause&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Her death was captured on film&comma; which was in its infancy during this time&period; Filmed by three newsreel cameras&comma; it led some to claim Davison was trying to pull down Anmer&comma; the royal racehorse&period; Despite these sophisticated innovations&comma; her intentions still remain unclear&comma; but some historians have noted Davison and other suffragettes were seen &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;practising” at attempting to grab horses in a park near her mother’s home and drawing lots to determine who should attend the race&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>And Davison was known for her fearlessness and militancy in the British suffragette movement&period; She was notably intelligent&comma; attending Kensington Prep School and taking classes at Oxford University and Royal Holloway College&period; Unfortunately&comma; she didn’t earn an official degree at either university because women were not allowed to do so at this time&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Not long after&comma; she became a teacher and found herself becoming increasingly socially and politically active&comma; joining the Women’s Social and Political Union &lpar;WSPU&rpar;&comma; which was founded by another prominent suffragette&comma; Emeline Pankhurst&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Davison was not afraid to act out when needed and was arrested and imprisoned on numerous occasions&comma; having given up teaching in 1909 to dedicate to the women’s suffrage movement&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Her incarceration that same year at Manchester’s Strangeways Prison may be the most notable&period; Here&comma; she embarked on a hunger strike&comma; something that many imprisoned suffragists did to protest the government’s refusal to denote them as political prisoners&period; At one point&comma; she barricaded herself inside her cell for a time&comma; but guards responded to that by flooding it with water&period; She would later write &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;I had to hold on like grim death&period; The power of the water seemed terrific&comma; and it was cold as ice&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>1912 saw her serving another stint in incarceration&comma; this time at Holloway Prison&period; Suffragettes were brutally treated at this prison&comma; and those who went on hunger strikes were regularly force-fed&period; Davison thought she might be able to put an end to this cruel treatment by jumping off a prison balcony&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;The idea in my mind was that one big tragedy may save many others&comma;” Social Research reports&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This unflinching bravery in the face of adversity shows how far Davison was willing to go&comma; and on that fateful day in June 1913&comma; carrying two suffragette flags&comma; she ducked under the railing at the raceway and stood on the track&period; Holding her hands up as the horse bore down on her&comma; King George V and Queen Mary watched the horrifying spectacle unfold&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;6330" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-6330" style&equals;"width&colon; 565px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><img class&equals;"wp-image-6330 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;historyhustle&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;09&sol;Emily-davison-killed-1913&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Anmer plowed straight into Davison&comma; striking her in the head and she died four days later&comma; having never regained consciousness&period; The jockey sustained minor injuries&comma; but the horse was fortunately unhurt&period;" width&equals;"565" height&equals;"375" &sol;><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-6330" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Anmer plowed straight into Davison&comma; striking her in the head and she died four days later&comma; having never regained consciousness&period; The jockey sustained minor injuries&comma; but the horse was fortunately unhurt&period;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;6485" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-6485"><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>It almost seems like Davison’s intentions were suicidal&comma; but there’s confusion surrounding this because she bought a round-trip train ticket for the way home after the event&period; Thousands of supporters of the Votes for Women movement attended her funeral&comma; and her body was laid to rest in Morpeth&comma; Northumberland&period; Her headstone fittingly reads &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Deeds Not Words” a popular motto among suffragettes&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a name&equals;"Elizabeth"><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>3&period; Elizabeth Cady Stanton November 12&comma; 1815 — October 26&comma; 1902<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter wp-image-6646 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;historyhustle&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;09&sol;Elizabeth-Cady-Stanton&period;jpg" alt&equals;"19th century&comma; formal&comma; waist-up portrait of Elizabeth Cady Stanton &lpar;1815-1902&rpar;&comma; famous women's right activist&period; Undated photograph&period;" width&equals;"776" height&equals;"1024" &sol;><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Born to an affluent family in upstate New York&comma; Stanton was no bourgeois snob&period; Surrounded by numerous reform movements from the very beginning&comma; Stanton became an ardent abolitionist and advocate for women’s rights&period; After marrying fellow abolitionist Henry Brewster Stanton in1840&comma; the couple traveled to the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London&comma; England&period; Unfortunately&comma; the Stantons have turned away&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The reason&quest;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Female delegates were not allowed at the convention&period; And that meant Elizabeth Cady Stanton fitted another cause under her belt&colon; Equal rights for women&period; She began to believe that women needed to seek equality for themselves before they could advocate for others&comma; and in the summer of 1848&comma; she met with abolitionist and temperance advocate Lucretia Mott and a group of other reformers&period; Together&comma; they organized the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls&comma; New York&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;3 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad5670 " id&equals;"quads-ad5670" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;text-align&colon;center&semi;padding&colon;0px 0 0px 0&semi;" data-lazydelay&equals;"0">&NewLine;<script async src&equals;"&sol;&sol;pagead2&period;googlesyndication&period;com&sol;pagead&sol;js&sol;adsbygoogle&period;js"><&sol;script> &NewLine;<ins class&equals;"adsbygoogle" &NewLine; style&equals;"display&colon;block&semi; text-align&colon;center&semi;" &NewLine; data-ad-layout&equals;"in-article" &NewLine; data-ad-format&equals;"fluid" &NewLine; data-ad-client&equals;"ca-pub-9266290638607128" &NewLine; data-ad-slot&equals;"8337030220"><&sol;ins> &NewLine;<script> &NewLine; &lpar;adsbygoogle &equals; window&period;adsbygoogle &vert;&vert; &lbrack;&rsqb;&rpar;&period;push&lpar;&lbrace;&rcub;&rpar;&semi; &NewLine;<&sol;script>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<p>The conference was attended by 240 women and men who were there to discuss what Stanton and Mott called &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;the social&comma; civil and religious condition and rights of women&period;” That led some of the delegates — 68 women and 32 men to sign the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Declaration of Sentiments&comma;” which was modeled after the Declaration of Independence&period; Like that famous document&comma; it declared women were equal to men&comma; with the &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;inalienable right to the elective franchise&period;” And thus&comma; the Seneca Falls Convention was the birthplace of the suffrage movement&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a name&equals;"Emmeline"><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h4>4&period; Emmeline Pankhurst July 15&comma; 1858 — June 14&comma; 1928<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter wp-image-6331 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;historyhustle&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;09&sol;Emmeline-Pankhurst&period;jpg" alt&equals;"portrait of Emmeline Pankhurst&comma; one of the famous suffragists of her time" width&equals;"776" height&equals;"1024" &sol;><br &sol;>&NewLine;Born in Manchester&comma; England&comma; Emmeline Goulden was the eldest daughter among 10 children&period; Hers was a family of activists&semi; both parents were dedicated abolitionists and supporters of women’s suffrage&period; It was her mom&comma; in fact&comma; who took 14-year-old Emmeline to her first women’s suffrage meeting&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>But despite their support of women’s suffrage&comma; Emmeline’s parents put their sons’ education and advancement first and this became a source of frustration for her&period; She furthered her own education by studying in Paris and later returned to Manchester&comma; where she met and married Dr&period; Richard Pankhurst in 1878&period; Although Richard was 24 years older than Emmeline&comma; he supported many radical causes&comma; including equal rights for women and the right to vote&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>It wasn’t long before she was a busy mother&comma; caring for three daughters — Adela&comma; Christabel&comma; and Sylvia&comma; and two sons — Frank &lpar;who died in childhood&rpar; and Harry&period; Even so&comma; Emmeline continued to be involved in politics&comma; campaigning for her husband as he ran for Parliament&period; While his attempts were ultimately unsuccessful&comma; she continued hosting political gatherings at the family home&period; All along the way&comma; Richard encouraged her until his death in 1898&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Although his death was a heavy and impoverishing blow&comma; Emmeline managed to pull herself together&comma; forming the Women’s Social and Political Union &lpar;WSPU&rpar;&period; Eventually&comma; Pankhurst’s daughter Christabel joined and over time&comma; the group became increasingly militant&comma; confronting politicians and holding rallies&period; That led to arrests and imprisonment&comma; with Pankhurst herself being sent to prison in 1908&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Pankhurst initially encouraged WSPU members to keep their demonstrations lawful&comma; especially when legislation regarding women’s suffrage was on the horizon&comma; but group members grew frustrated after two Conciliation Bills that included women’s suffrage failed in 1910 and 1911&period; Now the group’s protests escalated and anarchy followed in 1913&period; By now&comma; members were breaking windows&comma; committing arson&comma; and defacing public artworks&period; That was followed by arrests and throughout this time period&comma; the women who were incarcerated began hunger strikes&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>But after a bomb exploded at an unoccupied home that was being built for chancellor of the exchequer David Lloyd George&comma; Pankhurst was sentenced to three years for inciting crime&period; She was subsequently released after launching a hunger strike&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>With the advent of WWI&comma; Pankhurst called for an end to the militancy and the demonstrations and the government released all WSPU prisoners&period; Pankhurst encouraged her fellow sisters-in-arms to join the war effort by filling jobs so that men could join the war&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Those contributions convinced the government to grant women limited voting rights in 1918&comma; However&comma; it took all the way until 1928 and the passage of the Equal Franchise Act for women to fully receive the right to vote&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>By the time of her death at age 69 in 1928&comma; Pankhurst was a force to reckon with&comma; having fought bravely to advance the rights of women all her life&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a name&equals;"Ida"><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>5&period; Ida B&period; Wells July 16&comma; 1862 — March 25&comma; 1931<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter wp-image-6332 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;historyhustle&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;09&sol;Ida-B&period;-Wells&period;jpg" alt&equals;"portrait of Ida B&period; Wells&comma; one of the famous suffragists of her time" width&equals;"776" height&equals;"1024" &sol;><br &sol;>&NewLine;Born into slavery in Holly Springs&comma; Mississippi&comma; Ida was the oldest daughter of James and Lizzie Wells&period; When she was just a few months old&comma; President Lincoln’s famous Emancipation Proclamation freed all slaves who had been held captive by the Confederacy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>But the Wells family was constantly beset by racism and hampered by discriminatory laws and practices&period; Nevertheless&comma; the young girl’s parents remained very active in the Republican Party as the Reconstruction period held sway after the end of the Civil War&period; Her father James founded Shaw University&comma; which later became Rust College&comma; and this is where Ida received much of her schooling&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Her young life was marred by tragedy&comma; however&comma; after a devastating outbreak of Yellow Fever killed James and Lizzie&comma; along with one of her siblings&period; Now she was left to care for her remaining brothers and sisters&period; This was indeed a setback&comma; but Ida was more than equal to it&comma; convincing a local school administrator that she was 18&comma; and that resulted in her becoming a teacher&period;<br &sol;>&NewLine;In 1882 Ida and her sisters moved to Memphis&comma; Tennessee&comma; where they lived with an aunt&period; Meanwhile&comma; her brothers found work as carpenter apprentices&comma; and Ida resumed her studies at Fisk University in Nashville&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>It wasn’t long before Wells began her journalism career&comma; writing on politics and race issues for a number of Black newspapers and periodicals under the pen name &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Iola&period;” Over time&comma; she became the owner of The Memphis Free Speech and Headlight and&comma; later on&comma; another newspaper&comma; the Free Speech&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>But a shocking act of racism that was unfortunately typical of the day galvanized her&period; She’d bought a first-class train ticket but crew members on the train forced her to move to the car reserved for African-Americans&period; Outraged&comma; she refused on principle&period; Wells was definitely not a woman to go down without a fight and while being forcibly removed she bit one of the men on the hand&period; She later sued the railroad and won a &dollar;500 settlement but the decision was later overturned by Tennessee’s Supreme Court&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This injustice infuriated her further and her journalism career was launched&period; While she was busy as a journalist and publisher&comma; she also held a job as a teacher in a segregated public school in Memphis&period; But the conditions Black children faced in these schools upset her and Wells became very vocal in criticizing the situation&period; That eventually led her to be fired in 1891 and she set her sights on championing a new cause after the murder of a friend and his two business associates&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The men — Tom Moss&comma; Calvin McDowell&comma; and Will Stewart&comma; who were all African-American&comma; had set up a grocery store&comma; which drew customers away from a nearby white-owned grocery store&period; That didn’t sit well with the white&comma; racist owner of the store and it led to clashes with the three men from time to time&period; The tensions came to a head one night when Moss and his friends&comma; who were guarding their store&comma; shot several whites who were vandalizing it&period; Moss&comma; McDowell&comma; and Stewart were arrested but never given the chance to defend themselves&period; Instead&comma; an angry mob dragged them out of their cells and lynched the men&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Wells was fearless in the face of such atrocities&comma; writing articles decrying the lynching of her friend and the cruel murders of other African-Americans and risking her own life during this time of heightened tensions by traveling across the south&comma; researching other lynching incidents&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>And white people treated her mercilessly&comma; even at one point breaking into her office and destroying all of her equipment&period; Wells was in New York City at the time and she was warned that she would be killed if she ever returned to Memphis&period; Undaunted in the face of terror&comma; she continued writing on lynchings and in 1893&comma; published A Red Record&comma; her own personal examination of lynchings in America&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The issue of women’s suffrage was never far from her heart&comma; but sadly&comma; she was faced with racism even here&period; In March 1913&comma; she prepared to join the suffrage parade during Woodrow Wilson’s inaugural celebration&period; But organizers asked her to stay out of the procession because some white suffragists objected to walking alongside Black people&period; Cases like this were fairly rare&comma; fortunately&comma; and most early activists supported racial equality&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>But by the beginning of the 20th century&comma; many middle-class whites embraced the suffragists because they believed that by emancipating their own women they were guaranteeing white supremacy by invalidating the Black vote&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Wells&comma; fortunately&comma; was undeterred and joined the march anyway&period; This brave woman spent the rest of her life fighting for civil rights&comma; and after marrying Ferdinand Barnett in 1895&comma; she and her husband co-founded&comma; along with W&period;E&period;B&period; Dubois and several others&comma; the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People &lpar;NAACP&rpar;&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This impressive woman left behind a remarkable legacy and passed away in 1931&period; She was forced to deal with prejudice in one form or another&comma; all her life but remained steadfast in rejecting it&comma; notably saying at one point&colon;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;I felt that one had better die fighting against injustice than to die like a dog or a rat in a trap&period;”<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a name&equals;"Constance"><&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3>6&period; Constance Lytton February 12&comma; 1869 — May 2&comma; 1923<&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p><img class&equals;"aligncenter wp-image-6333 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;historyhustle&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2020&sol;09&sol;Constance-Lytton&period;jpg" alt&equals;"portrait of Constance Lytton" width&equals;"776" height&equals;"1024" &sol;><br &sol;>&NewLine;Born to a life of privilege as the daughter of Viceroy Robert Bulwer-Lytton&comma; Constance spent her life as a child in India&comma; along with her two brothers and four sisters&period; When the family returned to England Constance became involved in charity work&period; As part of her charitable work with girls in the fashion industry&comma; she met suffragettes who’d been imprisoned&period; That led her to become a suffragette herself alongside her sister Betty&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>It wasn’t long before she was giving speeches all over the country&comma; and she was arrested in a number of places&period; But the one arrest that perhaps affected her the most happened in Liverpool in 1910&period; She was using the name Jane Wharton at the time because the name Jane reminded her of Joan of Arc&period; Constance was force-fed eight times during her imprisonment and it’s said that she never completely recovered from this&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>She preferred to be treated like an ordinary person and detested it when she was given preference because of her status as the daughter of an Earl&period; But the stress of being arrested numerous times took a toll on her health&period; Even so&comma; she was able to write on her experiences of being imprisoned as a suffragette&period; Her book Prisons and Prisoners perhaps being the most notable example&period; After women gained the right to vote&comma; Constance moved in with her mother&period; But her health&comma; worsened by the conditions in prison&comma; continued to decline and in a letter to her aunt&comma; Theresa Earle said that she was ready to accept death&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;If it should happen… I am happy to die&period; If&comma; as many people believe&comma; we step into a higher life&comma; but are again with loved companions who have died before&comma; then it will be very good&comma;” she wrote&period; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Death to me is like a gentle lover …I am so tired of life&comma; I should like to be taken in his sheltering arms and have an end… I have long hoped to die&comma; and since I’ve seen this possible road&comma; I have felt most wonderfully happy&period; Of late years I have seen and felt much of the sad side of death — the separation from those we love&period; Now I see the joyful side — the release from bodily ills — and it is restful beyond all words&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>These are a mere few of the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;historyhustle&period;com&sol;ana-roque-de-duprey-educator-suffragist-leader&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">women who gave their all<&sol;a> — in the United States and the United Kingdom so that we can vote&comma; something that many of us take for granted — and shouldn’t&period; Because now&comma; more than ever&comma; our very lives may depend on it&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As Election Day approaches&comma; perhaps we should keep this in mind&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Sources&colon;<br &sol;>&NewLine;History&period;com<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;history&period;com&sol;news&sol;night-terror-brutality-suffragists-19th-amendment" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;history&period;com&sol;news&sol;night-terror-brutality-suffragists-19th-amendment<&sol;a><br &sol;>&NewLine;FindMyPast&period;com<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;findmypast&period;co&period;uk&sol;blog&sol;history&sol;famous-suffragettes" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;findmypast&period;co&period;uk&sol;blog&sol;history&sol;famous-suffragettes<&sol;a><br &sol;>&NewLine;History&period;com<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;history&period;com&sol;topics&sol;womens-history&sol;women-who-fought-for-the-vote-1" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;history&period;com&sol;topics&sol;womens-history&sol;women-who-fought-for-the-vote-1<&sol;a><br &sol;>&NewLine;Turning Point Suffragist Memorial<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;suffragistmemorial&period;org&sol;african-american-women-leaders-in-the-suffrage-movement&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;suffragistmemorial&period;org&sol;african-american-women-leaders-in-the-suffrage-movement&sol;<&sol;a><br &sol;>&NewLine;Time&period;com<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;time&period;com&sol;5542892&sol;kitty-marion-suffrage-birth-control&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;time&period;com&sol;5542892&sol;kitty-marion-suffrage-birth-control&sol;<&sol;a><br &sol;>&NewLine;History&period;com<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;history&period;com&sol;news&sol;night-terror-brutality-suffragists-19th-amendment" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;history&period;com&sol;news&sol;night-terror-brutality-suffragists-19th-amendment<&sol;a><br &sol;>&NewLine;Parliament UK<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;parliament&period;uk&sol;about&sol;living-heritage&sol;transformingsociety&sol;electionsvoting&sol;womenvote&sol;overview&sol;thevote&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;parliament&period;uk&sol;about&sol;living-heritage&sol;transformingsociety&sol;electionsvoting&sol;womenvote&sol;overview&sol;thevote&sol;<&sol;a><br &sol;>&NewLine;Documenting the American South<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;docsouth&period;unc&period;edu&sol;neh&sol;truth50&sol;truth50&period;html" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;docsouth&period;unc&period;edu&sol;neh&sol;truth50&sol;truth50&period;html<&sol;a><br &sol;>&NewLine;The Atlantic<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;theatlantic&period;com&sol;magazine&sol;archive&sol;1863&sol;04&sol;sojourner-truth-the-libyan-sibyl&sol;308775&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;theatlantic&period;com&sol;magazine&sol;archive&sol;1863&sol;04&sol;sojourner-truth-the-libyan-sibyl&sol;308775&sol;<&sol;a><br &sol;>&NewLine;National Park Service<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;nps&period;gov&sol;articles&sol;sojourner-truth&period;htm" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;nps&period;gov&sol;articles&sol;sojourner-truth&period;htm<&sol;a><br &sol;>&NewLine;Biography&period;com<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;biography&period;com&sol;activist&sol;emily-davison" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;biography&period;com&sol;activist&sol;emily-davison<&sol;a><br &sol;>&NewLine;The Guardian<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;theguardian&period;com&sol;society&sol;2013&sol;may&sol;26&sol;emily-davison-suffragette-death-derby-1913" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;theguardian&period;com&sol;society&sol;2013&sol;may&sol;26&sol;emily-davison-suffragette-death-derby-1913<&sol;a><br &sol;>&NewLine;JStor<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;jstor&period;org&sol;stable&sol;40972072&quest;seq&equals;1" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;jstor&period;org&sol;stable&sol;40972072&quest;seq&equals;1<&sol;a><br &sol;>&NewLine;Biography&period;com<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;biography&period;com&sol;activist&sol;emmeline-pankhurst" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;biography&period;com&sol;activist&sol;emmeline-pankhurst<&sol;a><br &sol;>&NewLine;Biography&period;com<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;biography&period;com&sol;activist&sol;ida-b-wells" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;biography&period;com&sol;activist&sol;ida-b-wells<&sol;a><br &sol;>&NewLine;Wikipedia<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;en&period;wikipedia&period;org&sol;wiki&sol;Reconstruction&lowbar;era" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;en&period;wikipedia&period;org&sol;wiki&sol;Reconstruction&lowbar;era<&sol;a><br &sol;>&NewLine;Suffragette Stories<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;suffragettestories&period;omeka&period;net&sol;bio-constance-lytton" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;suffragettestories&period;omeka&period;net&sol;bio-constance-lytton<&sol;a><br &sol;>&NewLine;Spartacus Educational<br &sol;>&NewLine;<a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;spartacus-educational&period;com&sol;Wlytton&period;htm" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener noreferrer">https&colon;&sol;&sol;spartacus-educational&period;com&sol;Wlytton&period;htm<&sol;a><&sol;p>&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;3 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad5673 " id&equals;"quads-ad5673" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;margin&colon;0px 3px 3px 3px&semi;padding&colon;0px 0px 0px 0px&semi;" data-lazydelay&equals;"0">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;&NewLine;<&excl;-- WP QUADS Content Ad Plugin v&period; 3&period;0&period;3 -->&NewLine;<div class&equals;"quads-location quads-ad5669 " id&equals;"quads-ad5669" style&equals;"float&colon;none&semi;text-align&colon;center&semi;padding&colon;0px 0 0px 0&semi;" data-lazydelay&equals;"0">&NewLine;&NewLine;<&sol;div>&NewLine;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Megan Hamilton: