Celebrate Women's History Month by joining Lynn Garvey-Hodge for a portrayal of Suffragist Mrs. Robert Walker, who was arrested in front of the White House in 1917 and imprisoned at the Occoquan Workhouse.Mrs. Robert Walker, a wealthy Quaker who had graduated from Swarthmore, was among 10,000 women who marched along Pennsylvania Avenue during the inauguration of President Woodrow Wilson. The protests went on for months, as the women reminded Wilson of his efforts to bring democracy to Europe and demanded democracy for the women of America.
Walker was one of 123 suffragists arrested in front of the White House for disrupting traffic during the summer of 1917. They were incarcerated at the Occoquan Workhouse, where they were given coarse, ill-fitting clothes and shoes, worm-ridden food, and undrinkable water. They were also beaten up and confined in straitjackets. “Wilson wanted us declared crazy,” Walker said. She was released after 60 days and continued her protests at the White House.
The publicity surrounding the harsh treatment of those women at the Occoquan Workhouse became a turning point in the struggle for equality. The 19th Amendment, giving women the vote, was finally passed on Aug. 26, 1920. The goal is to have the Turning Point memorial completed by the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment in 2020.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
2:00 PM
Free Admission
Manassas Museum
9101 Prince William Street
Manassas, VA 20110
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