Yesterday at #Inauguration our new POTUS spoke about the 1913 Women’s Suffrage Parade in reference to our new #MadamVicePresident
So, what was the parade and why was it important?
A thread:

The 1913 Women’s Suffrage Parade was the very first large organized political march in Washington. It was organized by women to bring attention to the suffrage movement and bring urgency to the cause of giving women the vote
@atourofherown #womenshistory

The date of the parade was specifically chosen, March 3, 1913. The day before Woodrow Wilson was going to be inaugurated as the 28th President. (Until 1933 inaugurations happened on March 4 not Jan 20. #20thAmendment )

The parade was organized by Alice Paul and was designed to jump start the suffrage movement. For decades, women’s groups had been pursuing a state by state strategy for suffrage, and it was not working. Paul determined that women needed to take more drastic measures.

Paul wanted to take the struggle national, and more importantly she wanted to get up in everyone’s faces. To be persistent. To be noticed. To get results.
She put her fist right through the idea of going along to get along and demanded the vote.

Suffragists of all varieties were very wary of Wilson. For good reason, he was NOT a supporter of women’s rights, women writ large and decency generally (my hatred of Wilson is legendary and I make no apologies)
#WomensRights

So the parade was supposed to be the day before his inauguration to capitalize on the crowd AND it was the day he was arriving in DC and so the idea was that he’d arrive to this massive demonstration of women putting him on notice.

Paul had a definite vision for the parade: it was going to start at the Capitol and process down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the White House, same route as modern inaugural parades (pre Covid).

One of the themes was: Forward into Light, a common idea in the suffrage movement. The procession was led by suffragist Inez Milholland on a white horse, carrying that banner. For more about Inez, see my pod episode about her: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tour-guide-tell-all/id1503902808?i=1000488063613

The drama was enhanced by a color scheme: going from light colored clothes to darker as the procession went on to symbolize moving into the light of the future and out of the darkness of the past. It’s hard to tell since photos are black and white but it was visually stunning.

The first women were from countries that had already given women the vote. Next there were women grouped by profession: nurses, mothers, lawyers, etc. Then women were organized in state delegations. In btn were chariots, floats, bands, mounted heralds. It was crazy.

Alice Paul specifically wanted to emphasize femininity and beauty and traditional women’s roles to counter the notion that these values would be threatened if women got the right to vote. Which was unbelievably smart and canny of her.

The March ended at the Treasury bldg, next to the White House where a stage was set up and there were a series of allegorical tableaux being presented as the March happened.

Aside from anything else, it was an organizational masterpiece.

And let’s not forget: this is the first large scale political demonstration of its kind in DC. Ever. For any reason. Today we are used to this but back then, it was SHOCKING. And it was WOMEN.

The March was not w/o controversy. For one thing the police didn’t really take it seriously and have enough police blocking the (mostly male) spectators and consequently things got a little out of hand in some parts of the route.

There was also the element of African American women who wanted to participate, but made white women nervous. Minorities were not allowed to march with their state delegations and forced to have their own delegation at the back of the parade. Which is awful.

My gal Ida B. Wells didn’t like this one bit and joined her Illinois delegation anyway.

For more Ida awesomeness see my pod about her: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/tour-guide-tell-all/id1503902808?i=1000488786364

The parade however, worked. Wilson actually got off the train in DC and wondered why no one was there to greet him. Which.... hahahaha

In the aftermath, Alice Paul became the undisputed leader of the women’s suffrage movement. And the movement was back in the national conversation. Less than a month later, the amendment was introduced in both Houses of Congress and debated which had not happened in decades

Paul kept up her activism and pressure, leaned on Congress and even though the war delayed it somewhat, in 1918 Wilson came out in (tepid) support and the 19th amendment was ratified in 1920. 100 years later, we elected our first women Vice President.
#MadamVicePresident

Lastly, it felt so appropriate that Biden spoke of the parade in his inaugural address for so many reasons. It’s a demonstration of how far we’ve come, but also there lessons to be learned about a more inclusive feminism.

And also THIS is what happens when you elect a history major to things!!! #History #WomensMarch
@atourofherown @womnknowhistory