By Jajan & Max
In the history of women’s suffrage, parades and pageants have been quite effective as a strategy of outreach. During a suffrage parade, women would march down the street, typically in fancy outfits and holding signs. There would be music and people riding horses. In pageants, there would be scenes acted out by women showcasing influential female figures in history. These strategies were effective, no matter whether or not the people attending were majorly pro or anti-suffrage, as long as a lot of people attended. Creating flashy events will get the attention of many people, and some were sure to support the cause.
This art piece was the cover for the program of the 1913 suffrage parade in Washington. In the top left corner, it says, “Official Program, Woman Suffrage Procession.” In the bottom right, it says “Washington D.C. March 3, 1913.” The program shows three women in front of the White House, one with an extravagant purple and yellow outfit on a horse, and two wearing more average white dresses behind the horse. The woman on the horse holds a trumpet with a banner on it that says “Votes for Women.” The woman riding the white horse seems to symbolize a sort of new era coming in, as she is holding a trumpet that seems to be a sort of fanfare of women’s suffrage. The fanfare could represent an announcement for this. The dresses of the women behind the horse and the horse itself being white could also give off a sort of clean or pure feeling, just as suffragists intended when they wore white dresses. This art seems to be mostly advertising for the parade.
This photo was taken on March 3rd, 1913 in Washington DC. These women are at a women’s suffrage parade. The woman in the front, Hedwig Reicher, is wearing the costume of “Columbia,” which represents the United States. By having a woman dressed up as Columbia for this pageant, the suffragists are making the point that there should be equal rights for both men and women. She is holding a staff with a bird on it. The other suffrage pageants in the background look like they are holding balloons to represent success in front of the Treasury Building.
This photo was taken in Washington DC in 1913. There are women riding horses while two other women hold up flags. One woman is holding up the flag of the United States of America, while the other woman holds a flag with faint text that says “Votes for Women”. The suffragist women were in Washington DC one day before the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson. The decision to hold the parade on this day seems to have been to draw attention on the day before another large event. Over 5,000 women came with some riding on horseback and others on foot. The crowd kept interrupting them and harassing them while they were on their way to fight for the right to vote. As an article from The Smithsonian states, “In Washington, D.C., alone, crowd estimates were around 500,000” watching them with the majority of them being men.
The Woman’s Journal and Suffrage News was a woman’s rights periodical that helped the suffragettes spread news and bring attention to their cause. The headline “PARADE STRUGGLES TO VICTORY DESPITE DISGRACEFUL SCENES” indicates that they were upset about the harassment and assault that some people in the parade endured, but that the parade was still a success. The photographs also seem to have been chosen for a reason. The photo at the bottom shows a large crowd, which demonstrates how much attention the parade received. The photograph of the woman on a horse might demonstrate that she is active, that she is a leader, and that she is fearless.
This headline (and part of the article) states that an anti-suffrage person tried to throw eggs at suffragists, and had to be stopped by the police. It says that “America has no militant suffragists, but has some militant antis,” meaning anti-suffrage people. This article seems pretty pro-suffrage, as it defies the “militant suffragist” stereotype. That stereotype was widely thought as the truth, including in a Charlie Chaplin film in which a suffragist attacks a group of men for some minor reasons and then falls into a body of water. The original film displayed suffragists as violent and overdramatic, whereas this article displays antis as more violent and rude. This article was published in The Woman’s Journal in Boston, which makes sense due to the generally pro-women’s suffrage feeling that the article has.
This headline and article explains the May 3rd parade, which was part of the Woman’s Suffrage Procession, describing it as a “monster parade” and an “imposing demonstration.” It’s at first hard to get the opinion of this article, as it does use terms that could be interpreted as respectful or opposing, specifically the word “imposing.” However, this article, like the one we saw before, was from The Woman’s Journal in Boston. This means that although it has sort of vague language, it was most likely pro-suffrage. This article, regardless of opinion, demonstrates the outreach of the parade, having over 30,000 people.
Bibliography
The Atlantic: "The 1913 Women's Suffrage Parade"
Gale: "The Woman Suffrage Procession of 1913"
Library of Congress: "Front page of the "Woman's journal and suffrage news"
Library of Congress: "Marching for the Vote: Remembering the Woman Suffrage Parade of 1913"
Smithsonian Magazine: "The Original Women’s March on Washington and the Suffragists Who Paved the Way"