The Woman Suffrage Procession in 1913, was the first suffragist parade in Washington, D.C.
It was also the first large, organized march on Washington for political purposes.
The procession was organized by the suffragists Alice Paul and Lucy Burns for the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).
Planning for the event began in Washington in December 1912. The parade's purpose, stated in its official program, was to march in a spirit of protest against the present political organization of society, from which women are excluded.
Participation numbers vary between 5,000 and 10,000 marchers. Suffragists and supporters marched down Pennsylvania Avenue on Monday, March 3, 1913, the day before President Woodrow Wilson's inauguration. Paul had selected the venue and date to maximize publicity, but met resistance from the D.C. police department.
More information: National Park Service
The demonstration consisted of a procession with floats, bands, and various groups representing women at home, in school, and in the workplace. At the Treasury Building, a pageant of allegorical tableaux was acted out during the parade. The final act was a rally at the Memorial Continental Hall with prominent speakers, including Anna Howard Shaw and Helen Keller.
Prior to the event, the issue of black participation in the march threatened to cause a rift with delegations from Southern states. Some blacks did march with state delegations. A group from Howard University participated in the parade. It is often said that black women were segregated at the back of the parade, however, contemporaneous sources confirm they marched with their respective state delegations or professional groups.
More information: Social Welfare
During the procession, district police failed to keep the enormous crowd off the street, impeding the marchers' progress. Many participants were subjected to heckling from spectators, though there were also many supporters present. The marchers were finally assisted by citizens' groups and eventually the cavalry.
The police were subjected to a congressional inquiry due to security failures. The event premiered Paul's campaign to refocus the suffrage movement on obtaining a national constitutional amendment for woman's suffrage. Intended to pressure President Wilson to support an amendment, he resisted their demands for years afterward.
More information: Time
American suffragists Alice Paul and Lucy Burns spearheaded a drive to adopt a national strategy for women's suffrage in the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Paul and Burns had seen first-hand the effectiveness of militant activism while working for Emmeline Pankhurst in the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU) in Britain.
Their education included rallies, marches, and demonstrations, knowledge of which the two would put to work back in America. They already had first-hand experience with imprisonment as a backlash against suffrage activism. They had gone on hunger strikes and suffered force-feeding. They were not afraid to be provocative, even knowing the potential consequences. The procession would be their first foray into moving into militant mode on a national stage.
More information: Timeline
According to the media, the suffrage parade had become the primary draw over the inauguration itself. Special suffrage trains were hired to bring spectators from other cities, adding to the crowds in Washington. The novelty of the procession attracted enormous interest throughout the eastern U.S.
As the parade participants gathered near the Peace Monument around noon, the police began roping off part of the parade route. Even before the parade began, the ropes were badly stretched and coming loose in places. The procession drew such a crowd that President-elect Wilson was mystified about why there were no people to be seen when he arrived in town that day.
More information: The Atlantic
America is not a democracy.
Twenty million women
are denied the right to vote.
Alice Paul
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