[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 148 (Friday, August 20, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E909-E910]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         AMERICAN SUFFRAGIST MARKER DEDICATION, AUGUST 26, 2021

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. DONALD S. BEYER, JR.

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Friday, August 20, 2021

  Mr. BEYER. Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of the American 
Suffragist Marker Dedication occurring on August 26, 2021.
  In November 1917, on the sidewalks outside the White House, women 
stood on the pavement in silence. They stood in rain and shine and 
cold, brandishing signs demanding passage of the 19th Amendment to the 
United States Constitution. With passage, would come the right to vote 
for most American women.
  In mid-November 1917, 32 suffragists were arrested in front of the 
White House. Many were past the age of 60. The charge was ``Obstructing 
Traffic.'' The ``Silent Sentinels'' were ordered to be imprisoned at 
the District of Columbia (Occoquan) Workhouse in Lorton, Virginia.

[[Page E910]]

  Along with unwashed bedding, putrid food and fetid water, the women 
were subjected to undue hardships and torture, resulting in the 
infamous November 14, 1917 ``Night of Terror.'' A number of women 
prisoners were threatened, chained to their cells, beaten and hurled 
against walls, floors and metal fixtures. One woman suffered a heart 
attack and was denied prompt medical attention. A few days later, 
violent force feedings began for suffragists who had initiated a hunger 
strike in retaliation against the brutality.
  Bruised, ill and broken, the suffragist prisoners were brought to 
Alexandria, Virginia on November 27, 1917, for a hearing at the United 
States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Judge 
Edmund Waddill, Jr., agreeing the women's treatment had been unduly 
harsh, ordered the release of the suffragists from Occoquan. Freed from 
the brutality of Occoquan, many resumed their cause for 
enfranchisement.
  The 19th Amendment was ratified August 18, 1920. Certification of the 
Amendment by U.S. Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby occurred a few 
days later, on August 26, 1920. August 26 is now known as Women's 
Equality Day.
  This Women's Equality Day, August 26, 2021, Alexandria Mayor Justin 
Wilson, the Office of Historic Alexandria and Alexandria Celebrates 
Women will dedicate an historic marker to honor the women who bravely 
endured imprisonment and torture in their efforts to gain equality at 
the ballot box and to recognize the site of the landmark hearing that 
took place in Alexandria.

                          ____________________