American History Tellers - ENCORE: The Fight for Women's Suffrage | Silent Sentinels | 4

Episode Date: March 26, 2025

In March 1913, thousands of suffrage activists converged on Washington, D.C. for a new form of protest. They were going to march down Pennsylvania Avenue to demand an amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote. Their leader, Alice Paul, was a young rising star in the movement. Her dramatic protests outside the White House would grab headlines across America. But they would also spark fierce and sometimes violent resistance.Be the first to know about Wondery’s newest podcasts, curated recommendations, and more! Sign up now at https://wondery.fm/wonderynewsletterListen to American History Tellers on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season. Unlock exclusive early access by joining Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Start your free trial today by visiting wondery.com/links/american-history-tellers/ now.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey history buffs, if you can't get enough of the captivating stories we uncover on American history tellers, you'll love the exclusive experience of Wondery+. Dive even deeper into the past with ad-free episodes, early access to new seasons, and bonus content that brings history to life like never before. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts, and embark on an unparalleled journey through America's most pivotal moments. Imagine it's the afternoon of March 3, 1913, in Washington, D.C. You're parading down Pennsylvania Avenue, marching alongside thousands of other women in support of a federal suffrage amendment. You're thrilled to be part of such a massive and daring act of public protest, but your older sister Claire, who you dragged

along, is less enthusiastic. I still think Mother is going to have a fit when she finds out about this. She'll thank us later when our efforts help win the vote. But all the spectacle? Ah, don't be so old-fashioned. I mean, just look around. Have you ever seen so much energy in this movement? How could Wilson possibly ignore us now? All of a sudden, the marchers in front of you stop. Claire glances around nervously. Why'd we stop? What's the holdup? I can't tell. I think someone might be blocking the street.

Out of the corner of your eye, you see a group of young men rounding around 4th Street. They jump over a barrier, blocking the sidewalk, and rush towards you. Well, ain't this the best-looking bunch of suffragettes I ever saw? The man staggers towards you, with five more following in his wake you try to step past him but he blocks your path will you let me pass please you know I don't think I will you grab your sister by the elbow your heart racing man's clothes are rumpled and he reeks of alcohol please move along we have a parade to complete.

But who's gonna prepare supper tonight with all you ladies out here in the street? The whole town's gonna starve! The man reaches out his hand, runs his fingers along the silk sash draped over your shoulder. You recoil as he rips it off and reads what it says. Votes for women. Ain't that the craziest idea you ever heard? You hold your sister tighter, searching for an escape route. But everywhere you look, crowds of young men are spilling into the streets,

accosting the marchers. They jeer and heckle. Ow! One of them flicks a lit cigarette at you and it glances off your dress. Then another man grabs your sister by the hand. You know you have to do something. You kick him in the shins and drag your sister backwards. As you push through the crowd, you lock eyes with a mounted police officer pleading. Police!

Please! Do something! But the officer just shrugs. All around you, the march descends into chaos. Your fellow protesters are trying to flee, but they're blocked in on all sides. You watch helplessly as mobs of men, many of them clearly drunk, push and shove the marchers, shouting and hurling insults. You brought your sister out here today, hoping to show her the power of the woman's suffrage movement.

Instead, she's getting a terrifying look at the forces that are determined to keep you from ever claiming your rights. You just realized your business needed to hire someone like yesterday. With Indeed, there's no need to stress. You can find amazing candidates fast using Sponsored Jobs. With Sponsored Jobs, your post jumps to the top of the page for your relevant candidates, so you can reach the people you want faster.

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Our history, your story. In March 1913, thousands of women converged on the nation's capital and marched down Pennsylvania Avenue, demanding a federal suffrage amendment. They were met by large crowds of unruly men who harassed and assaulted the marchers. The chaos and violence made front-page news. The parade was the vision of a new young leader in the suffrage movement. Twenty-eight-year-old Alice Paul was impatient with the slow pace of change. She was ready to use the dramatic tactics she had learned in England to capture publicity and spur action in the U.S., but her aggressive approach would bring her into

conflict with the movement's veterans. In the 1910s, opposition to suffrage remained strong throughout American society. Activists counted far more defeats than victories. It would take courage, political savvy, and dramatic new forms of public protest to raise the stakes and make suffrage a cause that could no longer be ignored. This is Episode 4. Silent Sentinels. In January 1910, Alice Paul returned from England and sailed into New York Harbor. She was still recovering from a harrowing experience in a British prison where she endured force-feeding after going on a hunger strike. Now she was ready to reinvigorate the cause of suffrage in her home country. Paul re-enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania to pursue

her Ph.D. and spent the next two years writing her dissertation on the legal status of women in Pennsylvania. She also joined the National American Women's Suffrage Association, the largest organization fighting for women's voting rights. Soon she went on the lecture circuit, speaking to packed houses about suffrage and her time in prison. By the end of 1912, nine western states had given women the ballot. There were now two million women voters who could participate in federal elections, compared to fifteen million eligible male voters.

Women were still far from full suffrage, but they could cast enough votes to make an impact at the national level. And while neither the Democrats nor the Republicans supported suffrage, it had the backing of the independent progressive party led by former president Theodore Roosevelt. With suffrage a growing force in national politics, Paul thought the time was ripe to renew the fight for a federal amendment that would guarantee the vote for all women across the nation. Susan B. Anthony first introduced the suffrage amendment in 1878, but the movement's leaders had long since abandoned efforts to pass

it, focusing instead on state campaigns. But the battle in the states was a slow and unwieldy process, and in Alice Paul's view, it faced impossible odds outside the West. There were still 39 states where women could not vote, and suffrage faced strong opposition in all of them. In the East and Midwest, big business and entrenched political machines feared that female voters would enact laws to protect workers and threaten corporate profits. In the Jim Crow South, Southern Democrats had passed laws to curtail the voting rights of black men

and there was little support for enfranchising black women. To Paul, there was no chance of persuading millions of male voters to back suffrage in all 48 states. Pushing a constitutional amendment through Congress and getting it ratified by the required three-fourths or 36 states was still a mammoth task, but not an impossible one. Paul made her case to Anna Howard Shaw, insisting that a federal amendment was the only way forward. Shaw agreed to allow Paul to revive the fight. She let the young woman take over the Congressional Committee, the defunct federal lobbying arm of the National American Women's Suffrage Association. But despite staging dramatic public spectacles, Alice Paul was often shy and reserved in person.

She did not laugh easily and was a reluctant public speaker. But the depth of her passion for the cause won her the respect of her fellow activists, both veteran and newcomers alike. One suffragist declared, Perhaps it is her Quaker integrity which shines through every statement. Perhaps it is the intensity of devotion and the inflexibility of purpose. At any rate, it is very difficult to refuse Alice Paul. Taking a lesson from the British suffrage movement, Paul wanted to stage a public demonstration

that would capture the nation's attention. She wanted to plan something that had never been done before for any cause, a massive march on Washington. Paul's main target was the new party in power, the Democrats. In November 1912, Americans elected Democratic candidate Woodrow Wilson as president, and his party took the majority in Congress. Knowing that the national press would already be in the city, Paul decided to time the parade from March 3, 1913, the day before Wilson's inauguration. She wanted to send a loud message, putting pressure on the new administration.

So in December 1912, just weeks after Wilson's win, Paul arrived in Washington, ready to begin work. She partnered with her friend Lucy Burns, who she had met while campaigning for British suffrage. Working out of a basement office, Paul and Burns oversaw a staff of volunteers. They spent the next three months raising funds, wrangling permits, and talking to reporters to boost publicity. Paul reached out to wealthy supporters for donations and called on various suffragist groups and women's

clubs to borrow floats and banners. And suffragists from all over the country hoped to have a prominent place in the parade. That included black suffragists. Amid discrimination in white-led suffrage organizations, the independent black suffrage movement had grown in strength and numbers over the past two decades. But as the march grew closer, the question of black participation sparked heated debate. Imagine it's March, 1913. You're a young Howard University student

and a founding member of Delta Sigma Theta, a new sorority on campus. Today, you're meeting with Alice Paul in the Washington office of the upcoming Women's Suffrage Parade. You're eager to participate in such a groundbreaking protest. Thank you so much for taking the time to meet with me, Miss Paul. Paul looks up briefly from the stack of paperwork on her desk and nods curtly. The whole office is in a frenzy as staff and volunteers make last minute plans. Don't mention it.

Sorry about the mess. I'm trying to get the city to beef up their police presence. Oh, I promise this won't take long. I'm here on behalf of my sorority sisters. You must have received our letter. We're hoping for a good spot in the college women's section. We'll see. I'm afraid there's a chance that section might already be full.

Full? How can that be? This is a parade, not an auditorium. I look into it. Miss Paul, please. We're desperate to be a part of this. Will you guarantee our place in the parade? Paul drops her pen and leans forward in her chair,

rubbing her temples. To tell you the truth, I fear some of the Southern ladies will object to your presence. Well, that's no surprise. Don't tell me you're giving in to them. Are you saying we're prohibited from attending? No, it's not that. Then what is it? I don't understand.

I've been to your speeches, all your talk about equality, or does that not matter to you when it comes to race? Of course I believe in racial equality. But Washington isn't New York or Boston. This is a Southern city with Southern prejudices. I worry that many of our white marchers will refuse to participate if Black women are a part of this parade. We deltas are working hard on campus to fight for the vote.

We deserve to be included. And I must say, black women need a suffrage amendment even more than you do. Paul shakes your head. I've poured everything into this parade. I won't let anything distract from our main purpose. This is our purpose, Miss Paul. This is bigger than any one of us. How about a compromise? We'll separate you. Perhaps we could find some friendly white men to surround you, to shield you from any hostile crowds.

Separate us? You mean segregate us? Well, you can try. You get up and walk out the door, furious that Paul is refusing to challenge racism in the suffrage ranks. But you're not going to let her stop you. When the day of the march arrives, you and your sorority sisters are going to make your presence known. Alice Paul was a Quaker with deep-seated beliefs in racial equality, but she worried that if black women participated in the parade, southern delegations would pull out of the march, and she was terrified of alienating southern voters and politicians. So while Paul did not exclude black participants, she did not encourage them either.

She worked to keep news about them out of the press. She planned to segregate them and place them in the back of the parade procession. She declared that the best solution was to say nothing whatever about the question, to keep it out of the newspapers, to try and make this a purely suffrage demonstration, entirely uncomplicated by any other problems such as racial ones. Still black women's clubs and suffrage organizations from across America refused to stay home, and the nation's leading black suffragist was determined to make a stand. Two months earlier, Ida B. Wells had founded the Alpha Suffrage Club to give a voice to

black suffragists in Chicago. For months, the club had worked tirelessly, fighting to pass a partial suffrage law in the state that would allow women to vote in presidential elections. Wells wanted to make sure that the club was represented in the Illinois section of the Washington Parade. And on the morning of March 3, as marchers began lining up on Pennsylvania Avenue, an argument erupted between members of the Illinois delegation. The white chair of the group announced that she had been advised to keep their section entirely white. Wells' voice trembled as she spoke out, declaring,

if the Illinois women do not take a stand now in this great democratic parade, then the colored women are lost, vowing that she would march with the rest of the Illinois delegation, or not at all. With that, she disappeared from Pennsylvania Avenue. And up until the start of the march she was nowhere to be found. But when the parade began at three o'clock, Wells quietly slipped out of the crowds along the parade route and took her place, marching proudly with the other Illinois suffragists.

She was flanked by white allies of the Alpha Suffrage Club. Other black women also ignored the segregation order, including members of Howard University's Delta Sigma Theta sorority. The parade was led by 26-year-old lawyer and equestrian Inez Milholland, who was chosen for her beauty to maximize publicity. Milholland donned a white dress and cape and rode a horse like a modern-day Joan of Arc. She led two dozen floats, nine bands, some five thousand marchers down Pennsylvania Avenue, all walking from the Capitol toward the White House. The first float made the purpose of the march clear, with a banner demanding a federal suffrage amendment. A few blocks away, a train pulled into Washington carrying President-elect Woodrow Wilson. He was

surprised at how few people had come to welcome him. His arrival had been overshadowed by the suffrage parade. Tens of thousands of spectators lined Pennsylvania Avenue to watch the historic march. And for the first few blocks, everything went as planned. But halfway along the route, crowds of drunken men started spilling into the parade. They shoved the marchers, spat on them, pulled their clothes, and threw lit cigarettes at them. Police stood by and watched the assaults, refusing to step in to protect the protesters. One officer told the marcher, this wouldn't happen if you would stay at home. Army guards intervened so the parade could continue. It took the marchers six hours to complete the 15-block route, and by then more than 100 women had been hospitalized.

The march and the mob's violent behavior made for sensational front page news and a wave of positive press coverage for suffrage. Paul saw an opening. She was determined to use the march to build support for the movement. She pressed for congressional investigations and the Senate agreed to review police misconduct during the parade. Paul hoped the publicity surrounding the march would breathe new life into her amendment campaign. She had taken the cause in a bold new direction, and now she was determined to keep up the pressure. Paul was convinced that the steep odds facing a federal amendment warranted a more radical approach. But soon, her confrontational tactics would ignite anger

and controversy among her fellow suffragists and cause bitter new rifts in the movement. Until April 2nd, sky-high elegance at dream prices during the Air France Rendez-Vu. It's time to book your Rendez-vous with Paris, starting at $765, or Madrid, starting at $885 return. From Toronto, tax included. You can enjoy a glass of champagne however you fly, economy included.

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Watch full episodes on YouTube, and you can listen to Baby, This is Kiki Palmer, early and at free, right now, by joining Wondery. And where are my headphones? Because it's time to get into it. Holla at your girl. And where are my headphones? Because it's time to get into it. Holla at your girl! Two weeks after the suffrage parade in Washington, D.C., Alice Paul led a delegation to meet with

President Wilson at the White House. Her march on Washington had made the suffrage cause impossible for the president to ignore. But at the meeting, Wilson dodged the issue. He insisted that suffrage had never been brought to his attention and declined to offer an opinion. Instead, he said his hands were tied given his party's opposition to a federal amendment. After just ten minutes, Wilson thanked the women for their time and ushered them out. Before Wilson's inauguration, suffragists had high hopes that the new president might be persuaded to support their cause. He had campaigned on a platform of sweeping progressive reform, though he avoided taking a public position on suffrage.

But after the White House meeting, it was clear to Paul and her allies that they would have a long road ahead to bring Wilson to their side. Wilson was the former governor of New Jersey, but he was raised in the South. He referred to black people as an ignorant and inferior race and supported segregation. He also believed that women best serve society as caregivers. Months before marrying his wife Ellen, he told her a woman's role was to supplement a man's life. And like any Southern Democrat, Wilson was opposed to a federal suffrage amendment on principle. He believed in state control over voting rights.

And so over the next few months, Wilson continued to ignore the suffrage issue, but Paul refused to back down. She and her allies went on the offensive, staging meetings in Washington, raising money, and collecting 200,000 petition signatures in support of an amendment. Shortly after the parade, Anna Howard Shaw wrote to Paul declaring, The National Association will never cease to be grateful to you for all the splendid service you have done in its name. But within just a few months, Paul's tactics began to alienate Shaw and her fellow veterans of the movement. In November 1913, Paul launched a new weekly newspaper called The Suffragist. It was done without the approval of Shaw, who was nearly 40 years her senior.

Paul placed President Wilson on the cover of the first issue, calling him out for blocking progress towards a federal amendment. Shaw thought it was an overly aggressive move. When she saw the cover, she said it made her sick at heart. In a further move away from Shaw, Paul and her second-in-command Lucy Burns created a semi-independent organization called the Congressional Union. Paul poured her energy into raising funds for the new group, which soon boasted a thousand members across the country.

But as the Congressional Union grew bigger and more independent, Shaw accused Paul of diverting money from the parent organization, the National American Woman Suffrage Association. And when Shaw insisted that all funds be channeled through the NAWSA's Treasury, Paul refused. But nothing did more to anger Shaw than Paul's ties to the British suffrage movement and its leaders, Emmeline, Christabel, and Sylvia Pankhurst. In the years since Paul returned to the United States, British suffragettes had shocked the world with increasingly violent tactics. Now, instead of throwing rocks at windows, they were leaving bombs in mailboxes.

In just one night in November 1913, suffragettes set fire to a mansion, burned down a pavilion at a London tennis club, and blew up a greenhouse, destroying a $50,000 cactus collection. Paul and the Congressional Union were fed up with caution and moderation. They were ready to demand the vote with confrontation, but National Association leaders feared that they were following a dangerous example, embracing militant tactics that could damage the cause. example, embracing militant tactics that could damage the cause. Imagine this November 1913 in Washington, D.C. You're at your desk in the F Street headquarters of the Congressional Union, where you serve

as vice chair. You're hard at work on your next editorial in support of a federal suffrage amendment. This time, you're targeting readers in President Wilson's home state of New Jersey. You're determined to get him to come around to your cause. Good morning. Good morning. You look up from your article to see Anna Howard Shaw at the door.

My apologies, Ms. Shaw. I was just so immersed in my work. You know how it is. What can I do for you? She approaches your desk and throws a newspaper in front of you. What is the meaning of this? She points to an article about your recent arrest. Oh, that? I thought it was outrageous, too. Who ever heard of someone being arrested just for chalking a sidewalk?

Shaw raises an eyebrow. You wrote votes for women on the sidewalk in front of the White House. That may be fine where you come from, but it's against the law in Washington, D.C. I thought I was simply being economical with advertising. Shaw puts her hands on her hips as she peers down at you. You feel like you're back in school, being scolded by a teacher. This isn't a laughing matter. The National Association cannot be employing pankers tactics.

Oh, come on. This hardly compares to the Brits. You haven't seen me burn down a tennis club, have you? At least not yet. Shaw glares at you. I'm kidding. I would never do that. You need to plead ignorance, pay the fine, and behave. Of course. You have nothing to worry about.

You and Alice Paul may think us old-fashioned, but it takes a good deal more courage to take the slow and steady path than it does to be impulsive and rash. She begins pacing the room as her lecture continues. You look down and try to hide your smirk. You respect older suffragists like Shaw, but her reaction seems completely over the top for something as innocuous as chalking a sidewalk. I've been at this for 30 years.

I won't have you and Alice Paul risking everything that we've built. Not just for me and Mrs. Cat, but all the women who came before us. Don't worry. I'll pay the fine. And I won't do any more talking. See that you don't. As she leaves, you look down at the newspaper she's left on your desk. You can't help but smile, thrilled that people are paying attention. You feel more strongly than ever that your tactics are making an impact.

In November 1913, Lucy Burns was arrested for chalking votes for women on the sidewalk in front of the White House. She pled guilty and paid a $1 fine. To smooth things over with Anna Howard Shaw, she wrote her a letter insisting, I do not feel that Miss Paul or I have a militant spirit in conducting our work. While Paul and Burns embraced dramatic acts of protest, they never came close to the kind of violence used by British suffragettes. Paul did not believe that violence and property destruction would achieve anything in the

United States. But Paul did not disavow the Pankhursts either, and to older members of the National Association, Paul's approach to suffrage seemed dangerously close to the militancy of the British. Conflict came to a head at the NAWSA's annual convention in December 1913. It was the first time that Alice Paul clashed directly with suffrage veteran Carrie Chapman Catt. Catt had spent the past decade traveling abroad, spreading the suffrage message in Europe, Africa, and Asia.

At the annual convention, she listened as Paul described her success in raising awareness and funds for a federal amendment. Then Kat rose to speak herself. She took dead aim at Paul's congressional union, accusing the younger activist of creating a rogue group separate from the National Association. Kat asked, Are we to have two national organizations? I am for one cause and an army under one flag. Kat was 54 years old. She had been a suffragist since Paul was a toddler. She believed the younger activists needed to stay in line, pay her dues, and work her way up through the ranks. And other NAWSA leaders agreed,

insisting Paul stop her work with the Congressional Union, but Paul refused. Days later, they ousted her from the National Association. but Paul refused. Days later, they ousted her from the National Association. But Paul carried on her work with the Congressional Union. She led a campaign attacking Democrats facing re-election in the 1914 midterms. And in a clever tactical move, she and her fellow Congressional Union leaders began calling the amendment sitting in Congress the Susan B. Anthony amendment. They insisted they were the ones carrying on the legacy of the suffrage pioneer, not

the NAWSA. The organization, Anthony, had helped found 24 years earlier. Carrie Chapman Catt and the National Association supported a federal suffrage amendment, but their main focus was still on the battle in the states. In 1915, the organization set its sights on the East, with suffrage referenda scheduled in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and most importantly, New York, the country's most powerful and populous state. Suffragists believed that New York, where the movement had begun over 60 years earlier,

would be the key to unlocking the vote for women nationwide. Catt led the New York campaign, pouring national resources into the state to rally thousands of activists. Canvassers went door to door, speaking to male voters in tenements, factories, farms, and suburban homes across the state. In October 1915, 25,000 suffragists marched down Manhattan's Fifth Avenue. But in the end, New Yorkers voted down suffrage. The state's powerful Democratic machine, Tammany Hall, opposed the measure, fearing

women voters would threaten their power over the electorate. The measures in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts also failed. It was a devastating blow to the movement. In the wake of these defeats, Shaw stepped down from the NAWSA presidency, and Catt was elected to replace her. At the annual convention in December of 1915, Catt promised to give the National Association a sorely needed strategic overhaul. She also hoped to absorb Paul's group, the Congressional Union, into the larger suffrage organization. In exchange, she wanted Paul to stop her attacks on democratic politicians, feeling that suffragists needed to win over the Democrats to their cause, not ostracize them with confrontation.

At the convention, Kat and Paul met privately in an attempt to mend fences. But Paul rejected Kat's proposal, and Kat stormed out of the meeting crying, I will fight you to the last ditch. It was the last time that Paul and Cat would meet face to face to try to resolve their differences. Then in June 1916, Paul boldly formed her own political party, the National Woman's Party. Its entire platform rested on one issue,

the immediate passage of a federal suffrage amendment. With the National Women's Party, Paul and her followers continued to use confrontational, newsmaking tactics. And unlike Kat and the National Association, they focused on attacking the Democrats, the party in power. They had the financial backing of one of America's wealthiest suffragists, Alva Belmont, who left the National Association behind, putting her fortune into the new NWP instead. By 1916, with a presidential election looming, both Cat and Paul were determined

to break new ground in the fight for a federal amendment, and the cause for suffrage had moved to the center of a national political debate. Paul hoped to leverage the electoral power of women voters in the West. The NWP organized women in all Western suffrage states to vote against Wilson and the Democrats. Meanwhile, Catt tried a different tactic and focused on courting the two major parties. That summer, she brought thousands of suffragists to both the Republican National Convention in Chicago and the Democratic National Convention in St. Louis. She sought endorsements from both parties for a suffrage amendment. But in the end, her efforts failed.

Both the Republicans and the Democrats only met the National Association halfway. They endorsed suffrage in principle, but not through a federal amendment. They insisted that states must decide for themselves. Catt had reached her breaking point. In September, she organized an emergency convention in Atlantic City. With the election fast approaching, Kat insisted the National Association needed a new approach. Speaking before the crowds, she issued a call to arms, declaring, The crisis is here, but if the call goes unheeded, the hour may pass and our political liberty

will not be won. There on stage, Kat unveiled a new strategy. She called it the Winning Plan. The losses in the states proved that the organization could not go on as before. She urged the NAWSA to adopt the federal amendment as its primary goal. Kat planned an aggressive fundraising and publicity push and identified several U.S. senators she wanted to defeat. She sensed that the movement was at a crossroads and that unless suffragists went on the offensive, they would fail. Soon, both Cat and Paul would step up their efforts in Washington

with groundbreaking new tactics that might finally force reluctant male politicians to listen to their demands. Listen to Business Movers, making the news on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. Imagine this. You help your little brother land a great job abroad. But when he arrives, the job doesn't exist. Instead, he's trapped in a heavily guarded compound, forced to sit at a computer and scam innocent victims, all while armed guards stand by with shoot-to-kill orders. Scam Factory, the explosive new true crime podcast from Wondery, exposes a multi-billion dollar criminal empire, operating in plain sight. Told through one family's harrowing account of sleepless nights,

desperate phone calls, and dangerous rescue attempts, Scam Factory reveals a brutal truth. The only way out is to scam their way out. Follow Scam Factory on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes of Scam Factory early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. In the fall of 1916, with the presidential race heating up, Alice Paul and the National Women's Party were working hard to damage President Wilson's re-election campaign. Despite pressure from Paul, Wilson still towed his party's line and refused to back a federal

amendment. So, the NWP rallied women voters in the West to cast their ballots against Wilson, hoping to hold him accountable for his stance on the amendment. Paul declared, We must show President Wilson and every other national leader that women are ready to revolt against hostility. But the NWP did not put its own candidates forward. Their goal was to show their strength and punish the entire Democratic Party for their

failure to support suffrage. Wilson's opponent, Republican Charles Evans Hughes, did endorse a federal amendment. But since his party did not, Hughes was careful to say it was purely a personal opinion. For many suffragists, Hughes' support was timid and lacked conviction. Even though Paul fought to hurt Wilson's chances, she did not champion Hughes either. The NWP star was Inez Milholland, the woman who had led the 1913 march on Washington. Milholland suffered from a severe form of anemia, but despite her failing health, she took up a punishing schedule speaking to crowds throughout the West. During one speaking event in October,

she collapsed on stage in Los Angeles right after she challenged Wilson by declaring, Mr. President, how long must women go on fighting for liberty? A month later, she died at age 30, becoming a martyr to the suffrage cause. Despite the NWP's efforts, Wilson was re-elected. He carried almost all of the states where Paul and her allies had opposed him. Voters cared less about Wilson's refusal to back suffrage and more about his promise to keep America out of World War I, which had already left nearly one million dead. By 1917, the suffrage amendment had languished in Congress for nearly 40 years.

Lawmakers were as hostile as ever, stubbornly refusing to consider a federal amendment. Suffragists had lost their patience. Both wings of the movement prepared to turn up the pressure. Carrie Chapman Catt was ready to step up efforts to carry out her winning plan. And to do it, she had the help of a newly enlarged war chest. Though the National Association had lost wealthy socialite Alva Belmont to the National Women's Party, a new donor entered the fray. Mrs. Frank Leslie was the glamorous widow of publishing king Frank Leslie.

A week after her death in late 1914, a lawyer told Kat that Mrs. Leslie had willed most of her fortune to be put toward the suffrage cause. Leslie left Kat nearly $2 million, or $55 million today. It was the largest sum ever donated to the movement. But Leslie's relatives contested the will for two years. Finally, in early 1917, the NAWSA received the first installment and formed jewelry to be sold off. Leslie's lawyer hauled a suitcase full of diamonds, rubies, and emeralds into the Association's

headquarters, tipping the contents out onto Cat's desk. The suffrage movement had long struggled with lack of funding. But now, the National Association had the budget to staff its ranks with professional paid organizers. Cat used most of the money to set up a PR office in New York, where staff wrote press releases that were reprinted in newspapers across the country. But Cat also used Leslie's fortune to escalate lobbying efforts in Washington, fighting to finally put a suffrage amendment on the congressional agenda.

Imagine it's January 1917, and you're on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. You and your colleague are trained suffrage lobbyists. Today, you're sitting outside the office of a Democratic congressman from Ohio, armed with a folder of detailed notes. You've spent the past week making friends with the congressman's secretary. Looking at the clock on the wall, she smiles. Gestures at you to enter the office for your meeting. Thanks for fitting us in, Dorothy. We'll see you Saturday for lunch.

And don't forget to bring that casserole recipe. You step into the office with a big smile plastered on your face. The congressman stands as he points toward the leather chair opposite his desk. Ladies, please have a seat. I'm afraid I don't have much time until my next committee meeting. Colleague gives you an encouraging nod. You work in pairs. You're the talker and she's the backup. Thank you for fitting us in. How's your daughter congressman? Jane just started her second semester at Bryn Mawr. Did she not? The congressman looks at you with surprise. How did you know? That's right, she's studying English literature.

A fine choice. And do the two of you see eye to eye on the question of women's votes? You don't beat around the bush, do you? As a matter of fact, no, we don't. And why might that be? The congressman leans back in his leather chair and crosses his arms. Well, let me tell you, all that picketing over at the White House has me in no mood to work with you ladies.

You take a deep breath and smile, trying to set aside your private frustrations with Alice Paul and her supporters. That picketing has been blown out of proportion. And in any case, that's not what we're here to discuss. I know what you want. And I'm sorry to disappoint you. But I'm not voting for any suffrage amendment. I don't question your intelligence, but politics is no place for women.

I see. With a nod, your partner hands you a holder. You pull out a stack of letters and drop them on the congressman's desk. What's this? Those are letters from your constituents, congressman. I think you'll find some fairly strong opinions in favor of the amendment. I see you've done your homework. If that's all, I really must be going.

Dorothy? Where is that secretary of mine? Just one more thing. You can expect a call this afternoon from Mr. James Russell. Russell? So you tracked down my biggest donor, too? That's right.

And it just so happens that Mr. Russell is declaring his support for suffrage. And what's this I hear about a primary challenger running for your seat in the midterms? I'm sure Mr. Russell would be happy to redirect his money to a candidate who supports our calls. The congressman turns pale. You wink at your partner,

confident that you found your opening and just earned one more vote for a federal amendment. In January 1917, Carrie Chapman Catt recruited activist Maude Wood Park to lead what became known as the Front Door Lobby. Lobbying had a negative connotation associated with corruption and backroom deals. Suffragists made it known they were going through the front door and leaving it open so as not to raise suspicions of anything inappropriate. Park trained some two dozen women in this delicate work, teaching them to make friends with secretaries and doorman, discover the skeletons in the legislators' closets,

and never take no for an answer. The front door lobby was a crucial part of Cat's winning plan. Activists had forced suffrage onto the national spotlight, and now they were answer. The front door lobby was a crucial part of Cat's winning plan. Activists had forced suffrage onto the national spotlight and now they were exerting sophisticated and targeted political pressure to keep it there. By the end of January, suffrage lobbyists had met with more than 300 members of the House, gaining 11 new supporters. Lobbying was slow and labor intensive, but it was eventually effective. But while the National Association lobbied Congress, Alice Paul remained focused on the

president. In early January, she and her supporters descended on Washington to picket the White House, demanding that Wilson support a federal suffrage amendment. Six days a week, in sunshine, rain, and snow, they silently marched in front of the gates, carrying silk banners addressing the president. One paraphrased Inez Milholland's final speech asking, How long must women wait for liberty? Newspapers called the picketers the silent sentinels. No one had ever picketed the White House before, and it was considered a shocking act of defiance. The Washington Herald called

the picket the most militant move ever made by the suffragists of this country. But the fight for suffrage was not the only conflict the country was facing. By early 1917, it had been nearly three years since war broke out in Europe. The United States had remained neutral as the death toll soared. Wilson was re-elected with a promise to keep America out of the war. but Allied forces were nearing the point of exhaustion. In February, the news broke that German submarines were attacking American vessels. More and more Americans were becoming convinced that it was time to finally enter the fight. With war looming, suffragists were faced with a difficult choice.

Carrie Chapman Catt was a lifelong pacifist, but she knew that an anti-war stance could damage her movement. Pragmatic as ever, she compromised her ideals, announcing the National Association's unequivocal support for the U.S. entry into the war. She hoped that in exchange for the show of loyalty and patriotism, Wilson would back suffrage. But Alice Paul refused to play along. The National Woman's Party declared a neutral stance on the war. They remained focused on one single issue, passing a federal suffrage amendment. Paul remembered that Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton had sacrificed their suffrage work during the Civil War and insisted that she would not make the same mistake.

So, while Kat pledged her loyalty, Paul resumed her controversial protest. On April 2nd, 1917, as Wilson asked Congress to declare war on Germany, Paul and her supporters shouldered their banners and returned to the White House gates. The silent sentinels would stop for nothing, not even wartime. But soon, the war would transform the suffrage fight, and Paul's picketers would face a devastating and violent backlash.

From Wondery, this is episode four of the fight for women's suffrage from American history tellers. On our next episode, the United States enters World War I, and angry mobs attack suffrage protesters outside the White House. Dozens of activists are arrested, enduring a brutal assault that shocks the nation. And the suffrage fight enters its final chapter with new momentum. If you like American history tellers, you can binge all episodes early and ad-free right now by joining Wondry Plus in the Wondry app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music.

And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at Wondry.com slash survey. If you'd like to learn more about the suffrage movement, we recommend Suffrage, Women's Long Battle for the Vote by Alan Carroll Du Bois, and Vanguard, How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and insisted on equality for all, by Martha S. Jones. American History Tellers is hosted, edited, and produced by me, Lindsay Graham for Airship. Audio editing by Molly Bach. Sound design by Derek Barron. Music by Lindsay Graham. Voice acting in this episode by Ace Anderson, Cat Peoples, and Cynthia St. Louis. This episode

is written by Ellie Stanton. Edited by Dorian Marina. Our senior producer is Andy Herman. Executive producers are Jenny Lauer Beckman and Marsha Lewy for Wondery. Have you ever wondered how a circus performer could become the most powerful woman in the Byzantine Empire? Even the Royals is a podcast from Wondery that pulls back the curtain on royal families, from ancient empires to modern monarchs, to show you the darker side of what it means to be royalty. Before she ruled an empire,

Theodora was a teen sensation in circus shows, featuring dancing bears, burlesque performers, and blood-soaked chariot races. But when her star came crashing down, she clawed her way from rock bottom to the very top, using everything from comedy to espionage to get there. Empress Theodora didn't just survive, she revolutionized women's rights across the Byzantine Empire, like changing laws to let women divorce men, own property, and bring

abusive men to justice. For all her work in pioneering, she's remembered as the most powerful Byzantine Empress in history. Follow Even The Royals on the Wondory app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Even the Royals early and ad-free by joining Wendory Plus.