1916 / Nonviolent Protests at the White House Gates

In 1916, woman suffrage activists pursued sharply different strategies as Alice Paul and Lucy Burns's National Woman's Party focused exclusively on a constitutional amendment, campaigned against Democratic candidates in western states where women voted, and used aggressive lobbying, direct political action, and highly visible public events, while Carrie Chapman Catt led the National American Woman Suffrage Association with a "Winning Plan" that combined state and federal approaches and mobilized more than a million members. The National Woman's Party, backed by influential women including Alva Belmont and Phoebe Hearst, adopted the strategy of holding the party in power responsible and targeted Democrats who controlled Congress and the presidency, a controversial approach that nevertheless won new respect from political leaders. In 1917, after President Wilson declined to champion congressional passage of a constitutional amendment and said suffragists first had to move the Democratic Party to action, the National Woman's Party began nonviolent picketing outside the White House gates on January 10 using the "Silent Sentinels" tactic. Standing with provocative banners, the pickets brought their grievances directly to the president, the press, and the public, drew national attention, and were sustained through staged "theme days" featuring women from colleges, professions, and labor unions. Among those who picketed were Mary Church Terrell and her daughter Phyllis, and the campaign followed the death of Inez Milholland, whose 1916 speaking tour ended in collapse and whose memorial at the U.S. Capitol made her a suffrage martyr.

Laurel Hill, Virginia · United States