In 1917, New York suffragists won woman suffrage after their 1915 defeat, giving support from most of the state's 43 United States Congressional representatives and making New York the first eastern state to do so. That same year, public outrage grew after imprisoned suffrage pickets were brought to open court in a severely weakened condition; a judge called their treatment bloodcurdling, ruled they should never have been sent to the Occoquan Workhouse, and all remaining prisoners were released on November 27 and 28, 1917. Six weeks later, President Woodrow Wilson reversed his position and supported the suffrage amendment, influenced by outrage over the prisoners' treatment, the momentum created by the New York victory, and the wartime importance he assigned to women's service. In 1918, with increased support from New York and other suffrage states, the House passed the amendment, but the Senate defeated it by two votes. In response, National Woman's Party suffragists lit "Watch Fires of Freedom" at the White House in early 1919 and endured arrest and jail sentences, while Alice Paul organized the transcontinental "Prison Special" train tour to publicize prison abuses and press Senators for action. Under continued public and political pressure, Wilson secured the final vote needed, called a special session on May 19, 1919, and the suffrage amendment passed both houses of Congress in June before going to the 48 states for ratification.
