21 Photos That Capture the Women’s Suffrage Movement
Decades before women won the right to vote, suffragists filled city streets and courthouses across America to demand a say in their own future. Armed with little more than banners, marches, and sheer determination, they faced ridicule and mockery as they stood their ground in the fight for equality.
Whether marching through the streets of Washington, D.C., or sitting behind bars in rural county jails, these women embodied the courage and conviction that powered a revolution and changed history.
1. Who Runs the World? Girls!: Suffragists Head to Washington, D.C., To Join the National American Woman Suffrage Association Parade, 1913
2. A Suffragist Is Locked Up at the Occoquan Prison Following the ‘Night of Terror,’ Where 40 Guards Brutally Beat Women for Protesting, 1917
3. Members of the Brooklyn Women Suffrage Association Pose for a Snap During Rifle Training, 1915
4. ‘A Suffragette Shows Off Her Pants in 1916 (Considered Immoral at the Time)’
5. Suffragists Take to the Streets To Protest US President Woodrow Wilson’s Opposition to Women’s Rights, 1916
6. ‘Suffragette Posing With an American Flag Attached To a Broom Handle, Circa 1917’
7. The OG Pick-Me Girls: ‘Anti-Suffragists Demonstrate in 1915 Against Proposed Federal Amendment for Women to Vote’
8. Droves of Suffragists Arrive in Washington, D.C., After a 200-Mile March From New York City To Demand the Right To Vote, 1913
9. Inez Milholland Leads the Suffrage Parade in Washington, D.C., Riding a White Horse as a Symbol of Women’s Freedom, 1913
10. Carrie Chapman Catt Addresses a Packed Crowd at a Women’s Suffrage Meeting in Carnegie Hall, New York City, 1910
11. Members of the ‘Equal Suffrage League’ Pictured in Richmond, Virginia, February, 1915
12. Members of the Brooklyn Woman Suffrage Association Practice Marksmanship as Part of Their ‘Preparedness’ Training, 1918
13. Members of the National American Woman Suffrage Association Pictured Looking Stoic, Circa 1891
14. Mary Maloney Rings a Bell To Drown Out Winston Churchill After He Refuses To Apologize for Insulting the Women’s Suffrage Movement
15. ‘Women on Horseback Partake in a Suffrage Parade in Washington, D.C., May 9, 1914’
16. Suffragists Prepare for Their ‘Hike to Boston’ Led by Elizabeth Freeman and Fellow Activists, 1913
17. Flora Dodge ‘Fola’ La Follette (Center) and Rose Livingston (Right) Stand with a Young Garment Worker During a Labor Strike in New York City, 1913
18. A Woman Puts Up a Billboard Urging Voters To Oppose Woodrow Wilson for His Stance Against Women’s Suffrage in Colorado, 1916
19. Inez Milholland, the Iconic Suffragist Known for Leading Parades on Horseback, Pictured in Her ‘Spirit of Liberty’ Costume, Circa 1913
20. ‘Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst Is Arrested in Front of the Buckingham Palace in London, England, May 21, 1914’
21. Victory at Last: Suffragist Bertha M. Furman Teaches Women How To Fill Out Their Ballots, Circa 1930
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