REMEMBERING MOTHER JONES

   MOTHER JONES CHILDREN'S CRUSADE

On this Mother's Day we remember Mother Jones and the Children's Crusade.
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones was a fearless fighter for workers' rights. When she was mocked as the "grandmother of all agitators," in the U.S. Senate, Mother Jones replied that she would someday like to be called "the great-grandmother of all agitators." And she is. She taught us that movements are theatres of battle, that strategy matters, and that unions can be vehicles for workers' power, not just a contract.
 At the age of 70, for 3 weeks, she led a procession of three hundred young textile workers on a "Children’s Crusade," marching from Philadelphia to New York, to raise awareness of exploitative child labor. Stopping at meetings along the way, she would introduce girls and boys with mutilated hands, "tiny babies of six years old with faces of sixty who did an eight-hour shift for ten cents a day."


"We ask you, Mr. President, if our commercial greatness has not cost us too much by being built on the quivering hearts of helpless children. We are now marching toward you in the hope that your tender heart will counsel with us to abolish this crime."- Mother Jones, in a letter to President Roosevelt.

Though the official figures likely understate the
reality, they indicate that in 1900 at least 18% of America’s children were
employed. In southern cotton mills, 25% of the employees were under the age
of 15, and half of these children were younger than 12. [1900 U.S. Census]
"In Georgia where children work day and night in the cotton mills they have just passed a bill to protect song birds. What about little children from whom all song is gone?

"I shall ask the president in the name of the aching hearts of these little ones that he emancipate them from slavery. I will tell the president that the prosperity he boasts of is the prosperity of the rich wrung from the poor and the helpless.


I used to be a factory hand when things were moving slow,

When children worked in cotton mills, each morning had to go.

Every morning just at five the whistle blew on time

And called them babies out of bed at the age of eight and nine.

Come out of bed, little sleepy heads,

And get your bite to eat.

The factory whistle's calling you,

There's no more time to sleep.

The children all grew up unlearned, they never went to school. 　

They never learned to read and write. They learned to spin and spool. 　

Every time I close my eyes, I see that picture still. 　

When textile work was carried on with babies in the mill.

To their jobs those little ones was strictly forced to go.

Those babies had to be on time through rain and sleet and snow.

Many times when things went wrong their bosses often frowned.

Many times those little ones was kicked and shoved around.

Oldtimer can’t you see that scene back through the years gone by

Those babies all went on the job the same as you and I

I know you’re glad that things have changed while we have lots of fun

As we go in and do the jobs that babies used to run

~Babies in the Mill

 The March of the Mill Children of 1903: Changing Public Perception of Child Labor

The march brought Mother Jones national attention. Within three years, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York passed the nation’s first child labor laws.

, "She has won her way into the hearts of the nation's toilers, and her name is revered at the altars of their humble firesides and will be lovingly remembered by their children and their children's children forever." - Eugene Debs


RESOURCES

Video - History Squirrel, Published on Aug 5, 2013
This documentary won 3rd at state and was alternate to nationals for National History Day 2013. The theme was Turning Points.

Mary Harris Jones, "March of the Mill Children," The Autobiography of Mother Jones, 1925.
http://explorepahistory.com/odocument.php?docId=1-4-235

Dorsey Dixon- Babies In The Mill
https://youtu.be/xNeBgpuNMSI

 

Under the Bus: How Working Women Are Being Run Over

 

Hey Sisters looks like there's an interesting new book out!


ABOUT THE BOOK

Most Americans think that our country has done quite a lot to protect women and ensure gender equity in the workplace. After all, we have banned discrimination against women, required equal pay for equal work, and adopted family-leave legislation. But the fact is that we have a two-tiered system, where some working women have a full panoply of rights while others have few or none at all. We allow blatant discrimination by small employers. Domestic workers are cut out of our wage and overtime laws. Part-time workers, disproportionately women, are denied basic benefits. Laws are written through a process of compromise and negotiation, and in each case vulnerable workers were the bargaining chip that was sacrificed to guarantee the policy’s enactment. For these workers, the system that was supposed to act as a safety net has become a sieve—and they are still falling through.


THE AUTHOR

Caroline Fredrickson is a powerful advocate and D.C. insider who has witnessed the legislative compromises that leave out temps, farmworkers, employees of small businesses, immigrants, and other workers who fall outside an intentionally narrow definition of "employees." The women in this fast-growing part of the workforce are denied minimum wage, maternity leave, health care, the right to unionize, and protection from harassment and discrimination—all within the bounds of the law. If current trends continue, their fate will be the future for all American workers.




LISTEN IN

I like what she says about not just leaning in but leaning in together. You'll be pleasantly surprised to hear about her great grandmother & grandfather too!

 

 

~MORE~

 

 

 

 

 

RESOURCE    http://thenewpress.com/authors/caroline-fredrickson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                  THE "JOAN OF ARC" OF LABOR
                                   Genora Johnson Dollinger
           CELEBRATING WOMEN OF CHARACTER. COURAGE & COMMITMENT!


Genora (Johnson) Dollinger was called "the Joan of Arc of Labor" for her role in the Flint sit-down strikes. At the age of 23 she organized the Women's Auxiliary of the UAW and led its military wing, the Women's Emergency Brigade. Brigade members armed themselves with clubs to defend sit-downers from GM's plant police, hired Pinkerton strike-breakers, and the Flint city police who also served the corporation.

Over 300 women sat down initially, but the male United Auto Workers’ leadership did not allow them to stay inside the plants. Nevertheless, women were absolutely indispensable.

In their traditional role they kept the men alive, cooking for the hundreds and sometimes thousands of their co-workers and loved ones inside the plants. They set up first-aid stations, and child care for women picketers.

The Flint Journal wrote about the formation of the Women's Emergency Brigade, calling it the "Rolling Pin Brigade" and quoting organizer Genora Johnson as saying, "We will be ready in the future to have women at the scene of trouble within 10 minutes. If there is a fight, we will get into it ... police bullets don't frighten me."

Johnson, described by The Journal as a mother of two and wife of a striker, said the time had come for women to join the fight.

"The women, when called out will wear red arm bands with white lettering, denoting they belong to WEB -- Women's Emergency Brigade," the story said.

Johnson told The Journal then that her group would fight with "rolling pins, brooms, mops and anything else we can get."

The brigade was formed as a unit of the Women's Auxiliary and similar organizations were formed in Detroit, Celveland, Toledo and elsewhere as strikes spread around the country, according to "Sit-Down," a book about the Flint Sit-Down strike by the late Sidney Fine.

Genora Johnson organized the Women’s Emergency Brigade, which proved pivotal when police attacked. The New York Times reported that strikers had a "large supply of blackjacks ... whittled down so that they can be swung or jabbed readily." In fact the clubs had been whittled down by the Women’s Brigade to fit their smaller hands.

When tear gas was fired into the plants, women smashed the windows to allow the gas to escape.

Norman Bully, who would procure food donations from supportive farmers and deliver it to the kitchens, remarked years later: "God, all the women. The Women’s Brigade was something." The Women’s Emergency Brigade was rescued from obscurity by the 1979 documentary "With Babies and Banners."

Here's their story...

With Babies and Banners: Story of the Women's Emergency Brigade






Genora and the Women’s Emergency Brigade represent the courage of women in the history of the Labor Movement. They were positive role models and should be remembered for their efforts in the auto industry and elevating workers/families economic and social conditions leading to the rise of the middle class of our area.

Genora devoted over six active decades of her life on behalf of labor, civil liberties, civil rights, women’s equality, and for the betterment of all human kind.

Be sure to read an interview by Susan Rosenthal with Genora, February 1995 despite her advanced age and very poor health, Genora's passion for the cause of labor was undiminished.

http://susanrosenthal.com/pamphlets/striking-flint



                                                                  ~MORE~

VIDEO- Flint Sitdown Strike -- Pt. 1

http://youtu.be/8aLUNW4zoPQ

Flint Sitdown Strike -- Pt. 2

http://youtu.be/N8wf3iwr9wI

75th Anniversary of the FLINT SIT DOWN STRIKE - a UAW documentary
http://youtu.be/0uww6tkbNpM



RESOURCES/CREDITS

http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/136/

http://www.zontaflint1.org/GenoraDollinger.htm

http://www.mlive.com/auto/index.ssf/2012/01/75_years_ago_womens_emergency.html

http://www.workers.org/2007/us/flint-0315/

http://www.sloanlongway.org/sloan-museum/exhibits-and-galleries/flint-sit-down-strike 

 

       One Hour, One Contribution, One Pledge, One Stone

"I always feel the movement is a sort of mosaic. Each of us puts in one little stone, and then you get a great mosaic at the end." -Alice Paul

After watching the movie "Iron Jawed Angels" and taking a closer look at building a movement what are your thoughts? What can we learn from the suffrage movement that we can bring to our labor union movement? Are you thinking of ways that you can contribute? Are you inspired? Are you ready to get involved? Are you fired up?!


AFSCME Local President Donnene Williams said of HUCTW,
It's easy to get involved here. If you want to do more, you can. If you want to do a little, you can. If you want to do a lot over a short time, you can. If you want to do a little over a long time, you can. We have something for everyone.
From Susan C.Eaton Interview with Donnene Williams, January 3, 1992

Take a look at AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler speaking at a recent event in Oregon.






"This is the challenge of our time!" Liz Shuler

We need to build a movement, get more people to participate, we need a real working class movement!" -AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka

"The Teamsters are well on their way to transforming the labor movement into a social force that can improve the lives of all working people. To reach our goal, we must engage people in our struggle for social and economic justice." -IBT President James P. Hoffa

"We have the opportunity to build a movement of millions." -SEIU President Mary Kay Henry

We learned a lot about what it takes to build a movement from our sisters in the suffrage movement.  Now we need to pass it on!  WHAT YOU DO MATTERS!

Here's another video I think you'll enjoy.


 


March is Women's History Month why not host a movie night by watching "Iron Jawed Angels" with your union sisters and talk about building a movement?



Do you have an hour to spare? Would you like to make a contribution? How about a pledge?

                                    CHECKMATE!

When we take a closer look at the history of the American woman suffrage movement we can see something...


We can see a movement of female organizers, leaders, politicians, journalists, visionaries, rabble rousers, and warriors. We can see an active, controversial, passionate movement of the best and the brightest women in America, from all backgrounds, who, as we say today, boldly went where no women had ever gone before.

When I remember the ladies,

That's where I find,

What is in her heart,

Is also in mine.

  Heads or Tails?

To follow along with blog and discussion watch movie from 1:50:27 til the end.

Set your mind to making history and do what you can right where you are.


Do you have an hour to spare? Would you like to make a contribution? How about a pledge?

 "This war could not have been fought by America if it had not been for the services of women."

Some of the most important work done by women was in the ammunition factories.

It was very dangerous to work with explosive chemicals because it meant that one explosion in a factory could trigger many other ones.

In munitions plants, acid fumes from high explosives damaged workers’ lungs. In addition, it also turned their skin bright yellow. Thousands of women worked long hours filling shells with explosives. Accidental explosions were always a risk. Little effort was made to ease the change from working in the home to the work place. Few employers provided childcare for working mothers or even set aside toilets for female workers.
 
"You're being released."

After a heated debate, the House of Representatives created a committee to deal with women's suffrage in September 1917. Massachusetts Representative Joseph Walsh opposed the creation of the committee, thinking the House was yielding to "the nagging of iron-jawed angels." He referred to the Silent Sentinels as "bewildered, deluded creatures with short skirts and short hair."

"I know the magic it will work in their thoughts and spirits."


"Alice Paul brought back to the fight that note of immediacy which
had gone with the passing of Miss Anthony’s leadership. She
called a halt on further pleading, wheedling, proving, praying.
It was as if she had bidden women stand erect, with confidence in
themselves and in their own judgments, and compelled them to be
self-respecting enough to dare to put their freedom first, and so
determine for themselves the day when they should be free. Those
who had a taste of begging under the old regime and who abandoned
it for demanding, know how fine and strong a thing it is to
realize that you must take what is yours and not waste your
energy proving that you are or will some day be worthy of a gift
of power from your masters. On that glad day of discovery you
have first freed yourself to fight for freedom. Alice Paul gave to
thousands of women the essence of freedom."

Doris Stevens, from Jailed for Freedom


"Independence is happiness."   - Susan B. Anthony


As we create a movement to change society, we change ourselves, and in changing ourselves, we make social change more possible.

"Be assured the voices of the radicals who agitate and disrupt have no influence here today."

Alice Paul had no doubt about the impact of the pickets on Wilson's decision, describing it thusly: "If a creditor stands before a man's house all day long, demanding payment of his bill, the man must either remove the creditor or pay the bill." The arrests and imprisonments having failed to remove the "creditors," the time had come for the President to pay the bill.

There is still debate over whether the militants were most responsible for Wilson's conversion and the winning of suffrage or whether it was the slow and sober efforts of the NAWSA moderates under the leadership of Carrie Chapman Catt. Whatever the political effect of the militant agitation, it had a tremendous effect on the women involved.
 
"Have I said that the passage of this amendment is a vitally necessary war measure? And do you need further proof?"

1918
NWP lights and guards a "Watchfire for Freedom," to be maintained until the Suffrage Amendment passes.

Representative Rankin opens debate on a suffrage amendment in the House. The amendment passes. The amendment fails to win the required two thirds majority in the Senate.

Michigan, South Dakota, and Oklahoma adopt woman suffrage.

President Woodrow Wilson states his support for a federal woman suffrage amendment.

President Wilson addresses the Senate about adopting woman suffrage at the end of

World War I.


First Lady Edith Wilson assumed presidential powers for eighteen months after Woodrow Wilson suffered a stroke. Edith Wilson assumed more power than any first lady before or since. She grabbed the reigns of power and decided what received priority. Her role evolved dramatically from hostess to advisor to acting president.

"Congress doesn't make it a law. Thirty six states have to agree then they put it into the Constitution."

The Congress proposed the Nineteenth Amendment on June 4, 1919, and the following states ratified the amendment.

Wisconsin (June 10, 1919)
Illinois (June 10, 1919, reaffirmed on June 17, 1919)
Michigan (June 10, 1919)
Kansas (June 16, 1919)
New York (June 16, 1919)
Ohio (June 16, 1919)
Pennsylvania (June 24, 1919)
Massachusetts (June 25, 1919)
Texas (June 28, 1919)
Iowa (July 2, 1919)
Missouri (July 3, 1919)
Arkansas (July 28, 1919)
Montana (August 2, 1919)
Nebraska (August 2, 1919)
Minnesota (September 8, 1919)
New Hampshire (September 10, 1919)
Utah (October 2, 1919)
California (November 1, 1919)
Maine (November 5, 1919)
North Dakota (December 1, 1919)
South Dakota (December 4, 1919)
Colorado (December 15, 1919)
Kentucky (January 6, 1920)
Rhode Island (January 6, 1920)
Oregon (January 13, 1920)
Indiana (January 16, 1920)
Wyoming (January 27, 1920)
Nevada (February 7, 1920)
New Jersey (February 9, 1920)
Idaho (February 11, 1920)
Arizona (February 12, 1920)
New Mexico (February 21, 1920)
Oklahoma (February 28, 1920)
West Virginia (March 10, 1920, confirmed on September 21, 1920)
Washington (March 22, 1920)


Collective identities give movement participants a sense of "we-ness" that encourages and sustains movement participation.

"We need one more state."

By the summer of 1920, 35 states had ratified the measure, bringing it one vote short of the required 36. In Tennessee, it had sailed through the Senate but stalled in the House of Representatives, prompting thousands of pro- and anti-suffrage activists to descend upon Nashville.

After weeks of intense lobbying and debate within the Tennessee legislature, a motion to table the amendment was defeated with a 48-48 tie. The speaker called the measure to a ratification vote. To the dismay of the many suffragists who had packed into the capitol with their yellow roses, sashes and signs, it seemed certain that the final roll call would maintain the deadlock.
 
"Telegram Sir, it's from your mother."

Harry Burn—who until that time had fallen squarely in the anti-suffrage camp—received a note from his mother, Phoebe Ensminger Burn, known to her family and friends as Miss Febb. In it, she had written, "Hurrah, and vote for suffrage! Don’t keep them in doubt. I notice some of the speeches against. They were bitter. I have been watching to see how you stood, but have not noticed anything yet." She ended the missive with a rousing endorsement of the great suffragist leader Carrie Chapman Catt, imploring her son to "be a good boy and help Mrs. Catt put the ‘rat’ in ratification."

Movements make time for storytelling, song, ritual and prayer.

"Mr. Burn?"

If A Lassie Works For Wages anonymous poem in support of suffrage


If a lassie works for wages 
Toiling all the day,
And her work the laddie's equals
Give her equal pay.

If a body pays the taxes,
Surely you'll agree
That a body earns the franchise,
Wheter he or she!

If a lassie wants the ballot
To help to run the town
And a lassie win the ballot
Need a laddie frown?

Many a laddie has the ballot
Not so bright as I;
And many a laddie votes his ballot
Overcome with rye!

 "Aye!"

Still sporting his red boutonniere but clutching his mother’s letter, Burn said "aye" so quickly that it took his fellow legislators a few moments to register his unexpected response. With that single syllable he extended the vote to the women of America and ended half a century of tireless campaigning by generations of suffragists, including Susan B. Anthony, Alice Paul, Lucy Burns and, of course, Mrs. Catt. ("To get the word ‘male’ in effect out of the Constitution cost the women of this country 52 years of pause less campaign," Catt wrote in her 1923 book, "Woman Suffrage and Politics.") He also invoked the fury of his red rose-carrying peers while presumably avoiding that of his mother—which may very well have been the more daunting of the two.

Minutes after Tennessee ratified the 19th Amendment, essentially ending American women’s decades-long quest for the right to vote, a young man with a red rose pinned to his lapel fled to the attic of the state capitol and camped out there until the maddening crowds downstairs dispersed. Some say he crept onto a third-floor ledge to escape an angry mob of anti-suffragist lawmakers threatening to rough him up.

The next day, Burn defended his last-minute reversal in a speech to the assembly. For the first time, he publicly expressed his personal support of universal suffrage, declaring, "I believe we had a moral and legal right to ratify." But he also made no secret of Miss Febb’s influence—and her crucial role in the story of women’s rights in the United States. "I know that a mother’s advice is always safest for her boy to follow," he explained, "and my mother wanted me to vote for ratification."

On August 18, 1920, Tennessee passed the proposed 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by a one-vote margin, becoming the 36th state to ratify the measure and clearing the way for its official adoption eight days later. Incredibly, women’s suffrage in the United States ultimately hinged on an 11th-hour change of heart by a young state legislator with a very powerful mother.


Movements evolve by learning from the movements of the past, and developing room for the creation of new ideas/forms of movements for the future.
 
"I feel so happy doing my bit for decency. For our war, which is after all, real and fundamental." A final thought on women’s suffrage spoken by Ruza/ Rose Winslow.



After the 19th Amendment was ratified, most suffragists left activism and returned to their traditional lives with their families. Lucy Burns, for example, retired from the public arena, devoting herself to the Catholic Church and to raising an orphaned niece. There were many, however, who didn’t rest. Carrie Chapman Catt founded the League of Women Voters, which focused on educating women so that they could effectively exercise their new right. The League is still active and describes itself as a "nonpartisan political organization [that] encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy".

Alice Paul and the NWP took a different path, focusing on a new constitutional amendment requiring equal rights for women. Alice Paul wrote both versions of the Equal Rights Amendment that have been submitted to Congress. The second version of the ERA states, simply, that:

Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.

This version of the ERA was adopted by Congress in 1972 but fell three states short of ratification, due to the increasingly conservative turn taken by the United States after 1970.


VOTES FOR WOMEN AMEN!


Next Up One Hour, One Contribution, One Pledge, One Stone

RESOURCES:
http://www.history.com/news/the-mother-who-saved-suffrage-passing-the-19th-amendment
http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/p15195coll33/item/1102
http://www.nwhm.org/education-resources/history/woman-suffrage-timeline
http://www.ndi.org/files/2075_citpart_building_010102.pdf
http://www.frameworksinstitute.org/assets/files/eZines/movement_building_not_marketing.pdf
http://www.diemer.ca/Docs/Diemer-WhatDoWeDoNow.htm
http://www.feminist.com/resources/artspeech/genwom/suffrage.htm  

                            A REASON & A DEAL

When movements are successful they transform the way we think, the way our society and our communities are structured, the way we live, and even who we are.

 
Movements may span years or decades and have periods of low visibility building and consolidation. Sometimes, when the external conditions are ripe, a "movement moment" occurs in which the long-term movement building takes off, becoming a large-scale public manifestation that makes headlines and history books. The tipping point and exact spark of a movement is sometimes unpredictable. Nonetheless a critical mass of people, many who are unconnected to each other, identify with the vision and the movement and take action on their own.

"The tipping point is that magic moment when an idea, trend, or social behavior crosses a threshold, tips, and spreads like wildfire."

That's how Malcolm Gladwell defines it in his book "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference" but we as union members who understand organizing know it's not magic, it's a lot of hard hidden work that sometimes will go unrecognized, unsupported and under encouraged. The movie nor this blog could cover all those people who took action by becoming tipping points themselves (think of the "U" in union) and turned the tide for suffrage.

How do you put the "U" in union? How do you help others to find their "U" in union? What if their pathway to putting the "U" in union looks different than yours?

As we watch the next clip think about the different pathways that each woman chose. Did they really have to split into two groups? Why or why not? 

To follow along with blog and discussion watch movie from 1:38:34-1:50:27.


The lifeblood of a movement is the relationships and human connections we build with each other.

"Where is she? Tell me where she is!"


Miss Katherine Morey of Brookline , Mass., accompanied Mr. Obrien to the prison this afternoon. She demanded of Superintendant Whittaker to see her mother, Mrs. Agnes Morey, and was refused. She was ordered to leave the grounds. Failing to comply with this request promptly she was escorted to her automobile by a marine.

"I am sorry to do this," the marine told her; "but we are under military orders."

"What would you do if I refuse to obey your orders? Would you shoot?" Miss Morey asked.

"I cannot say what I would do, but I have strict orders, Madam." she quoted the marine as saying. -The New York Times November 17, 1917

"Emily...I want you to come home."

Before the World War I, women typically played the role of the homemaker. Women were judged by their beauty rather than by their ability. Their position and status were directed towards maintaining the annual duties of the family and children. These duties consisted of cleaning and caring for the house, caring for the young, cooking for the family, maintaining a yard, and sewing clothing for all. Women had worked in textile industries and other industries as far back as 1880, but had been kept out of heavy industries and other positions involving any real responsibility. Just before the war, women began to break away from the traditional roles they had played. As men left their jobs to serve their country in war overseas, women replaced their jobs. Women filled many jobs that were brought into existence by wartime needs. As a result, the number of women employed greatly increased in many industries. In the U.S. there were, before the war, over eight million women in paid occupations. After the war began, not only did their numbers increased in common lines of work, but as one newspaper stated, "There has been a sudden influx of women into such unusual occupations as bank clerks, ticket sellers, elevator operator, chauffeur, street car conductor, railroad trackwalker, section hand, locomotive wiper and oiler, locomotive dispatcher, block operator, draw bridge attendant, and employment in machine shops, steel mills, powder and ammunition factories, airplane works, boot blacking and farming."


 We associate with the people who occupy the same small, physical spaces that we do.


"I'll speak to President Wilson. He can issue a pardon."

By an innovative action that visualized their arguments, the NWP pickets stepped to the doors of power and opened a silent conversation with the President and the nation about the rights of women. It was, as Mabel Vernon soon would relate, a conversation destined to become more heated with the advent of war.

"For what? I haven't broken any laws."

"Your honor, I have a nephew fighting for democracy in France. He is offering his life for his country. I should be ashamed if I did not join these brave women in their fight for democracy in America. I should be proud of the honor to die in prison for the liberty of American women." -73-year-old Mrs. Nolan's words to the judge, as he sentenced her to 6 months for protesting Paul's arrest.

 "The girls keep asking for you."

Don'ts for Girls: A Manual of Mistakes By Minna Thomas Antrim

"Don't give free rein to your imagination, or before you know it you'll pass the mortal limit.



"They are the only reason I am here."

The stakes grew higher for the suffragists, as they were subject not merely to harsh weather and boredom on the picket line but to physical attacks and arrest, there was an increased need to remain tenacious in the fight. Assured that theirs was a just war, that they reflected "the demand of women in all parts of the country that this question of democracy at home should be settled at a time when we fight for democracy abroad" they strengthened their resolve for further action.


"I'm sorry."

When a movement helps people feel deeply connected to themselves, to each other, to a vision, and to their collective power, it is a strong movement.

"I know."

"New York has voted to enfranchise women."

 'Thousands of registration fliers and copies of 'What Every Woman Needs to Know About Voting' were sent out,'' one post-election report of that year observed. ''On Election Day, the day of days, it seemed that every woman not suffering from Spanish influenza voted.''

That triumph was achieved despite the fears of antisuffragists that when a woman received the right to vote, ''political gossip would cause her to neglect the home, forget to mend our clothes and burn the biscuits.''

New York quickly became a pivotal state in the suffrage campaign.

"I've never pressed you for a federal amendment Mr. President, New York, that's 232 presidential electors."

Following the state success, Mrs. Catt organized the New York State League of Women Voters, a move that prompted her to say: ''What are we going to do? We know nothing about politics. We've got the vote. Now we must learn to use it.''

In order to create one contagious movement, you often have to create many small movements first.

"We're at war."

''War today is not the business of a group of fighting men but the affair of a whole people,'' Mrs. Vanderlip said. ''It has revolutionized the curiously antiquated arguments about women's suffrage.'' Although she also said the census effort would be concluded ''without any thought of propaganda,'' she added: ''I can't help feeling that in the end this work and all the work which women may be called on to do in this national crisis will unavoidably influence public opinion in that direction.'' -Narcissa Cox Vanderlip

Mrs. Vanderlip later became the first president of the New York State League of Women Voters.


"Then call it a war measure."

 World War I was to give women a chance to show a male-dominated society that they could do more than simply bring up children and stay at home. In World War I, women played a vital role in keeping soldiers equipped with ammunition and in many senses they kept the nation moving through their help in various industries. Women found employment in transportation including the railroads and driving cars, ambulances, and trucks, nursing, factories making ammunition, on farms in the Women's Land Army, in shipyards etc. Before the war, these jobs had been for men only with the exception of nursing.

World War I was to prove a turning point for women. Women began to earn a great deal of respect through their active participation in labor and society during the wartime crisis.

 "Congress will never pass it."

March 4, 1917 – Jeannette Rankin becomes first Woman to take a seat in US House of Representatives
Elected to Montana's at-large seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming the first female member of Congress. During her term in the 65th Congress women did not have universal suffrage, but many were voting in some form. "If I am remembered for no other act," Rankin said, "I want to be remembered as the only woman who ever voted to give women the right to vote."

Just after her term began the House held a vote on whether to enter World War I. Rankin cast one of fifty votes against the resolution, later saying, "I felt the first time the first woman had a chance to say no to war she should say it." Some considered Rankin's vote to be a discredit to the suffragist movement and to Rankin's authority in Congress. But others, including Alice Paul of the National Woman's Party and Representative Fiorello LaGuardia of New York, applauded it.


"If you support it they will."

If you want to bring a fundamental change in people's belief and behavior...you need to create a community around them, where those new beliefs can be practiced, expressed and nurtured.

"I'm sorry. You've been very patient, I know. Be patient a little longer."


The Wartime Policy
Presidential interview granted to one representative of each of the five political parties (including the Woman's Party) on May 14, 1917. This interview with Wilson followed the American entrance on April 7, 1917, into what was then called "The Great War." Intriguingly, Mabel Vernon (the official coordinator of the picket campaign) was chosen to be the NWP representative. After hearing appeals for woman suffrage as a war measure, Wilson (apparently dropping the fiction of his own lack of power) said, "I am free to tell you that this is a matter which is daily pressing upon my mind for reconsideration"


"Who ordered the force feedings?"


By their silent vigil, the suffragists declared the breakdown of their relationship with the administration and their distrust of Wilson's words and goodwill.

The pickets' banners "had been the chief sight which met the President's eyes every time he went out and every time he came in". By appearing at his gate, the picketers hoped to appeal to Wilson's conscience, to stimulate a soul searching that might yield a new awareness and action. It was the silent call to conscience that caused the daily "pressing" upon the President's mind.

 "Let's not waist time with pleasantries. I'll be blunt, may I? The foreign press will pick this up! You can tell the president he can look like a damn fool or deal me in!"

Speech Before Congress
Carrie Chapman Catt, 1917
Woman suffrage is inevitable. Suffragists knew it before November 4, 1917; opponents afterward. Three distinct causes made it inevitable.

First, the history of our country.

Ours is a nation born of revolution, of rebellion against a system of government so securely entrenched in the customs and traditions of human society that in 1776 it seemed impregnable. From the beginning of things, nations had been ruled by kings and for kings, while the people served and paid the cost. The American Revolutionists boldly proclaimed the heresies: "Taxation without representation is tyranny." "Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed." The colonists won, and the nation which was established as a result of their victory has held unfailingly that these two fundamental principles of democratic government are not only the spiritual source of our national existence but have been our chief historic pride and at all times the sheet anchor of our liberties. Second, the suffrage for women already established in the United States makes women suffrage for the nation inevitable. When Elihu Root, as president of the American Society of International Law, at the eleventh annual meeting in Washington, April 26, 1917, said, "The world cannot be half democratic and half autocratic. It must be all democratic or all Prussian. There can be no compromise," he voiced a general truth.

It is too obvious to require demonstration that woman suffrage, now covering half our territory, will eventually be ordained in all the nation. No one will deny it. The only question left is when and how will it be completely established.

Third, the leadership of the United States in world democracy compels the enfranchisement of its own women. The maxims of the Declaration were once called "fundamental principles of government." They are now called "American principles" or even "Americanisms." They have become the slogans of every movement toward political liberty the world around, of every effort to widen the suffrage for men or women in any land. Not a people, race, or class striving for freedom is there anywhere in the world that has not made our axioms the chief weapon of the struggle.

Do you realize that in no other country in the world with democratic tendencies is suffrage so completely denied as in a considerable number of our own states?

Do you realize that when you ask women to take their cause to state referendum you compel them to do this: that you drive women of education, refinement, achievement, to beg men who cannot read for their political freedom?

Do you realize that such anomalies as a college president asking her janitor to give her a vote are overstraining the patience and driving women to desperation?

Do you realize that women in increasing numbers indignantly resent the long delay in their enfranchisement?

Your party platforms have pledged women suffrage. Then why not be honest, frank friends of our cause, adopt it in reality as your own, make it a party program, and "fight with us"? As a party measure--a measure of all parties--why not put the amendment through Congress and the legislatures? We shall all be better friends, we shall have a happier nation, we women will be free to support loyally the party of our choice, and we shall be far prouder of our history.
 "There is one thing mightier than kings and armies"--aye, than Congresses and political parties--"the power of an idea when its time has come to move." The time for woman suffrage has come. The woman's hour has struck. If parties prefer to postpone action longer and thus do battle with this idea, they challenge the inevitable. The idea will not perish; the party which opposes it may. Every delay, every trick, every political dishonesty from now on will antagonize the women of the land more and more, and when the party or parties which have so delayed woman suffrage finally let it come, their sincerity will be doubted and their appeal to the new voters will be met with suspicion. This is the psychology of the situation. Can you afford the risk? Think it over.

Woman suffrage is coming--you know it. Will you, Honorable Senators and Members of the House of Representatives, help or hinder it?

Our fates are bound together; united we stand, divided we fall.

Up next Checkmate! and HERstory is OURstory.


RESOURCES:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silent_Sentinels
http://books.google.com/books?id=-jQEAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA12&dq=%22don&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q=%22don&f=false
http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/tipping-point
http://vserver1.cscs.lsa.umich.edu/~spage/ONLINECOURSE/R7Tips.pdf
http://www.jffixler.com/capacity-building-part-2-creating-a-tipping-point-change
http://movementbuilding.movementstrategy.org/resources
http://movementbuilding.movementstrategy.org/media/docs/9018_MSCAllianceToolkitPre-ReleaseDraft.pdf
http://depts.washington.edu/labhist/strike/kim.shtml
http://archive.vod.umd.edu/citizen/vernon1917int.htm

                        JAILED FOR FREEDOM

Freedom is not something rulers "give" their subjects. It is something achieved in the interaction between society and government.

At one point in 1919, President Wilson was burnt in effigy in front of the White House, pitting the petticoats against the bluecoats. Wildly spewing fire extinguishers were unable to prevent the burning of the four-foot-tall cardboard Wilson. (There were about 50 arrests that day.) The suffragettes used flames again when they set "watchfires" outside the New York City opera house while Wilson was speaking there. Activists transcribed his words as he spoke them and then publicly burned the paper in public fires outside — thus condemning the hypocrisy of his words about international freedom while women were denied suffrage at home. These protests kindled more support for the women, who were steadfast, innovative and organized.

The Watchfire For Freedom stayed right in front of the White House until June 4, 1919, when the 19th Amendment passed the Senate.

As you watch this next clip think about how you overcome obstacles? How do you keep going? How can you help others? 

To follow along with blog and discussion watch movie from 1:28:57-1:38:34.



When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.

"I am not here because I obstructed traffic, but because I pointed out to President Wilson that he is obstructing democracy."

Here is a description of Alice Paul by an NWP activist, Doris Stevens. The excerpt is from Ms. Stevens’ book Jailed for Freedom:

I have seen her very presence in headquarters change in the twinkling of an eye the mood of fifty people. It is not through their affections that she moves them, but through a naked force, a vital force which is indefinable but of which one simply cannot be unaware. Aiming primarily at the intellect of an audience or an individual, she almost never fails to win an emotional allegiance.

Referent Power – People who are well-liked and respected.

"In prison or out American women are not free."

"Many self-satisfied women ... were soon awakened to a new consciousness. of their true status wherein they discovered their 'rights'were only 'privileges.": -Lucy Correll

The Watchfire For Freedom urn was set alight, and kept alight, as the focal point for organizing and not merely as an abstract symbol. Wilson had led the US into the war in order, he claimed, to "make the world safe for democracy." Every time he made a speech or issued a statement proclaiming or calling for democracy and freedom in war-torn Europe, Women’s Party leaders would take a copy of Wilson’s words and solemnly burn it in the urn, denouncing any talk of democracy when more than half the population was denied.

Providing a central focus for the suffrage movement when pressure needed to be increased to clear the final blockades of male supremacy in Congress and in state legislatures. It kept the focus concentrated on Wilson, the head of the Democratic Party, rather than dispersing it. It provided regular news to be reported when newspapers were the sole form of information (every big city boasted numerous papers and even small towns had one) and many of those papers were pro-suffrage. It used his weaknesses against him--the hypocrisy of proclaiming a new and democratic Europe while denying democracy to women here was clear and easy to understand.

Informational Power – A person who has access to valuable or important information.

"Can't you see she looks faint! I'm only asking that you open a window."

Reward Power – This is based upon a person’s ability to bestow rewards. Those rewards might come in the form of job assignments, schedules, pay or benefits.

The Watchfire For Freedom drew on the strength of the movement--the mainstream suffrage association had more than a million members and the National Women’s Party over 50.000. While maintaining a permanent vigil at the White House took resources, women were willing to travel from around the country and do their stints--like the Minnesota contingent headed by Berthe Moller, who brought pine boughs from their home state to burn in the urn, and who wound up in the hoosegow, evidently because they also added an effigy of Wilson to the flames!

"Put her in solitary!"

Coercive Power – This is associated with people who are in a position to punish others. People fear the consequences of not doing what has been asked of them.

The worst treatment was reserved for Alice Paul. In addition to placing her in solitary confinement and subjecting her to brutal force feeding when she went on a hunger strike, the government tried to have Miss Paul committed indefinitely to a mental hospital for the insane. She was transferred to a cell in the psychopathic ward of the prison and her solitary confinement continued there. She had no privacy. Once an hour, day and night, a nurse flashed a light in her face making normal sleep impossible. Doctors visited the prisoner and told her that she was in an unstable mental condition.

"I'll have to report this to the warden!"

A Woman’s Crusade: Alice Paul and the Battle for the Ballot
Alice Paul in 1914[From Chapter Sixteen: Night of Terror]

Authorities took steps to ensure that Alice would no longer hold court from her prison window. They transferred her to the jail's psychiatric ward and held her incommunicado. The prison physician, Dr. J.A. Gannon, ordered one of her two windows nailed shut from top to bottom and an iron-barred cell door installed. One morning, through the second window, she spied the face of an old man who was standing atop a ladder. He explained apologetically that he had instructions to cover the opening with boards. As he pounded nails, she watched his face gradually disappear and her room grow darker.

 Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.


"I'm entitled to clean water and an empty slop bucket."

In the first 3 days of a hunger strike, the body is still using energy from glucose. After that, the liver starts processing body fat, in a process called ketosis. After 3 weeks the body enters a "starvation mode". At this point the body "mines" the muscles and vital organs for energy, and loss of bone marrow becomes life-threatening. There are examples of hunger strikers dying after 52 to 74 days of strike


"I'm Dr. White, Alice."

Expert Power – This comes from a person’s expertise. This is commonly a person with an acclaimed skill or accomplishment.

"Do you know where you are?"

Persons who are accused of crimes and are found to be insane are committed to mental hospitals until they are well. The commitment can last far longer than the sentence for the crime of which the prisoner is accused. The threat of committing a woman was especially menacing. In the late 1800s, women who objected to the conditions in their lives and were unwilling to live by the strict conventions of society were sometimes classified as insane and incarcerated in mental hospitals. This was still a real fear in the early 20th century for a "difficult" woman such as Alice Paul. 

"You refuse to eat. Can you tell me why?"

Fasting was used as a method of protesting injustice in pre-Christian Ireland, where it was known as Troscadh or Cealachan. It was detailed in the contemporary civic codes, and had specific rules by which it could be used. The fast was often carried out on the doorstep of the home of the offender. Scholars speculate this was due to the high importance the culture placed on hospitality. Allowing a person to die at one's doorstep, for a wrong of which one was accused, was considered a great dishonor. Others say that the practice was to fast for one whole night, as there is no evidence of people fasting to death in pre-Christian Ireland. The fasts were primarily undertaken to recover debts or get justice for a perceived wrong. There are legends of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, using the hunger strike as well.
 


"We picket the office of the presidency. It has nothing to do with President Wilson and everything to do with the position he holds."



Legitimate Power - This comes from the position a person holds. This is related to a person’s title and job responsibilities. You might also hear this referred to as positional power.



"I just wonder what needs to be explained?"


"Men, their rights and nothing more;  women, their rights and nothing less." - Susan B. Anthony



Seek power that is rooted in the human capacity for cooperation, connection, and compassion.

"She shows no signs of persecution, mania or delusion."

Connection Power – This is based upon who you know. This person knows, and has the ear of, other powerful people within the organization.

As described in the movie, Alice Paul was saved from commitment as insane when the government’s chief psychiatrist, Dr. William A. White, demonstrated his professionalism by stating that she was emotionally healthy; she simply disagreed with Mr. Wilson. Dr. White later said that when he examined Miss Paul, "I felt myself in the presence of an unusually gifted personality" and . . . "she was wonderfully alert and keen . . . possessed of an absolute conviction of her cause . . .with industry and courage sufficient to avail herself of [all diplomatic possibilities]."


"In oranges and women, courage is often mistaken for insanity."

"This town contains scarcely a woman who is opposed to woman suffrage. We know we are a power here!"    -Lucinda Russell

Seek power that unifies rather than threatens.

"Will the circle be unbroken..."


The source of power of social movements lies in two human qualities:

-A strong sense of right and wrong. People have deeply felt beliefs and values, and they react with extreme passion and determination when they realize that these values are violated.

-We understand the world and reality, in large part, through symbolism.

Social movements derive their power from an upset, impassioned, and motivated populace set into motion. This happens when people recognize that their strongly felt beliefs, values, and interests are unjustly violated, and the population is provided with hope that change can happen and a means for them to act. People are specially aroused to action when trusted public leaders, such as the President or Congress people, violate the public's trust to carry out their duties of office in an honest and lawful manner.

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.






Do you have an hour to spare? Would you like to make a contribution? How about a pledge?

Next up A Reason & A Deal and the tide turns.

RESOURCES:
http://historywired.si.edu/detail.cfm?ID=492
http://connecticuthistory.org/a-feeling-of-solidarity-labor-unions-and-suffragists-team-up/#sthash.qPB5VmsD.dpuf
http://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/scriptorium/wlm/notes/
http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=1268
http://expertaccess.cincom.com/2012/07/the-seven-types-of-power-in-the-workplace/
http://paceebene.org/nonviolent-change-101/power-nonviolent-change/transforming-power