The buzz has started about the suffrage centennial parade on March 3, 2013

Suff buffs and citizens in general have been hearing a great deal these days about the centennial parade planned for Sunday, March 3, 2013 in Washington D.C.  The parade celebrates the spectacular suffrage procession of March 3, 1913, a key date in women’s rights history. It was a significant show of strength for suffragists, and a galvanizing point for the Votes for Women movement.

It’s also the centennial of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, organizer of the 2013 parade as part of their festivities.  When a troop of fearless young black women from the  new Howard University sorority joined the all-white parade in 1913, they boldly challenged the segregationist policies that might have excluded them.  Now, one hundred years later, the sorority leads the parade!

The parade was specifically designed for its aesthetic value. It’s remembered as both a political marvel and a brilliant spectacle, including a pageant and an astonishing procession of divisions of hundreds of women in coordinated color costumes arranged by profession, organization, and state.  Floats highlighted women in American history and many marchers carried vibrant banners and flags. Following the 1913 parade, the special care devoted to the planning by suffragist Alice Paul became recognized and appreciated.

After the parade of over 5,000 women and men had marched more than a mile from the Capitol, intoxicated opponents demonstrated.  Crowds surged forward and blocked the marchers.  Women on foot and on the floats were insulted and accosted.  Troops on horseback drove the crowds back so the shaken suffragists could complete their parade.

It’s a pivotal event to remember. March is National Women’s History Month.  Commemorate the occasion by joining or supporting the parade on March 3, 2013 in DC. There’s a full schedule of events and exhibits. In addition to Delta Sigma Theta, national coalition members planning events include the National Women’s History Museum, Sewall-Belmont House & Museum, American Association of University Women, and National Women’s History Project.

For more information, visit unitewomen.org  Check in with Suffrage Wagon’s videos and postings. LINK.

Susan B. Anthony DANCES as part of One Billion Rising!

VIDEO SPECIALS: A tribute to Susan B. Anthony who joins One Billion Rising across the United States and around the world. Susan’s video tribute. LINK. Susan dances with One Billion Rising. LINK.

It’s Valentine’s Day, a day of love and caring and respect for those who are special. It’s a perfect day for One Billion Rising which unites many different types of people in a rising of spirit, action, energy and determination. Let’s put an end to violence to women and girls.

Dance with Suffrage Wagon today. RSVP at suffragewagon at gmail dot com

February 15th is Susan B. Anthony’s birthday, a day celebrated by suffrage advocates and allies during Aunt Susan’s life time that continues to this day. Many women over the years called themselves Susan’s nieces. And it seems fitting to continue the tradition.

Susan’s smiling on February 14, 2013. Join us for One Billion Rising!

WE LOVE YOU, AUNT SUSAN!

Keep up to date with Suffrage Wagon News Channel.

One Billion Rising is ready to blast off!

Suffrage Wagon joins with activists around the world for ONE BILLION RISING, the largest day of action in the history of V-Day, the global activist movement to end violence against women and girls.

One Billion Rising started as a call to action based on the staggering statistic that one in three women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at 7 billion, this adds up to more than ONE BILLION WOMEN AND GIRLS.

On February 14, 2013, V-Day’s 15^th anniversary, activists, writers, thinkers, celebrities, and women and men across the world are gearing up to express a shared concern and outrage, demand change, strike, dance, RISE in defiance of the injustices women suffer, and demand an end to violence against women.

“When we started V-Day 14 years ago, we had the outrageous idea that we could end violence against women,” said Eve Ensler. “Now, we are both stunned and thrilled to see that this global action is truly escalating and gaining force. Union workers, parliament members, celebrities, and women of all backgrounds are coming forward to join the campaign.

“On 14th February 2013, V-Day’s 15th Anniversary, we are inviting ONE BILLION women and those who love them to WALK OUT, DANCE, RISE UP, and DEMAND an end to this violence. ONE BILLION RISING will move the earth and activate women and men to dance across every country. V-Day wants the world to see our collective strength, our numbers, and our solidarity across borders. “

V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls that raises funds and awareness through benefit productions of Playwright/Founder Eve Ensler’s award winning play The Vagina Monologues and other artistic works. In 2012, over 5,800 V-Day benefit events took place produced by volunteer activists in the U.S. and around the world; these events have educated millions about the real state of affairs involving violence against women and girls.

To date, the V-Day movement has raised over $90 million and reached out to millions about the issue of violence against women and the efforts to end it. Through this work there has been international educational, media and PSA campaigns. Shelters have reopened. Over 14,000 community-based anti-violence programs and safe houses have been created in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Kenya, South Dakota, Egypt and Iraq. Over 300 million people have seen a V-Day benefit event in their community.

V-Day has received numerous acknowledgements including Worth Magazine’s 100 Best Charities, Marie Claire Magazine’s Top Ten Charities, one of the Top-Rated organizations on Philanthropedia/Guidestar and Great Nonprofits. V-Day’s newest campaign is ONE BILLION RISING which will culminate on February 14, 2013 with a global action worldwide. www.vday.org

To sign up and learn more, visit www.onebillionrising.org

Stay connected to news and stories of the suffrage movement. LINK.

Action: Join One Billion Rising with us!

Women are rising all over the world. Join the demonstration of women and the men who love them. Visit Suffrage Wagon News Channel on Thursday, February 14, 2013 and be part of our virtual party during One Billion Rising.

Suffrage buffs and nuts, like me, are in heaven: Marguerite’s Musings

I can’t tell you how happy I am to see the interest and attention increasing over the planned events March 1-3, 2013, in Washington, DC to commemorate the centennial of the 1913 big suffrage parade.

What a time. It’s when Grandmother Edna Kearns met Alice Paul for the first time, though they did have similar cultural roots as Quakers. Grandfather Wilmer marched in the men’s division. Young Serena Kearns marched with her mother Edna as part of a Quaker delegation, all of them in traditional dress. Edna wrote about it for New York City newspapers. The movement needed the press.

Suffrage hikers stormed into Washington (including Rosalie Jones, Elizabeth Freeman and others), excited from all the press coverage. The suffrage parade itself was a masterpiece of planning, vision, and symbolism. And the reaction and resistance to the suffrage message equally strong. People kept on talking about the suffrage activists who simply wouldn’t give up.

The centennial celebrations in Washington this year are expected to be great. And the year 2013 is the centennial for Grandmother Edna’s suffrage wagon. And everywhere I turn there’s something else.

“One Billion Rising” is set for February 14th this year, and it’s the dream realized from our suffrage ancestors. We’re participating. Make sure you do as well. LINK. I’m putting together a tribute to Susan B. Anthony this month. Make sure you’re subscribed to Suffrage Wagon. LINK. Alice Paul will get considerable attention during March and Women’s History Month because of the centennial celebration of the 1913 suffrage parade. Schedule and other information concerning this exciting upcoming event. LINK. New videos are posted regularly on Suffrage Wagon News Channel. Take a look.

New Video and a peek into suffragist Alice Paul’s tea room

“The Grated Door” was the tea room for the National Woman’s Party. The selection below is from The Story of The Woman’s Party by Inez Haynes Irwin. 1921. LINK.

“Alice Paul’s office, which is on the second floor, was done in purple and gold; the woodwork of gold, the furniture upholstered in purple velvet. Later, a large room, originally a stable at the rear of the first floor, was transformed into a tea room. Vivian Pierce had charge of the decorations here; and she made it very attractive. The brick walls were painted yellow, the tables and chairs black. The windows and doors were all enclosed in flat frames of brilliant chintz, of which the background was black, but the dominating note blue. The many hanging lights were swathed in yellow silk.

“The tea room rapidly became very popular in Washington; and, as rapidly, became one of the most interesting places in the city. Visitors of many distinguished kinds came there in preference to the larger restaurants or hotels. They knew the members of The Woman’s Party who lived in the house, and they gradually came to know the habitues of the tea room. At meals, separated parties were always coalescing into one big party. People wandered from table to table. There was an air of comradeship and sympathy. Afterwards, groups often went up the little flight of stairs which leads to the ballroom, and sitting before the fire in the huge fireplace, drank their after-dinner coffee together. These talks sometimes lasted until midnight.

“All about and from the offices that ran beside the ballroom sounded the click of typewriters — some one counted twenty-four typewriters in the house once. Everywhere, you ran into busy, business-like stenographers with papers in their hands, proceeding from one office to another. If it were lunch time, or dinner time, pairs of young girls, with their arms around each other’s waists, chattering busily, were making their way to the tea room. At night, the big ballroom was filled with groups reading magazines at the big (and priceless) tables; or talking over the events of the day

“Late at night, the discussions still went on. Upstairs, they followed each other from bedroom to bedroom, still arguing, still comparing notes, still making suggestions in regard to a hundred things : organizing, lobbying, personal appeal to political leaders, et caetera, ad infinitum. The huge, four-poster bed — big enough for royalty — in Mrs. Lawrence Lewis’s room was the scene — with ardent pickets sitting all over it — of many a discussion that threatened to prolong itself until dawn.”

If you liked this special feature, subscribe to Suffrage Wagon.

Suffrage News Notes for January 2013

The 2013 winter issue of Suffrage Wagon’s quarterly newsletter is on the stands. LINK.

Women’s History Month in March 2013 is off to a great start with a suffrage centennial celebration in Washington, DC. For more information. Yeah!!! Sign up for email updates as the event approaches. LINK.

Suffrage Wagon News Channel has a YouTube channel. LINK.

New York needs to connect history with public policy. LINK. DAR suffrage exhibit in Washington, DC during March. LINK. Open letter to the women of Seneca Falls. LINK. PDF. A transgender woman visits the Susan B. Anthony House to learn more about what it means to be a woman. LINK.

Did Susan B. Anthony oppose abortion? Interview with Deborah Hughes, executive director of Susan B. Anthony House. LINK. More Votes for Women quilt design updates. LINK. PDF. The Catholic church and its suffrage history. LINK. PDF. The franchise in Egypt today. LINK. PDF. Young Canadian woman in politics. LINK. PDF.

In the event you missed some of January 2013′s special Suffrage Wagon features –here they are: The strange story of the Governor’s wife –video and story. LINK. Suffrage icon Joan of Arc. LINK. Special tribute to suffrage leader Alice Paul on her January 11th birthday. LINK. Author Ken Florey’s special features on suffrage tea memorabilia. LINK #1. LINK #2.

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