What happened at the Occoquan workhouse?
On the orders of prison warden W. H. Whittaker, workhouse guards brutalized dozens of suffragist prisoners in what would be called the “Night of Terror.” Guards handcuffed Lucy Burns in her cell with her hands over her head, forcing her to stand all night.
Did the Suffragettes go on hunger strike?
The Suffragette prisoners’ hunger strike protest remains one of the most poignant and disturbing aspects of the struggle for the vote. Suffragettes refused to eat and often drink while imprisoned, threatening to starve themselves to force a response from the authorities.
What happened Inez Milholland?
Delivering an address on the tour in Los Angeles on October 19, 1916, Milholland suddenly collapsed. She was hospitalized and ten weeks later the 30-year-old activist died, her collapse and deterioration a result of pernicious anemia.
How long did the suffragette hunger strike last?
91 hours
Her strike lasted 91 hours, ending only because the prison released her to avoid her death. Although the hunger strike was Wallace Dunlop’s idea and she did it without informing the leadership of the WSPU, many others quickly imitated her.
Were any suffragettes killed?
Emily Davison, the suffragette who later became infamous after she was killed by the King’s horse at the 1913 Epsom Derby, had launched several sole attacks in London in December 1911, but these attacks were uncommon at this time.
Why did they force feed suffragettes?
Believing they had found a powerful weapon with which to fight an obdurate Liberal government, other imprisoned suffragettes began hunger striking too. The government responded by forcibly feeding them, arguing that this “ordinary hospital treatment” was necessary to preserve the women’s lives.
Did Lucy Burns marry?
She never got married or had children. She was the suffragist who spent the most time in jail. The Lucy Burns Institute was named in her honor. The Occoquan Workhouse in Lorton, VA, the prison she was held in during the Night of Terror, is the location of The Lucy Burns Museum.
Did Alice Paul ever marry?
She never married, for most important to her were the women with whom she shared her political work, in particular her closest friend and colleague Elsie Hill, with whom she lived for many years.
Did suffragettes use bombs?
Two homemade bombs from the City of London Police Museum are believed to have been amongst several improvised explosive devices (IEDs) used by the suffragettes during their campaign of violence and extremism. The bomb pictured, as well as a second device now in the Police Museum collection, failed to detonate.
How many times did Lucy Burns go to jail?
Burns was arrested and imprisoned six times. Declaring that suffragists were political prisoners, she was among those in the Occoquan Workhouse who instigated hunger strikes in October 1917 and were subsequently placed in solitary confinement.
What happened at Occoquan Workhouse?
She includes this re-telling of the story of Occoquan Workhouse’s “Night of Terror,” November 15, 1917: Under orders from W. H. Whittaker, superintendent of the Occoquan Workhouse, as many as forty guards with clubs went on a rampage, brutalizing thirty-three jailed suffragists.
What did Whittaker do to the women brought to Occoquan?
The 33 women brought to Occoquan on the night of November 14 also demanded to be treated as political prisoners. Instead, prison superintendent William H. Whittaker called on his guards to teach the women a lesson.
What happened to Lucy Burns in the Occoquan Workhouse?
Under orders from W. H. Whittaker, superintendent of the Occoquan Workhouse, as many as forty guards with clubs went on a rampage, brutalizing thirty-three jailed suffragists. They beat Lucy Burns, chained her hands to the cell bars above her head, and left her there for the night.
What happened to the women in the women’s workhouse?
The indignities and pain suffered by the suffragists in the Women’s Workhouse built up sympathy for the cause. If women could be arrested and treated like political prisoners, they had the right to be political actors. Two weeks later, the protestors were released from prison.
