Imprisonment and Hunger Strike

Suffragists were arrested for obstructing justice on the sidewalks around the city and around the White House. In June 1917 when these women were found guilty of unlawful assemble, they were told to pay the $25 fine or serve their sentence in jail. According to the Historical Marker Database, the women chose to serve a sentence rather than paying the fine that, to them, seemed unjust. Among the women arrested were highly intelligent women who held jobs as physicians and professors as well as many graduates of highly acclaimed institutions. Later, sixteen upper-class women were arrested on July 14, 1917, and given sentences of two months in the district workhouse at Occoquan. Arrests continued through November. Of the many women arrested, the youngest was 19 years of age and the oldest at 73 years of age. The courtroom provided opportunities for suffragists to speak out.

“As long as women have to go to jail for petty offenses to secure freedom for the women of America, then we will continue to go to jail.” -Miss Anne Martin

The suffragists in confinement argued that they were political prisoners and they should be treated as such, but they were forced to wear the prison clothing, eat the food, and participate in the prison work. Demanding political prisoner status made living matters worse for suffragists and with these hazardous situations came the "Night of Terror" in November 1917. According to Women's Enews, this night included an attack on 33 returning protesters to Occoquan. Forty-four men kicked, choked, and beat these women. Imprisoned women staged a hunger strike causing the frail conditions of the suffragists and the word of their conditions to spread around town. In their frail state, investigations based on their conditions were demanded. These demands led to the release of the suffragists in late 1917.

In this article, one woman writes of her "Night of Terror" experience. "On Whittaker's order, I was immediately seized by two heavy guards, dragged across the room,scattering chairs and furniture as I went...so fast that my feet could not touch the ground...to the punishment cells, where I was flung into a concrete cell with an iron-barred door."  She saw the 73 year old woman thrown into her cell and the two men twisting her arms above her head. They lifted her into the air then dropped her over the arm of an iron bench.  This woman also saw Lucy Burns handcuffed to the higher bars of her cell (a scene shown in the film.)  

from 0-3:30 is the night of terror. It depicts the women, abused and wrongly treated.

"No woman there will ever forget the shock and the hot resentment that rushed over her when she was told to undress before the entire company ... We silenced our impulse to resist this indignity, which grew more poignant as each woman nakedly walked across the great vacant space to the doorless shower ..." - Doris Stevens

Back in August 1917 before Lucy Burns was found guilty, she paid a visit to the workhouse. She came upon the suffragists complaining of headaches and suffering from malnutrition. According to NOVA History, she was there to investigate the complaints of the food and left to converse with Senator J. Hamilton Lewis of Illinois.  He then went to the workhouse to examine the claims himself.  The National Women's party filed charges against Superintendent Whittaker on the count of cruelty to prisoners.

The Angels or suffragists, Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, had attempted to get the government's attention in multiple ways. The determination of these women was incredible! The women had planned a huge parade. This did not achieve as much success as the women anticipated. There were also protests that ended up falling through. The women eventually came up with the idea to picket in front of the White House. The government didn't know what to do with the women. Picketing was very rare, but picketing by women was even more rare. They were the first to picket at the White House. The ladies were eventually arrested for picketing for ‘obstruction of justice’ at the White House. The reality of the situation was that the women were being held as political prisoners.

Alice Paul had to serve a seven month sentence in prison. While she was held there, Paul decided to go on a hunger strike.  The reason for the hunger strike according to Paul is stated in this article by the New York Times. 

“Threatening to starve herself to death unless her six companions, serving time for the same offense, got better food.” Paul tells jail officials that the women need better food, exercise, and some fresh air. (Miss Alice Paul on hunger strike, 1917)

 Alice got sick and had to go to the jail hospital where they offered her a diet of eggs and milk. Alice refused to eat milk and eggs until her companions got better food. The jail diet consisted of salted pork and cabbage.


The extent of the hunger strike was getting worse. Alice’s jail physician said this about her, “Miss Paul was much thinner than when she entered the jail, Oct. 22, was refusing food, and would not touch a morsel until she and her companions received the same treatment as seventeen murderers who have the privilege of special food, air, exercise, and the newspapers.”

This wasn't Paul’s first time going on a hunger strike. She had been previously arrested in England in 1910 for participating in a suffragist protest at Lord Mayor’s banquet. During the month she was imprisoned there, she refused to eat anything. The prison officials ended up having to force feed Alice Paul.  They couldn't afford to have a dead, starved woman. 

The force feeding is described by Alice as being injected through the nostrils twice a day.  Alice spent her whole experience in bed because she refused to wear the prison clothes.  During the force feeding, Alice was held down by wardresses and doctors.  They would force the tube up her nostrils, and if it went through her mouth, they would use a tool to open her mouth and shove the stiff tube six inches down her throat.  Alice often times would have to be tied to a chair with sheets.  Alice explained that she would try her hardest not to give in.  For this reason, the forced fed women became known as "Iron Jawed Angels."

Miss Anne Martin's quote:
Garvey-Hodge, Lynne. "Sixteen Militants Begin 60-day Term. Suffragist Mrs. Robert Walker." Meet Suffragist Mrs. Robert Walker. A Historic Reenactment Monologue by Lynne Garvey-Hodge. N.p. n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2012.  <http://mrsrobertwalker.org/sample-page/sixteen-militants-begin-60-day-term>.

Pugh, Evelyn L.. "Women Suffrage Prisoners at Occoquan Workhouse Marker."The Historical Marker Database. N.p., 07 Sept. 2007. Web. 27 Nov. 2012. <http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=2343>.

Bernikow, L (2004, October, 24). Night of Terror Leads to Women's Vote 1917. retrieved Nov. 27 2012, from womensenews.org Web Site:http://womensenews.org/story/our-story/041029/night-terror-leads-womens-vote-1917#.ULaRvIc72rJ

Robison, D. Women's Suffrage Movement Led to Occoquan Workhouse Imprisonment. (n.d) retrieved Nov. 27 2012, from Northern Virginia History Notes Web Site: http://www.novahistory.org/Lorton_Womens_Suffrage.htm

Doris Steven quote:
"Alice Paul ."Women in History. Lakewood Public Library, n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2012. <http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/paul-ali.htm>.