November 15, 1917 - About 20 women peacefully picketing for universal suffrage (right to vote), who had been arrested in front of the White House a few days earlier, were subjected to beatings and torture at Occoquan workhouse in Virginia.
SuffragePrisoners #LucyBains #AlicePaul
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The National Women’s Party and other organizations had been picketing the White House and President Woodrow Wilson as he traveled around the country ever since the inauguration of his second term. The incident became known as the “night of terror.”
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Wilson had led the country into the European war (later called World War I), by characterizing the U.S. mission as “making the world safe for democracy.” The women demonstrating outside in Lafayette Square called attention to the need for complete democracy at home, where half of its citizens lacked complete voting rights.
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Many women, including Lucy Burns and Alice Paul, had been arrested several times, usually for obstructing the sidewalk, and imprisoned before. When a judge learned of the abuse he freed the women. Public outrage over their treatment increased sympathy for the suffrage movement.
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John Autry