![]() ![]() They braved terrible prison conditions, rats, hunger strikes, and force-feedings, to bring their message to the world: that women, too, were created equal and they deserved to vote as full citizens under the law. When picketing the White House to spur the conscience of President Woodrow Wilson to fight for democracy at home as he did abroad, they were arrested and thrown in jail. ![]() While parading, they often were overwhelmed by hostile onlookers who transformed into ugly mobs. These women needed courage when they set forth armed only with cloth banners. But it's her special focus on the less well-known story of Alice Paul and her band of unstoppable soldiers for suffrage that makes With Courage and Cloth a real page turner. Ann Bausum gets inside this gripping story with an overview of the larger fight for women's voting rights, from Seneca Falls to state-by-state ballot battles. ![]() But winning this right was part of a 72-year struggle on the part of thousands of women that finally culminated with the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920. It may be hard now to believe that there was ever a day in the United States when women weren't allowed to vote. Bearing these standards, women took to the streets in parades and picket lines to fight for a cause they passionately believed in: that American women should be allowed to vote. When Alice Paul helped design the banners for the National Woman's Party, she suggested three colors: Purple for justice, white for purity of purpose, and gold for courage. ![]()
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