May 21, 2010
Conceptual Design for Suffragist Memorial Unveiled
Plans for a national suffragist memorial at Occoquan Regional Park in Lorton, Va. are a step closer to reality. The conceptual design for the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial was unveiled by architect Robert Beach of Robert E. Beach Architects, LLC, during a fund-raising event . . . . More...
May 13, 2009
Remembering the Ladies Who Fought for the 19th Amendment
TPSM Press Release
The League of Women Voters of the Fairfax Area and the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority have launched an initiative to memorialize the suffragists who were arrested as the first picketers at the White House in 1917, and imprisoned at the Occoquan Workhouse in Lorton, Va. More...
April 14, 2009
League of Women Voters “Silent Sentinel” Award,
TPSM Press Release
Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton has been selected as the first recipient of The League of Women Voters of the Fairfax Area's "Silent Sentinel Award" which recognizes trailblazers for voting equality. Congresswoman Norton was nominated by Linda Talbot-Cunningham Goldstein with the American Association of University Women, "because of her selfless, determined, ongoing work to obtain the right to vote for the over 600-thousand taxpaying citizens of the United States who reside in Washington, DC." More...
August 20, 2010
Representative Gerald E. Connolly offers a statement in the Congressional Record on the 90th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th amendment. More...
May 19, 2010
Remembering the Past, Connection Newspapers
When the turning point of one of the nation’s most significant movements occurs in your backyard, it has to be celebrated with style and class. Thankfully, Fairfax County has the right people for the task. More...
May 2010
The Turning Point Memorial Honors Helen Thomas, The South County Chronicle
Helen Thomas, widely regarded as the dean of the Washington press corps, and often called the First Lady of the Press . . . . More...
May 2010
Turning Suffragist Memorial Committee Plans Meadowlark Gardens Fundraiser, Fairfax Voter
Plans are in full gear for the second annual Silent Sentinel Award reception which will be held at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna on Wednesday, May 12 from 7-10 pm. More...
August 27, 2008
New Plaza to Help All “Remember the Ladies”, The South County Chronicle
It was a hot, humid Sunday morning, with the threat of thunderstorms looming in the atmosphere. Yet, more than 100 people gathered under a tent in the Occoquan Regional Park in Lorton to participate in the dedication of Turning Point Plaza, a memorial to the suffragists whose imprisonment at the Occoquan Workhouse in 1917 turned the tide in the effort to give women the vote. More...
July 31, 2008
I'm a Suffragette , The Laurel Hill Connection
Down the road from Occoquan Regional Park in Lorton, Alice Paul, Lucy Burns and scores of other women were arrested and imprisoned July 14, 1917 after picketing Woodrow Wilson’s White House under the banner of women’s suffrage. Though both major political parties at the time had platforms in favor of giving women the right to vote, neither would go so far as to support a constitutional amendment compelling every state to do so. More...
Press Releases
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The debut of the conceptual plans for the memorial came during the second annual Silent Sentinel Award Reception held at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, Va. The May 12th event honored White House journalist Helen Thomas as a trailblazer for gender equality. She was recognized for breaking a number of barriers to women in the journalism field and achieving the respect that helped other women to be treated as equals. In accepting the Silent Sentinel Award, Thomas said the memorial was a worthy cause and she was honored to "spotlight the fact that women have come a long way...in terms of equality in the workplace and in our society." But she added that there is "more to be done to achieve true equality at the workplace."
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The Turning Point Suffragist Memorial Committee (TPSM) is an all volunteer group dedicated to honoring the lives of the suffragists who fought for the ratification of the 19th Amendment. The group’s vision is to raise awareness and funds to create a national memorial that will reflect the strength of the women and the significance of their struggle. Learn more about the memorial at www.suffragistmemorial.org.
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Remembering the Ladies Who Fought for the 19th Amendment
Fairfax Va. (May 13, 2009) - The League of Women Voters and the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority have launched an initiative to memorialize the suffragists who were arrested as the first picketers at the White House in 1917, and imprisoned at the Occoquan Workhouse in Lorton, Va (pictured above). Their courage while enduring abusive treatment at the Workhouse served as a turning point in the battle for women’s right to vote. The goal is to have the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial in place by next year, the 90th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment.
Newsweek contributing editor and keynote speaker, Eleanor Clift, attended the kickoff event held at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, and said it will be wonderful to have a memorial dedicated to “these women who prevailed for all of us.” Clift, who wrote a book about the suffragists (“Founding Sisters and the 19th Amendment”), told a crowd of more than 160 invited guests and dignitaries that the suffragists were upper class women who, if they weren’t protesting in front of the White House, would have been having tea somewhere. She called the treatment of the women at the workhouse an “outrage” and “astounding” saying that prison guards went out of their way to abuse them. She also told stories of the women standing as “silent sentinels” on heated bricks at the White House gates in the dead of winter, hoping to peacefully advance their cause. But they continually faced conflict, and during a protest march on the eve of President Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration in 1913, Helen Keller was among those injured when onlookers – mostly men – threw tomatoes and lighted cigarettes at the women.
The fundraising launch for the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial, was held on Friday, May 1st, in conjunction with a reception for the first Silent Sentinel Award recipient, D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. She was honored by the League of Women Voters of the Fairfax Area for being a trailblazer for voting equality. Secretary of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Kate Hanley, accepted the award for Delegate Norton who was unable to attend the event. Hanley applauded Norton for “not only working to expand suffrage but she herself in the role she has now, understands what a handicap the lack of a vote is.”
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League of Women Voters “Silent Sentinel” Award
Lorton, Va. (April 14, 2009) - Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton has been selected as the first recipient of The League of Women Voters’ "Silent Sentinel Award" which recognizes trailblazers for voting equality.
The annual award honors women who exemplify the traits of women suffragists who were imprisoned and endured harsh treatment at the Occoquan Workhouse in Lorton, Va., in 1917 after picketing the White House for the right to vote.
Congresswoman Norton was nominated by Linda Talbot-Cunningham Goldstein with the American Association of University Women, "because of her selfless, determined, ongoing work to obtain the right to vote for the over 600-thousand taxpaying citizens of the United States who reside in Washington, DC." A nominating committee of the League of Women Voters of the Fairfax Area agreed that Congresswoman Norton is an outspoken advocate for the voting rights of all, as well as an inspiration and educator to the general public.
An award recipient also exemplifies the mission of the League to encourage, inform and participate in government, and educate the public about candidates and major public policy issues.
The award will be presented during a reception at the Lorton Arts Workhouse in Lorton, Va., on Friday evening, May 1, 2009. Newsweek columnist Eleanor Clift will be the keynote speaker. Clift wrote about the suffragists in her book, "Founding Sisters and the Nineteenth Amendment (Turning Points in History) ." WJLA/News Channel 8 anchor and reporter, Natasha Barrett will serve as the Mistress of Ceremonies.
Attendees also will learn more about plans for the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial which will be located just steps from the site of the suffragists’ imprisonment in 1917. The League of Women Voters of the Fairfax Area is working with the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority to create this tribute to the women whose sacrifices contributed to the ratification of the 19th Amendment. The goal is to have the memorial built by 2010, the 90th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment. Congressional Record Proceedings and Debates of the 111th Congress, Second Session MR. CONNOLLY: Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize Women’s Equality Day and the 90th Anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the United State Constitution granting women the right to vote. The call for women’s right to vote was first heard at the inaugural women’s rights convention in 1848, in Seneca Falls, New York. Over the course of the following 72 years, this battle for the most basic of equal rights was waged by tens of thousands of brave women – grandmothers to mothers to daughters – united to win the right to vote. Sadly, three of the earliest pioneers for women’s suffrage, Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony, did not live to see the enactment of this law. In 1917, this battle for voting rights escalated. Between 1917 and 1919, more than 200 women were imprisoned at the Lorton Workhouse for their participation in peaceful protests at the White House. Some of these women endured beatings and torturous treatments, and they were forced to live in deplorable conditions. But with these wrongful imprisonments came a proverbial silver lining: Public opinion began to shift in favor of the suffrage movement. In June, 1919, the United States Congress passed the 19th Amendment, and women finally won the right to vote when this law was enacted in August 1920. Since 1919, tremendous progress has been made in the struggle for equality for women. Today, women account for more than 50% of the nation’s workforce. More than half of students in law and medical schools are women. Women serve honorably and with distinction in our U.S. military, both as enlisted servicemembers and officers. Women serve as CEOs or other executives of some of the nation’s largestcorporations. Women have been elected to every level of public office from school boards to the United States Congress; 76 women currently serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, 17 in the Senate. In 2008, there were women candidates for the two highest offices in the land, president and vice president. Women vote and they understand the power of their vote. In Lorton, Va., in the heart of the 11th Congressional District and very near the site of the original imprisonment of those brave women, the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial is being constructed to commemorate the Suffrage Movement. On August 21, 2010, a ceremony will be held at the site of this planned memorial. The event will include a partial reenactment of the famous parade of 1918 that featured Inez Milholland on a white horse. The memorial ceremony also will include a tree planting and the burial of a time capsule, which will include a copy of this Congressional Record submission and will be opened on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment in 2020. Will there be, by 2020, a woman President? Will pay parity finally be achieved so that women no longer earn only 78 cents to each dollar earned by a male in a comparable position? A great deal of progress has been made but there is still work to be done to achieve complete equality. I pledge to do my part to ensure full equality for all Americans regardless of gender, race or religion. Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing the 2010 Women’s Equality Day and the 90th Anniversary of Women’s right to vote. I also would like to commend the organizers and supporters of The Turning Point Suffragist Memorial for their work in commemorating the struggle and victory of the brave women who fought for their basic rights as American citizens.
News
Statement in the Congressional Record on 90th Anniversary of the Ratification of the 19th Amendment
In Recognition of Women’s Equality Day and the 90th Anniversary of Women’s Right to Vote