Nancy Baron

The Woman Suffrage Procession, held one day before Woodrow Wilsons’s inauguration in 1913, was the first suffragist parade in Washington, D.C. It was also the first large organized march on Washington for political purposes. Although the police looked the other way when the marchers were attacked verbally and physically (over 100 required hospitalization) the women finished the parade that led to major news coverage and congressional hearings.

“In the face of discrimination and undue hardship, [women] have never given up on the promise of America:  that with hard work and determination, nothing is out of reach.”  President Obama proclaiming Women’s History Month 2016

Trump’s election in 2016 left me stunned, as though punched in the gut. Although my like-minded friends and family had the same reaction, I felt very much alone. Although I doubted that protesting would accomplish anything, I had to attend the march planned for the Saturday following the election. When I told my daughters I was going they asked to go with me. One of them expressed fear about attending. I told her we’d be fine and, with trepidation, she marched, yelling louder as the march grew. Strangely the chaos was soothing. For the first time since the election, I didn’t feel alone. Again we marched in the January, 2017 Women’s March, with an even larger crowd, in chaotic solidarity.

I can only imagine the energy the 1913 Suffrage March gave to the fighters for women’s right to vote. At a time when women were expected to be wives and mothers whose only purpose was seen to be in caring for home and family, participating in this show of strength and sisterhood was life-changing for participants and observers, alike. Participating in recent, contemporary protests against the current, democracy-threatening regime in America, I am indebted to my Suffragette sisters.