Lucy Burns- American suffragette and woman’s rights activist.
Inspiration and Friendships
Lucy Burns advocacy efforts began when she spent time in the UK working with Emmeline Pankhurst and the Women’s Social and Political Union.She joined their protests and was arrested for the first time. While there, she also met activist Alice Paul. The two bonded over the inactivity of American suffragettes and their respect for the more militant strategies of the UK suffragette movement.
The Congressional Committee
Upon their return to the U.S, Burns and Paul became the heads of the Congressional Committee of the National American Women Suffrage Association. Both women felt strongly that the best way to ensure woman’s suffrage was to advocate on the federal level for a suffrage amendment.This was a controversial issue in the NAWSA with many willing to settle for guaranteed victories on the state level, while others wanted to “go big or go home” refusing to settle until there was a federal level victory of woman’s suffrage for all.
NAWSA leaders were nervous about approving the Committee or many of its proposed advocacy ideas. They did, at least, approve a suffrage parade which Burns and Paul organized for the day before newly elected Woodrow Wilson’s Inauguration Day. See my other blog post on the March on Washington for further details about this event. NAWSA’s one stipulation was that the Congressional Committee would receive no further funding from NAWSA. This was the beginning of Burns and Paul’s split from NAWSA.
Lucy Burns and The National Woman’s Party
Burns and Paul split from NAWSA and formed their own suffrage group called the Congressional Union. This caused further controversy and divisiveness within the suffrage movement. Many felt threatened by Burns and Paul’s more militant tactics and that they’d alienated political supporters. Eventually Burns and Paul created their own political party called the National Woman’s Party.They felt this was the best way to guarantee direct action in fighting for women’s rights. Their sole goal was the federal right to vote.
In 1917 the NWP led a protest in front of the White House. The women were called the Silent Sentinels and were arrested and sent to the Occoquan Workhouse.
Life in Prison
Burns and Paul led the arrested women in hunger strikes to continue protesting their cause from prison. She led a number of continued protests from prison including circulating a document that defined the status of a political prisoner and alerting the women to their rights. She was eventually put in solitary confinement.
Conditions worsened but the women refused to give up their cause. Eventually, Burns and the women were forced to face what became known as the “Night of Terror”.
The women were beaten and refused medical treatment. Burns continued to call out and reassure the other women despite numerous threats. Eventually guards handcuffed her hands over her head to her cell door and left her that way for the rest of the night. In solidarity, the rest of the suffragette prisoners all held their hands in the same position and stood there with her.
The Aftermath of the “Night of Terror”
After enduring the “Night of Terror” the women conducted another hunger strike for the following three days. The warden eventually moved Burns to another block and ordered her to be force fed. They required five people to hold her down and when she refused to open her mouth, they eventually forced a tube up her nostril.
The Final Push for Suffrage
Burns, Paul and other advocates continued to lobby for votes to pass the federal amendment for woman suffrage. They were once again jailed after another protest at the White House in 1918. After being treated horribly in prison again they were finally released shortly before the next election. They decided their sole focus needed to be on getting anyone in Congress who supported suffrage. This was the first time they focused on candidates outside the Democratic Party. It worked and they cost Democrats their majority in Congress.
By this point tensions between the suffragettes and Wilson were at an all-time high. He realized something needed to be done, especially after all the negative publicity from the protests, arrests and recent election. He requested a special assembly of Congress in May of 1919.
On May 21st the House passed the Susan B. Anthony amendment. The Senate passed it on June 4th. Although the amendment was passed, the suffragettes still had to make sure 3/4 of the states agreed to ratify it. Finally on August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the thirty-sixth state to ratify the Anthony Amendment. The quest for federal suffrage was finally over.
Lucy Burns’ Legacy
Of all the suffragettes from this era, Lucy Burns spent the most time in prison. Once Tennessee ratified the Amendment, Burns was quoted as saying “I don’t want to do anything more. I think we have done all this for women, and we have sacrificed everything we possessed for them, and now let them fight for it now. I am not going to fight anymore.” She retired from political life and spent the rest of her time with her orphaned niece until her death in 1966.
Lucy Burns was named an honoree by the National Women’s History Alliance in 2020. The Lucy Burn Museum also opened to the public in January 2020 at the former site of the Occoquan Workhouse where the “Night of Terror” took place. The museum commemorates Burns and the other suffragettes and their sacrifices in the fight for suffrage.
I am so honored to speak at the Lucy Burns Museum this weekend and honor these women for Women’s History Month. I hope you can join me or stay tuned for the replay of the event soon in my VIP Member section.
Check out more of my Changemaker articles below!
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