Inez Milholland at the head of the March 3, 1913 suffrage parade in Washington D.C. Hand colored by Deb Pieti, Fab-Photo.com.
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Honoring Inez Milholland and All American Suffragists INEZ MILHOLLAND BOISSEVAIN, a prominent New York suffragist and attorney, became a symbol of the work and sacrifice that went into winning Votes for Women. Inez was only 30 when she collapsed on a Los Angeles stage during a grueling 1916 speaking tour for equal suffrage. Her death on November 25 of exhaustion and pernicious anemia saddened, angered, and inspired her fellow suffragists who began picketing the White House on January 10, 1917, just weeks after her memorial in the U.S. Capitol. While the centennial of Inez's death has passed, we want to keep her memory alive and emphasize how she represented tens of thousands of other women who gave themselves to the drive for political liberty for women. While the centennial of Inez's death has passed Learn more about Inez. Get the film, "Inez Milholland - Forward into Light" from InezMilholland.org. 
Image of Inez Milholland by ArtForce5, ArtForce5.com.
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WELCOME to the Inez Milholland Centennial website. Learn more about America's suffrage martyr and the great crusade of which she and so many other suffragists were an important part. Celebrate their memories and achievements throughout the year. Stay Up To Date About Inez Resources for the Suffrage Centennial Order Inez Stickers Follow our Blog Order the Film, Books Subscribe to our free online mewsletter
Sign up for our free on-line Inez Milholland Centennial newsletter. Keep up to date with breaking news, related features, useful links, and listings of events around the country honoring Inez and the American woman suffrage movement. . Click HERE to subscribe. _________________ _________________________
The talented team at Alfred University’s Art Force 5 visited Keene Central School in January 2020 and organized a mosaic-making tribute to suffragist Inez Millholland (left). Inez's family had roots in Essex County, New York, with Keene Valley serving as a hotbed of suffrage support. Click here for the video. |
NEWS OF U.S. SUFFRAGE MARTYR INEZ MILHOLLAND
HAS BEEN SPREADING
This year, 2020, is the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the US Constitution. It guaranteed that all women could vote. Sadly, the implementation has been slow and difficult. Our job is to spread the story of the early women’s rights movement and for this reason we’ve started with Inez Milholland.
Today, the name Inez Milholland is familiar to more Americans than ever before. Many consider Inez the US suffrage martyr. Her name and image has appeared on buttons, signs, tee shirts, sashes, exhibits, and marquees over the past few years.
This increased public awareness is due in part to the year-long Inez Milholland Centennial campaign carried out in 2016 to commemorate the 1oo years since Milholland’s death. The campaign was under the auspices of the National Women’s History Project, now renamed the National Women’s History Alliance.
The 2016 campaign set out to raise the profile of Inez, a New York suffrage activist and attorney who became a symbol of the work and sacrifice that went into winning votes for women over 100 years ago.
Inez was only thirty when she died in Los Angeles after a grueling 1916 speaking tour for equal suffrage. Her death of exhaustion and pernicious anemia saddened, angered and inspired women throughout the country. Her associates in the movement started picketing the White House on January 10, 1917, just weeks after her memorial service was held at the U.S. Capitol.
In addition to their educational work, Centennial project co-chairs Marguerite Kearns and Robert P.J. Cooney Jr. set in motion the nomination of Inez for a Presidential Citizens Medal. This online petition drew over 1,116 signatures supporting her nomination.
“Although President Obama didn’t recognize Inez – or anyone else – with a Presidential Citizens Medal in 2016,” Kearns noted, “we succeeded in bringing the past, present, and future together. Inez’s story has reached the public again.”
Kearns is the granddaughter of suffrage activist Edna Kearns, whose suffrage campaign wagon, the “Spirit of 1776,” will be on exhibit during 2020. For more information: (SuffrageWagon.org).
“Our work continues to honor Inez and all American suffragists so they can take their rightful place in history,” said Cooney, author of Remembering Inez, a tribute. His book Winning the Vote highlights the movement’s visual history.
“We are heartened by the warm reception and high-profile publicity Inez has received,” Cooney said.
Filmmaker Martha Wheelock produced a 15-minute film, “Forward Into Light,” about Inez in 2016. She distributed the DVD to thousands of individuals, community organizations, policymakers, and educators (InezMilholland.org). Public service and women’s organizations find the film useful for fundraising events.
The Centennial web site (InezMilhollandCentennial.com) will continue to offer information, news and resources. New York State celebrated its women’s suffrage centennial in 2017. Many women in that state, including Inez Milholland, won the right to vote in 1917. States throughout the country now have women's suffrage centennial websites. Check the NWHA Gazette.
The National Women's History Alliance (formerly the National Women’s History Project) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that has been educating the public for 40 years about the importance of including women in American history.
Recognizing Inez’s role leading the first inaugural women’s march in the nation’s capitol, the NWHP became a sponsor of the Women’s March on Washington in 2017. The NWHP launched the Women’s History Alliance (NationalWomensHistoryAlliance.org) to bring together the increasing number of those interested in specific programs that honor the contributions of multicultural women in the United States.
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RECENT BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
- PUBLIC RADIO COVERAGE: http://wamc.org/post/petition-supports-ny-suffragist-presidential-citizens-medal
- Article by John Tepper Marlin “A Suffrage Warrior”
- Article by Sandra Weber in History News Network
Listen to an account of the Memorial for Inez:
Audio selection, Inez Milholland tribute, 1916, in Washington, DC at the time of her death. From Jailed for Freedom by Doris Stevens, 1920. Audio from Librivox.
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The Inez Milholland Centennial
is a project of the non-profit
National Women's History Alliance
730 Second Ave., No. 469
Santa Rosa, CA 95402
(707) 636-2888
info@nwha1980.org
Marguerite Kearns and Robert P. J. Cooney, Jr., Co-chairs