On this day in Arlington history: Nov 14, 1917, protesters for a woman’s right to vote including future Arlingtonians, Gertrude Crocker & her sister Ruth, underwent a horrifying night of torture that would become known as the “Night of Terror.”
Gertrude & Ruth, suffragists advocating for a woman’s right to vote, joined the “Silent Sentinels,” a group of women who stood in front of the White House holding voter rights banners. The public & authorities were amused at first but after the US entered WWI dissent for any reason was increasingly seen as unpatriotic & the protesters were verbally & physically assaulted.
The women resisted police attempts to break up the picket line & were arrested for civil disobedience. Gertrude was charged with “obstructing a sidewalk.” She was found guilty & fined $5 or 30 days in jail. She & most of the women chose prison & were sent to the Occoquan Workhouse in Lorton. Conditions there were horrible & suffragists protested by going on a hunger strike.
The guards force fed the women, which often caused severe vomiting and made strikers pass out. As the protest continued, the guards resorted to physical punishment including shackling the women suspended from a wall. The night of 14-15 Nov was remembered as a particularly violent night for the suffragists at Occoquan. Gertrude was released 6 weeks later & needed help walking.
News of the treatment of the women changed the public’s perception of the suffrage movement. Pres. Woodrow Wilson changed his stance & endorsed a constitutional amendment.
The 19th Amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote passed on Aug 18, 1920. With voting rights won, the Crocker sisters moved to Arlington. They bought a home in Lyon Park & land on Arlington Ridge Road where they opened the Little Tea House restaurant. Gertrude became President of the Arlington Soroptimist Club, a forerunner of the Equal Rights Movement. Both Gertrude & Ruth’s names are inscribed on the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial & the Workhouse Prison Museum in Lorton. READ MORE: https://arlhist.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/2020-AHMag-Gertrude-Crocker-Taddeo.pdf
