The Accidental Suffragist
The majority of stories about the suffrage movement in the early 1900s are told through the eyes of leaders in the movement, most of whom were educated and/or wealthy. Gichon takes a different approach. In this book, Helen Fox, a factory worker from the tenements, is swept into the cause after a devastating family tragedy. When the grieving Helen is befriended by Harriot Stanton Blatch, daughter of the pioneering feminist Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and offered a job in the office of a suffragist organization, she gets to know Alice Paul, Lucy Burns, and other suffrage leaders. Unlike these more privileged women, however, she has money worries, children to care for, and a husband who is unsupportive of her new venture. Helen’s kowtowing to her husband may be frustrating for contemporary readers but highlights the absolute powerlessness of poor women.
Events depicted in the book include the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire; the 1913 March on Washington, DC, when policemen stood by as a crowd of angry, drunken men attacked the marchers; and the Night of Terror in 1917, when women who had protested outside the White House were arrested, brutalized and tortured. Choosing these particular instances underscores the urgency women felt in achieving equality. Gichon provides a granular account of how the suffragists planned, organized, and relentlessly pursued their goal. She also vividly shows how difficult and dangerous life was for members of both sexes in the working class at this time.
While appealing to anyone interested in this topic, the book would also make a wonderful text for college (or high school) students to learn about an era when certain brave women were willing to sacrifice everything for the right to vote. The accessible narrative style and the sympathetic characters bring this important story to life.
