A Radical Suffragist in Washington, D.C.: An Inside Story of the National Woman's Party

by Shirley Marshall

In September 1918 Elizabeth Kalb boarded a train to Washington, DC to fight for voting rights for women. For over two years, Elizabeth lived and worked at the National Woman's Party headquarters a block from the White House. Letters she wrote during that time describe detention at the Capitol and an arrest at the White House, raising money, serving in the organization's Tea Room and struggling through the 1918 flu epidemic. Elizabeth draws the reader into a world of intense partisanship, battles with police, and diverse personalities united in a common cause. Suffragists ensured that politicians could not ignore women's rights. Author Shirley Marshall uses this eyewitness account to create an indelible portrait of life within the National Woman's Party.

176 pages, Paperback

Published February 19, 2024

Reviews

[Prosperidad Paz Vida e23944 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first few chapters are letters and journal entries from suffrage movement activists namely Elizabeth Kaleb Green. However, later chapters written by author Shirley M. Marshall explain the internal struggles between different groups of women, broken up race(s). In chapter 5, author Shirley Marshall talks about the NAWSA and how Alice Paul tried to keep black women out of the movement. By 1913, NAWSA did not want to bar any women from the national suffrage parade. The author breaks down how Elizabeth Kaleb Green was affected by being white and still chooses to see how the economy affects women and race.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of letters by a suffragist for the NWP