Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 6.djvu/123

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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
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police protection, however, was not given, indeed some of the police themselves hooted and jeered with the mob which attacked the paraders. Doubtless it was composed of persons who had come from outside to the inauguration. It took three hours to march the mile from the Peace Monument to the Treasury, where tableaux were given on the steps. Finally it was necessary to call the troops from Fort Myer. The Senate ordered an investigation and the Police Superintendent resigned. It was said that this parade won thousands of friends for the cause of woman suffrage.

This year the Congressional Union was organized to work in the District and the States solely for the Federal Suffrage Amendment, with Miss Paul chairman, Miss Lucy Burns, Mrs. Crystal Eastman, Mrs. Mary Beard and Mrs. Lawrence Lewis the other officers. It had its own headquarters and was not affiliated with the National American Association.

In 1914 the suffragists protested again, this time to the Chamber of Commerce, against a constitutional amendment sponsored by it to enfranchise the residents of the District, because it did not definitely state that women should be included. This protest was also taken up in the Federation of Women's Clubs through the auxiliaries of the State Suffrage Association, which were affiliated with it. During 1915 and 1916 suffragists addressed all the civic bodies in Washington on the necessity of including women in any measure looking to the enfranchisement of the residents of the District. As a result of this continuous agitation a compromise was reached to hold the question in abeyance until a constitutional amendment was passed enabling Congress to grant suffrage to the District. The association as usual participated in commemorating the birthdays of Mrs. Stanton and Miss Anthony and placed wreaths on the bust of Lincoln in the rotunda of the Capitol. It joined in the contest with the school board which tried to exclude married women as teachers.

During the closing years of the long campaign for woman suffrage street meetings were held. Among those who helped in this work were Mrs. Frank Hiram Snell, Miss Florence F. Stiles, Miss Elizabeth Eggert, Miss O'Toole and Miss Sellers. Receptions were given to the "yellow flier," the automobile sent