South Jersey NOW-Alice Paul Chapter will be showing the film “INEZ MILHOLLAND ~ Forward into Light”
On Wednesday, Jan. 11, South Jersey NOW-Alice Paul Chapter will be showing the film, “INEZ MILHOLLAND ~ Forward into Light.” The speaker will be preceded by a discussion of chapter activities. The meeting will begin at 7:30 p.m., and will take place at the First Baptist Church, located at 19 West Main Street. (Attendees should enter via the side door closest to the municipal parking lot and Carl’s Shoe Store.)
The day of this meeting is also the 131st birthday of the chapter’s namesake, Alice Paul. Besides writing the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution (not yet ratified but still extremely relevant; see “Equal Means Equal” showing, www.alicepaul.org), Alice was the person most responsible for women getting the right to vote in 1920. She was a brilliant tactician and a brave warrior but she could not have accomplished that great feat on her own. One of her most dynamic and important partners in the struggle was Lucy Burns. Their invaluable contributions were well portrayed in the HBO special “Iron Jawed Angels” (available at the Alice Paul Institute).
Another of Alice’s fellow suffragists, Inez Milholland, is less well-known. Inez, a dazzling suffragist, was also briefly featured in “Iron Jawed Angels” but, like Alice and Lucy, she deserves more attention than they’ve had in history books. Inez was a lawyer, speaker, champion of labor, proud free thinker and “modern women”, and most famously, horsewoman. Known as “the lady on the white horse” in 1913 parade organized by Alice Paul, Inez led 10,000 suffragists to the White House elegantly astride an equally dramatically dressed horse. Known as the “beautiful suffragist”, Inez totally and selflessly gave herself over to the National Women’s Party and the cause of getting the right to vote.
Not only did Inez lead many other parades for the 19th Amendment but was also one of thousands of suffragists who toured the country speaking on behalf of the vote for women from rear train platforms, from automobiles, in halls and at podiums. After several harsh years on the road, at a Los Angeles podium, Inez collapsed from fatigue and health issues. She died soon after on November 25, 1916, almost exactly 100 years ago.
The message of the “Inez-Milholland-Forward into Light” film is that winning the vote was important, but equally or more important, is that all women need to CAST their very hard-earned vote. Whether or not you can attend to watch this moving film, please consider becoming an Inez Ambassador!
Order a free DVD to show to your family, friends, organizations, schools and church so they know what women did to earn the vote — 72 years of countless actions, marches, fasting, imprisonment and in the case of Inez and others, lost their lives (http://inezmilholland.org/order). Also available: 18×24 movie poster ($20), t-shirts, mugs, bags, thermos and more. Quantity orders ($1 each for multi-disc orders) can be made by contacting [email protected], by calling (800) 428–7136 or by visiting facebook.com/inezmilholland.org/.
If you have any questions contact: [email protected].
