Inez Milholland: Suffrage Movement Icon

Examine the life of suffragist, labor lawyer, activist, and public speaker Inez Milholland. Students will learn about Inez Milholland’s commitment to earning women the right to vote and her concern for social justice reforms of the day including striking laborers, tenant’s rights, and prison reform. Milholland became an icon for the suffrage movement after she led the Women’s Suffrage Procession up Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, DC, wearing a long cape and riding a white horse, on the eve of President Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration. 

An engaging and charismatic speaker, Milholland embarked on a speaking tour of the Western States to appeal to women voters. During the trip she became ill and died at the age of 30. Her last words were inscribed on placards that her more radical colleagues used to picket the White House, advocating for the adoption of an amendment to the Constitution granting women the right to vote.