Suffragist Commemorative Wall (South Marker)

Here follows the inscription written on this trailside historical marker:

Suffragist Commemorative Wall
"when the forcible feeding was ordered I was taken from my bed, carried to another room, and forced into a chair, bound with sheets and sat upon bodily by a fat murderess, whose duty it was to keep me still Then the prison doctor, assisted by two women attendants, placed a rubber tube up my nostrils and pumped liquid food through it into the stomach."
—Miss Alice Paul, Philadelphia Inquirer 1917

On November 14, 1917, which became known as the Night of Terror, a trainload of 33 suffragists was brought to the Occoquan Workhouse.

"It seemed to me that everything had been done from the time we reached the workhouse to terrorize us, and my fear lest the extreme of outrage would be worked upon the young girls of our party became intense. It is impossible for me to describe the terror of that night…"
— Eunice Dana Brannon, Jailed for Freedom, 1920

These women endured the most harrowing night in the long history of the suffrage movement. They were beaten, tortured, intimidated, threatened and given no food or drink for 36 hours. Public reaction to their arrests, imprisonment, and brutal treatment contributed to a "Turning Point" in the suffrage movement.

"…hunger-striking, militant suffragists were released yesterday, including Miss Lacy Burns, whom guards described as worth her weight in wild cats; Miss Alice Paul, who can throw a shoe twenty feet and hit a window every time, and Mrs. Lawrence Lewis, whose imitation of a siren has had the attendants dodging imaginary automobiles ever since she went to board at the District's expense."
— The Washington Post, November 28, 1917

All were ordered released by the end of November. Within six weeks, President Wilson addressed Congress to seek an amendment to the Constitution allowing women to vote.

"When all suffrage controversy has died away it will be the little army of women with their purple, white and gold banners, going to prison for their political freedom, that will be remembered."
— Doris Stevens, Jailed for Freedom, 1920

The end pillars of this wall feature an image of the "Jailed for Freedom" prison door pin designed by Alice Paul and awarded to each suffragist who had been imprisoned.

Erected by Turning Point Suffragist Memorial Association.