Basic Information
Inez Milholland was born on August 6, 1886, in Brooklyn, New York and was one of the many women that participated in the women’s suffrage movement. Milholland supported those who were disenfranchised such as women, children, workers and the poor (Inez Milholland, n.d.). Milholland was passionate about social reform, which led her to join the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Milholland received legal education at the University of New York School of Law (Inez Milholland, n.d.)
Background Information
Inez Milholland was born and raised in Brooklyn. She was born into a wealthy, upper-class family. Milholland’s activist spirit and courage come from the support of her family. The Milholland family was invested in social reform. Milholland was the eldest daughter of John and Jean Milholland (Inez Milholland, n.d.). John Milholland was a reporter for the New York Tribune and an editorial writer (Inez Milholland, n.d.). The encouragement from her family inspired her to join the women’s movement, which led her to become a spokesperson for the movement (Lewis 2019).
Milholland was very well educated. Before attending Vassar college, Milholland went to Kensington High School, Comstock School in New York, and Willard School in Berlin (Inez Milholland Boissevain, 1936). When attending Vassar Milholland participated in sports such as track and hockey (Lewis, 2019). Even in college, Milholland was an activist. Harriot Stanton Blatch planned to speak at Vassar, but the college refused to allow her to speak. Milholland organized an event at the cemetery in which Blatch was arranged to speak (Lewis, 2019). Milholland was an active student at Vassar. She participated in extracurricular activities, such as the German club, current topics club, debating team, and socialist club (Inez Milholland, n.d.). Milholland graduated from Vassar in 1909 and applied to Ivy league law schools but was rejected on the basis of sex (Inez Milholland, n.d.). Then she applied to New York University and was accepted. She graduated from the New York University of Law in 1912 (Lewis, 2019). After graduating she became an attorney that specialized in divorce and criminal cases for Osborn, Lamb and Garvin firm (Lewis, 2019).
In the summer of 1913, Milholland took a ship across the Atlantic where she met her husband Eugen Jan Boissevain, a Dutch importer. On the ship, Milholland proposed to Boissevain. In July 1913, they got married in London (Lewis, 2019). The couple had an open marriage, Milholland went against social norms of being a housewife. During their marriage, Milholland and Boissevain didn’t have any children. Milholland was diagnosed with pernicious anemia (Inez Milholland, n.d.). During one of her campaign speeches with the National Women’s Party in Los Angeles, Milholland collapsed and was taken to the hospital. Ten weeks later she was pronounced died (Lewis 2016).
Contributions to the First Wave
In 1909, after graduating from Vassar, Milholland was determined to vocally express her cause in favor of voting rights. President Taft’s campaign parade was interrupted by Milholland. From a building window and using a megaphone she yelled “Votes for Women!” (Scutts, 2016). That same year Milholland participated in a strike. In the winter of 1909 through 1910, Milholland was participating in the shirtwaist strike known as “Uprising of the 20,000” (Lumsden, 2004, p.44). The strike was about the mistreatment of women in the workplace. Workers demanded higher wages, better conditions and hours, this resulted in the Triangle Shirtwaist Company to fire those who discussed the union (Lumsden, 2004, p.45). Milholland’s role in the strike was “…watching picket lines to make sure police did not violate pickets’ rights.” (Lumsden, 2004, p.45). Milholland during the strike was arrested twice for participating in the picket (Lumsden, 2004, p.45). In February of 1910, the company owners and the workers settled on an agreement.
Two years after the strike, Milholland led the New York Suffrage march down Fifth Avenue in 1912 (Who Was Inez Milholland? 2018). Even during the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson, “Inez led 8,000 women down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House.” (Who Was Inez Milholland? 2018). Milholland wore a robe and rode a white horse, she was representing Joan of Arc (Who Was Inez Milholland? 2018). The parade was organized by Alice Paul for the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Paul selected Milholland to lead the parade of women to bring awareness to their cause to the newly elected president in hopes that Wilson would use his power to give women liberty. The Women Suffrage parade took place a day before Wilson’s inauguration (Taylor, 2013). The parade “…featured 8,000 marchers, including nine bands, four mounted brigades, 20 floats, and an allegorical performance near the Treasury Building.” (Taylor, 2013). Despite their intent to just march down the avenue, the parade was stopped by a group of bystanders. Chaos occurred during the parade, one hundred marchers were hospitalized (Taylor, 2013). Milholland and other marchers pulled through the crowd and continued to march. Seven years after the suffrage parade, women were granted the right to vote. In 1920, Wilson was still the president of the United States.
After the historic march in Washington D.C., Milholland set sail through the Atlantic in May 1915 (Lumsden, 2004, p.120). Milholland for a short period was a reporter in Europe. Besides her passion for women’s rights, Milholland was also passionate about stopping the world war (Scutts, 2016). Milholland wrote articles expressing her opinion on anti-war. The Italian government was displeased about Milholland’s articles and kicked her out of Italy. Milholland spoke to the prime minister, she assumed that she was expelled because men had protested against women journalists. However, it appears that the government did not like her pacifism (Lumsden, 2004, p.129). Milholland returned to the United States in 1916 (Scutts, 2016). In her return back home, she joined the National Women’s Party. The National Women’s Party were led by activist, they began a tour through the United States, campaigning to encourage women in their state to support the federal constitutional suffrage amendment (Lewis, 2019). Milholland had many events, delivered “…50 speeches in 11 states in 30 states.” (Who Was Inez Milholland? 2018). Despite being ill, Milholland continued to speak at events. Unfortunately, on October 23, 1916, Milholland delivered her last speech at Blanchard Hall in Los Angeles (Who Was Inez Milholland? 2018).
Not to know what things in life require remedying is a crime…It leaves you at the mercy of events – it lets life manipulate you – instead of training you to manipulate life.
-Inez Milholland (Inez Milholland, n.d.)
Analysis and Conclusion
Inez Milholland spent her thirty years fighting for social reform and literally fought until her last breath. Milholland lived a short life but spoke for those who couldn’t. After being diagnosed with pernicious anemia, she continued to campaign for women’s rights. Many activists during the movement are more recognized than Milholland. Alice Paul received more credit for the Washington D.C. parade than Milholland. Paul recruited Milholland and organized the event. However, Milholland is barely mentioned in that event when she had an equal part in organizing it. The only recognition Milholland received during that event was that she rode a white horse. Milholland deserved more credit, she pushed through the crowd and led the parade. Milholland was a brave and loud women. She participated in marches and spoke at multiple events, encouraging women across America to join the movement.
Furthermore, Milholland publicly brought awareness to her cause to the elected presidents of the United States which was a smart tactic to grab public attention. Despite not being mentioned for her work during the first wave, Milholland was labeled as the martyr of women’s suffrage (Lewis, 2019). During the second inauguration of President Wilson, suffragists organized a protest. Suffragist put Milholland’s last words: “Mr. President, how long must women wait for liberty?” on a banner (Lewis, 2019). Being labeled as the martyr is an honorable title, at least she was recognized for her work during the movement. She had accomplished so much for women outside of the women’s suffrage movement. Milholland should be receiving more recognition for her involvement in the first wave.
References
Bain News Service, P. (1913) Inez Milholland-Suffrage parade, 1913. March 3 date created or published later by Bain. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/2014691486/
Inez Milholland Boissevain. (1936). In Dictionary of American Biography. New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Son. Retrieved November 4, 2019 from https://go-gale-com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=Biographies&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=MultiTab&searchType=BasicSearchForm¤tPosition=1&docId=GALE%7CBT2310017505&docType=Biography&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=ZXAA-MOD1&prodId=UHIC&contentSet=GALE%7CBT2310017505&searchId=R1&userGroupName=wash_main&inPS=true
Inez Milholland. (n.d.). Retrieved November 12, 2019 from http://vcencyclopedia.vassar.edu/alumni/inez-milholland.html
Lewis, J. J. (2019, July 25). Inez Milholland Boissevain, Flamboyant Woman Suffrage Martyr. Retrieved October 28, 2019 from https://www.thoughtco.com/inez-milholland-boissevain-biography-3530528.
Lumsden, L. (2004). Inez: The life and times of Inez Milholland (UPCC book collections on Project MUSE). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Scutts, J. (2016, July 11). How Inez Milholland Became a Martyr for Women’s Suffrage. Retrieved November 6, 2019, from https://time.com/4391874/the-society-girl-who-became-a-martyr-for-womens-suffrage/
Suffragetts-Inez Milholland Boissevain., n.d. [Between 1910 and 1916] Photograph. Retrieved November 7, 2019 from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/resource/cph.3c32966/.
Taylor, A. (2013, March 1) The 1913 Women’s Suffrage Parade. Retrieved November 10, 2019 from https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2013/03/100-years-ago-the-1913-womens-suffrage-parade/100465/
Who Was Inez Milholland? (2018, November 10). Retrieved November 6, 2019, from http://inezmilholland.org/about/