>> Welcome. I'm Debra Steidel Wall. Deputy
archivist of the United States and I'm so
glad you are joining us for today's conversation
with three major historical figures of the
women's suffrage movement. Our partners for
this program are the American historical theater
and the National Archives Foundation and we
thank them both for their support.
Since the start of August, the National Archives
has joined with numerous other organizations
across the nation to observe the 100th anniversary
of the ratification of the 19th Amendment.
This amendment which secured women's right
to vote in the United States Constitution
was ratified by the required number of states
on August 18th, 1920, and was certified on
August 26th. Today August 26th is recognized
as women's equality day. And so it is fitting
that we observe the centennial with a meeting
of minds among Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony
and Alice Paul. We will continue our commemoration
of the 19th Amendment through the end of the
month. Our web page archives.gov/women contains
many resources for learning more about women's
rights and women's history and you will find
links to events and activities related to
the centennial. The National Archive's showcase
exhibit for the 19th Amendment centennial
is Rightfully Hers, American Women and the
Vote.
Though you can't visit in person at the National Archives Building in Washington. DC, you can
view its on‑line version at museum.archives.gov. Rightfully hers tells the story of women's
struggle for voting rights as a critical step toward equal citizenship. The exhibit explores how American women across the spectrum of
race, ethnicity and class advance the cause
of suffrage and follows the struggle for voting
rights beyond 1920. Now I will turn you over
to our moderator for today's discussion. Dorothy
Dougherty, programs director at the national
archives at New York City. Dorothy will guide
the conversation among Sojourner Truth portrayed
by Daisy Century. Susan B. Anthony (portrayed by Marjorie Goldman) and Alice
Paul portrayed by Taylor Williams. Thank you
for coming.
>> Thank you for that introduction, Debra Wall.
The deputy archivist of the United States
and welcome to today's program on the 19th
Amendment and women's equality day. My name
is Dorothy Dougherty and for the next hour
I will be moderating our discussion with three
key figures in the fight for women's right
to vote. Just so you know, this program is
being broadcast live so if you have any questions
for our speakers, please enter that into our
YouTube chat feature. And if you don't have
a question but would like to tell us where
you are watching, we would love to know. We
also are interested to see how you are celebrating
the centennial event. As you can see, I am
celebrating by wearing my suffrage sash. I
also have a centennial pin that I ordered
from the national archives gift shop. Another
way we can celebrate is by sharing our stories
on‑line. We have a number of animated gifts
and Instagram stickers so you can post that
on your social media post choosing the hashtag
#19 suffrage stories. All of these details
as was said on our website at archives.gov/women.
Let's begin our discussion today and my first
guest I'm happy to introduce is Ms. Susan
B. Anthony. Hello, Ms. Anthony, how are you
today?
>> I'm feeling very energetic today. How are
you?
>> Wonderful. Thank you. My first question
is how did you get involved in the women's
suffrage movement?
>> Well, I didn't start my life as an agitator
in the women's suffrage movement. It kind
of grew gradually over time. It began when
I first was made to understand that married
women had no legal rights in this country.
That they could not own property or keep their
earnings. And I was taught to believe that
men and women are equal in the sight of God
and should have equal rights. In my Quaker
household we were treated equally. This was
a cruel comeuppance to me when I was taught about
that. It was going to be a long slow process
to change those laws I became interested in
the temperance movement. We thought if we
could take the alcohol out of the hands of
abusive husbands things would not be so bad
for the wives who would complain to their
husbands when they drank away their wage packets
that they had no money to feed the children.
An abused mother could not even take her children
with her when she left the marriage.
It was in the temperance movement that I met Mrs. Elizabeth Katy Stanton. Through her I had my introduction
to the abolitionist movement, of course, the
staying of slavery was still existing in our
shores at that time and we devoted all of
our efforts to try to remove that. It wasn't
until after the Civil War when the 13th Amendment
had finally been passed and involuntary servitude
could no longer exist on our shores, that
we realized it was time to turn our attention
to the rights for the women.
>> Is that why you believe women should have
the right to vote?
>> Oh, I believed that women already possessed
the right to vote. You can understand that
by looking at the founding documents of our
republic. The Declaration of Independence
rightly asserts we are all created equal and
endowed by our creator with life, liberty
and the pursuit of happiness. Furthermore.
It states whenever any government becomes
destructive of these ends it is the right
of the people to alter or abolish it and to
institute a new government and most likely
to affect their safety and happiness. Surely
the right of the whole people to vote is clearly
implied for no matter how much a government
should be destructive to my happiness, a disenfranchised class could neither alter nor abolish it
nor put a new one in its place.
>> Well, you know ‑‑
>> The government that compels us to obey
laws which we have never given our consent
are half of the people. Left wholly at the
mercy of the other half in direct violation
of the spirit and letter of the declarations
of the framers of government. Now I realize
that document is not a matter of law but the
Constitution is. And in the Constitution the
14 Amendment stated that all persons born
or naturalized in the United States are citizens
thereof and of the state in which they reside.
So the question I have to ask you is, are
women persons? I think they are. And I don't
think any of our opponents could have the
hardihood to say that they are not. The 15th
Amendment went on to say that right to allow
a citizen to vote shall not be denied or abridged
because of race, color or previous condition
of servitude.
Well, I have a race. It is white. I do not
have a previous condition of servitude other
than the metaphorical one on the yoke of all
women in this country. If I in guaranteed
citizenship, I am guaranteed the right to
vote and nowhere do we talk about governments
granting rights. We are not asking for the
right to vote. I believe we already possess
it. What we are demanding is that the right
to vote be guaranteed and protected.
>> Well, it's fascinating you say that ‑‑
it's fascinating I say that and I agree that
women are people. You obviously believe this
to the point that in 1872 you voted in a Rochester,
New York, election. I know this because the
National Archives at New York City actually
has a copy of that arrest record as well as
your conviction. So can you tell me a little
bit about your arrest and the trial that followed?
>> Well, it was quite a scene, as you might
imagine. I was hoping to gather publicity
for the cause when I went to register to vote.
The young man at the barber shop who was in
charge of the registration work was non‑plussed
when I arrived with my neighbors and my sisters
and asked me what made me think I had the
right to vote and I read them the Constitution
and they thought, well, I seem to have a point
there and they couldn't go against the Constitution
so they allowed me to register not supposing
I would dare go vote but they did not know
who they were dealing with for on election
morning I gathered my sisters around me before
it could become too crowded and create an unnecessary
spectacle and we had to answer the same questions
there. Why do I think I have the right to
vote. And I read them the Constitution again.
And we were permitted to cast our ballots.
And I wrote to Mrs. Stanton, well, we have
been and gone and done it and positively voted
at 7:00 this morning. And then two weeks
later a knock comes at the door of my home
in Rochester and a young man there who says
he wants to take me into downtown Rochester
to see Commissioner Stores. I said I have
no social acquaintance with Commissioner Stores
so I politely declined the invitation and
he said, no, Ms. Anthony, you see I have
to arrest you. And I said, this is the way
you treat everyone you arrest? Well, no. I
have to put them in handcuffs and I said,
well, put on the handcuffs. Take me down.
I want everyone to see how the government
treats a citizen who is only exercising her right to vote.
He declined the handcuffs but he took me down
on the streetcar and when we got there he
paid my fare. And I said are you paying your
fare because I'm a woman? Or because this
is part of your obligation in your work? He
said, oh, no, he has to pay all of the fares
for anyone he brings in for arrest. And I
said that's the first five cents worth I ever
got out of Uncle Sam. And when we went to
trial, the judge, Lord Hunt was kind enough
and efficient enough to write his opinion
before he even came to Rochester.
I was not permitted to speak in my own defense
because the judge said women are not competent
to testify in a court of law. And when all
of the evidence had been laid before them,
he turned to the jury and said, gentlemen
of the jury, I thank you very much for your
service. I now direct you to return a verdict
of guilty. When he asked me if the defendant
had anything to say, you can imagine that
I lept from my seat and I said, yes, your
honor I have a great many things to say for
with your directed verdict of guilty every
principle of government is trampled under
foot. My civil rights, my natural rights,
my political rights, my judicial rights are
ignored. He fined me $100. And I said, your
honor, I will never pay a dollar of your unjust
fine and I never have.
>> Fascinating. Well, thank you for voting
in that election and for being the name associated
with the movement. And thank you for mentioning
the other women that were arrested along with
you. I think it's important to note that as
the leader, your name was out there but there
were many women behind the movement as well.
And I think at this point, Ms. Anthony, if
you don't mind, I will ask you to come back
in a little bit and turn the conversation
to our next guest. Ms. Sojourner Truth.
How are you today?
>> I am good, thank you.
>> Well, thank you for coming here today.
Let's start with the first question I have
and it's about your name. Your name is so
unique. Can you tell us about the story behind
it?
>> Okay. I was born on a Dutch plantation
in upstate New York. Ulster county. Not too
far from the Hudson River. Oh somewhere around
1797. Give me the name of Isabelle. Isabelle
Bumphry. They called me Bell for short. And
Bumphry in Dutch means tall and strong. I
grew up tall and strong like my daddy. My
daddy's name was James and my momma's name
was Betsy.
It seems like whenever I went, people would
talk. And I heard their names and I thought
about my name. So after New York state passed
that law in 1827 saying I could be free, I
moved to New York City and started to work
there. And I stayed at a commune on the outskirts
of town. I didn't like the goings on there.
So I said, God, tell me what should I do.
God said, Bell, be about your father's business.
So I immediately started packing everything
I could in a knap sack and I left New York
City.
That morning I left New York City with $2 in
my pocket and a song in my heart. And I hummed
and I moved along and I thought about it.
I says now that I'm a free woman, I need a
free woman's name. What shall I call myself?
So I thought about it. God told me to move
up and down the countryside to preach about
sin, the ills of sin and the meanness and
the wickedness of slavery and God told me
to speak of women's rights. So God told me
to do like the people in the Bible. The people
in the Bible Sojourned the valleys and the
hills and the mountain side to spread the
word of the gospel. I thought about that.
If the people in the Bible sojourning the
countryside, I'm about to do the same thing.
I'm about to sojourn the countryside to preach
and to speak up for women's rights.
So sojourn the countryside. I'm a Sojourner.
I will call myself Sojourner. I like that.
I kept on humming and kept on moving. Most
people got two names. What shall my last name
be? I said, wherever I go, I will speak from
the heart. And I will always speak the truth.
That's it. Truth shall be my last name. So
from this day forward, my name shall be Sojourner
Truth. And that's what I did. I sojourn the
countryside. I spoke to every town and every
city. I would start to sing. People would
begin to gather round. I would tell them of
my days of being a slave. Of being sold three
times in the beatings and the evilness of
slavery. And I would say, women, you've got
just as much right as the men folk. The man
should not have dominion over the woman. A
woman should be able to stand shoulder to
shoulder with the man. You should be able
to work outside the house. You should be able
to speak in public without being ridiculed.
You should be able to vote, run for publish
office. The word got around. Sojourner Truth
is coming to town. Sojourner Truth is talking
about women's rights.
The crowd got bigger and bigger. It got so
I had to get a secretary to keep track of
my speaking engagement because everybody wanted
Sojourner Truth to come to their town. And
sometimes the crowd got rowdy, I tell you. They had rocks getting ready to throw at me. I would start
to sing. And they would drop the rocks. And
sometimes they would have to lock me up for
my own good. To keep me safe from the crowd.
And late at night when the crowd went home,
they let me out and I would walk to the next
city and start my speaking engagement again.
And sometimes they would say, old lady, if
you speak here tonight, we will burn the place
down. I said, burn it down. I will speak upon
the ashes. And that's what I did for years
and years. Sojourning the countryside. Speaking
up for women's rights.
>> Wow, that's such a great story. Thank you
for sharing that. I know in 1851 you actually
delivered a pubic speech called Ain't I a Woman.
Can you tell us what the lessons are from
that speech? What we should take away from
it?
>> Oh, I would be happy to. My grandson Sammy
who was traveling with me at the time. I said,
Sammy, read the newspaper. Tell me what's
going on in the world. And he says, well,
Grammy, the women in Akron Ohio is having
a women's rights convention. I said say no
more, Same Akron Ohio it is. I'm going up
there to see what my white sisters be after.
Two day convention. Went on up there. And
I sit in the back. Listening to everything
going on. I wasn't invited. I just showed
up.
Most of the men doing all of the talking.
Oh, they said some things that didn't set
well to with me I tell you. They say women don't need to
be equal to a man. A man is smarter than a
woman. A woman is weak and needs to be taken
care of and Eve by her lonesome managed to
turn the world upside down. On and on and
on. How come the women ain't speaking up?
Remember, women dare not speak in public.
Women dare not debate a man in public. So
I said, I got to say something. So the next
day I went back and I sat a little bit closer to the front.
The men doing all of the talking again. I
told the ladies, I said, pst, pst, excuse
me. Can I get up there and say a few words?
And they looked back and saw me and said,
that's Sojourner Truth, don't let her speak. She'll ruin us.
They will picket and burn the place down.
Everywhere she goes she causes trouble. Do not let her speak! I said I won't take long but I got to say a
few words in response to these men folk. They
said, well, one lady says, well in time they
will let us speak and the other says, no,
do not let her speak. I didn't come prepared
with no speech in my head. I didn't come prepared
to go up in front of the convention and say
nothing. What I had to respond to these men
with all they had to say.
Now I didn't know whether they were going
to let me speak or not. But I wasn't going
to chance it for them to run out of time and
let me have no time to speak. So I thought
about it. How am I going to get up there.
So I started to sing.
>> It was early in the morning. Before I could
get another word out, the place was pin quiet.
Everybody turned around and looked at me and
were pointing. Mouths open. Some of the ladies
just fainted on the chair. Oh, that's Sojourner
Truth and who let her in there I heard all
of the ruckus. Here is my chance. I got up
and straightened my shawl and walked up to
the front. All the way up there, they were
pointing and they were talking. And I took
my time and I got up to the front. By the
time I got up to the front, the place was
pin quiet. I started to speak. Didn't have
a speech prepared. Just responded to the men.
Said that gentleman over there said that 
Eve by her lonesome managed to turn the world upside down.
Shouldn't the women  be able to turn the world right side up again  and the women started to clap but the men folk
looked at them so mean they sat back down. And lesson
number one. All of the women should be able
to work together. Lesson number two. A woman
is not equal to a man. I said to you, sir,
if you got a whole gallon and I've got just
a little ol' pint, isn't just plain old mean to deny
my little portion full? And the lesson learned
is if you are rich or poor, doesn't matter.
Everyone is deserving of equal rights. Everyone
should be equal under the law. Rich or poor.
Colored or white. It doesn't matter.
And another gentleman over there said a woman
is weak. Oh, sir. I say to you, there is no
such thing as a weak woman. They said a woman
is weak. And she needs to be taken care of
and given the best of places. No one ever
helped me over mud puddles and into carriages.
And gave me the best of places and ain't I
a woman? Ain't I a woman? Lesson. Rich or
poor, you are still a woman. Colored or white,
you are still a woman. Married or not, you
are still a woman. Whether you have children
or not, you are still a woman. No matter what
the circumstance, you are still a woman.
So after the convention they come up to me and
shook my hand and everybody was excited about
my speech. But I said, I didn't quite have
no speech prepared. I was speaking to the
men folk. Everywhere I went people said, Sojourner,
say that entire woman ‑‑ ain't I a woman
speech again. Everybody wanted to hear that
speech over again and it just happened on
the top of my head.
>> Those are wonderful lessons. So what advice
or what suggestions would you make for people
or women activists today?
>> Oh, to keep things stirring. To keep things
moving. Never let the movement go still. And
no movement or no idea is too small. One time
I was a speaker at a camp meeting and said, old lady,
we don't care too much for your talk. They
were mean about it much as the bite of a flea.
I said, small as it may seem to you, but I
bet I will keep you scratching. So no project
or no idea is too small to keep things moving
and stirring.
Another thing I would say to the women folk,
to learn the law. Get that book learning.
Learn all about the law. Find out what law
is written down and write some law of your
own. Write some new laws. And I want the women
folk to work together. Just like the fingers
on the hand. Now they are pretty strong on
the hand, but if you put them together, they
are even more strong and they will deliver
quite a blow. So I want my sisters colored
and white, rich and poor, all to work together
to deliver a blow. That's what I want them
to do.
>> That's great advice. Thank you, thank you
Ms. Truth.
>> Thank you.
>> I'm going to come back to you in a little
bit and we will move on to our third guest.
And in between I will remind the folks watching
if you have any questions please enter them
into the chat feature. And thank you for the
shout outs. I'm going to read a list here.
We have a few people joining us from around
the country. The first person is from White
Bear Lake, Minnesota. Hello. We have a few
folks from Maryland including Gambrills, Maryland.
We have folks watching from Smithville, Ohio.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Kennasaw, Georgia ‑‑
Panama City, Florida. This is a great mix. We have some
folks from Kansas City, Missouri. More folks from
Georgia, Atlanta, Houston Texas and New York. And let us know where you are and where you are watching
from and if you have any questions.
At this point I will introduce our third guest.
Ms. Alice Paul. So as Ms. Alice Paul joins
us. How are you today, Ms. Paul?
>> Well, I'm happy to see you, thank you very
much.
>> Welcome. So I have a question. Could you
tell us a little bit about your early life?
>> My early life. Yes. Well, I was born in
1885, but don't think for a minute I was a
Victorian. You see, Queen Victoria believed
she was powerful and independent because the
divine right of Monarchs. Well, she admired
many philosophers of the time who believed
that women were plainly inferior to men. That
was an attitude I never understood. You see,
I came from a Quaker family. We are Hicksite
Quakers. We believe in the inner life, the
divine in each person. And I was taught equality
from the very beginning. My home is Morristown,
New Jersey. Paulsdale is my home A comfortable
house. I was born there and I grew up there.
I loved my father deeply. He was a farmer.
But also President of a bank but mostly a
gentleman farmer. He used to say whenever
anything disagreeable had to be done, I would
bank on Alice. He died while I was in college.
I would hope that he would be proud of my
accomplishments. I graduated from Swathmore college
in 1905. I went on to do a graduate degree,
a Master's Degree in social work which I received
from Columbia University. And then I studied
at the University of Pennsylvania and received
a PhD in economics there.
After we won the vote, I decided to go back
and study law because I thought if you don't
know the law someone can talk you down. So
I got so engrossed in the subject, I ended
up with three law degrees.
>> And can you tell us then how did you get
involved in the fight for women's suffrage?
>> Well, it was there from the very beginning.
As I say, it came from my Quaker values, my
Quaker roots. My Quaker principles. My mother
was active in the national American women's
suffrage association and I helped her even
as a girl. I always knew about the principles
of equality from my Quaker upbringing.
Then when I went out into the broader world
and left my Quaker community, it was as if
I had been punched in the stomach. The treatment
of women ‑‑ for votes in Britain, I bicycled
to hear Crystabelle Pankhurst speak about votes for women. She tried to speak but she was heckled off
the platform. Still, I paid one Schilling
and signed up and there I was, a member of
the womans social and political union. And
I began to work with the Pankhurst family.
Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters Sylvia
and Christa Bell. They were heading the militant
wing.
Well, some of their tactics were very unusual
for women to engage in. We had parades, yes,
but we also tried to confront politicians
with their positions on votes for women. And
this would rattle the politicians significantly.
So we kept at it. But here was our problem.
You see, at that time no women, no women were
allowed at political gatherings. You wonder
why? Because the women might confront the
politician about his view on votes for women.
That frightened them, you see. Well, we had
to think of clever ways to enter the halls.
If we gathered outside, we would be immediately
arrested for obstruction of the sidewalk.
So we would go in early in the morning. We
would pretend to be kitchen staff perhaps
or cleaning women and we would wait all day
sometimes. And we would hide so we would not
be discovered. And we would pop out when the
politician entered the hall and confront him
on votes. Votes for women.
Of course, we were immediately arrested. Oh,
the police would whack us with their truncheons.
We rolled bats of cotton underneath our clothing
to protect ourselves from their blows. Well,
in England, I was put in prison seven times.
And when we were in imprisoned, the Pankhurst
would give orders to hunger strike. We would
stop eating. And then we were force fed.
That was terrible, terrible thing.
>> Well, I'm sorry that you had to go through
that. How did women finally get the right
to vote?
>> Well, my major strategy was to confront
the political system. I encouraged women to
take the vote and not ask politely for it.
You see Carrie Chapman Catt did not believe
that we needed a federal amendment. She preferred
go state by state by state and beg women for
the vote. Beg men for the vote for women.
No! No! We cannot go begging state by state.
We must have a federal amendment as envisioned
by Susan B. Anthony. I showed you a picture
of a procession that we planned. It was planned
for the very eve of Woodrow Wilson's inauguration.
We were going to confront him with the glory
of our cause. And here in the photograph you
see Inez Millholland, she is on a white horse and led
the suffrage parade. She was a beautiful young
woman. And unfortunately, she exhausted herself
in her work for suffrage and died at the podium
exclaiming, Mr. President, how long must
women wait for liberty? You see how we presented
ourselves. All in beautiful white clothing
and we marched in step. We wore sashes of
purple, gold and white. And there is another
picture actually I believe from the National
Archives that shows us all marching in step.
Yes, that's it. And you see how we presented
our beautiful cause. Beautifully to the world.
And to Woodrow Wilson.
Well, there were 5,000 people, men and women
in our procession. So many that Woodrow Wilson
said, well, where is everybody when he came
in for his inauguration at the train station.
No one was there to greet him. He was told
everyone is at Pennsylvania avenue watching
the suffrage parade. And you can see the crowds.
It was well publicized procession which is
exactly what we wanted. It turned very ugly.
The crowds moved in they heckled us. They
beat us. They spit on us. It was terrible.
Many, many of us were badly injured. And they
even as you can see in this photo mobbed the
ambulance so we were prevented from even getting
the care that we needed. I will tell you that
it is very, very difficult to re‑live some
of these photographs because they were ‑‑
they show how difficult our journey was until
we could reach suffrage.
Wilson, President Wilson did not initially
support our cause. He wouldn't even meet with
us. He said he was way too busy to bother
with women or women's issues. So after our
parades, our demonstrations which I know the
public sometimes thought were unlady‑like
and very brazen. I know Ms. Catt who ran the
national association Carrie Chapman Catt believed
our tactics were too wild. But I told her
over and over, no, no. I'm a shy, Quaker woman.
When Wilson wouldn't listen to us, we decided
to picket the White House. We were known as
the silent sentinels. We peacefully, peacefully
picketed. We had signs. Mr. President, how
long must women wait for liberty, democracy
begins at home. Mr. President. But again,
the crowds viewed us as unpatriotic because
the war had started. The first world war.
And I had said we are not stopping simply
because there is a war in Europe. You will
remember what happened the last time there
was a war, the Civil War. And the result was
the 14 Amendment. Which has within its text
male inhabitants of the land three times.
No, we would not stop. But again, crowds perceived
us as unpatriotic. They grabbed our picket
signs and our flags. They beat us with them.
We were the ones arrested. We were the ones
arrested. We were taken to Occoquan work house.
It was filthy. The mattresses were filled
with vermin. The food was filled with worms.
Well, that makes it easier, doesn't it to
go on hunger strike. Again, we stopped eating.
And again we were faced with force feeding
those horrible tubes. The blood. The vomit.
Well, I was put in a psychiatric ward. They
said I was insane for simply asking for the
right to vote. But a reputation of doctors
examined me and found in the end found I was
indeed sane.
Public pressure was exerted and we were released
from prison early. The tide began to turn.
But you know, Gandhi and later Martin Luther
King used the same tactics we used. Some call
it civil disobedience. But I see it as calling
attention in whatever way is necessary to
the importance of a vital, vital cause.
>> Thank you for sharing that. So after these
tactics and after all of this, the tide did
turn and we did get the right to vote in 1920.
So what did you do after that?
>> Well, getting the vote was just the beginning.
Now my father, he was a farmer, you will recall
said once you put your hand to the plow, you
don't let go until you come to the end of
the row. I knew we were not yet at the end
of the row. I know, I was laughed at for never
taking off my hat. Working night and day.
Never heating my rooms for fear I would be
tempted to read a novel. Getting the vote
only gave us equality in voting. And not in
earning a living or seeing that the laws of
earning a living are equal. Therefore I used
my legal training to draft language for an
amendment to grant full equality to men and
women a federal amendment so all the states
would have to obey. And that amendment has
come to be known as the equal rights amendment.
It was put into Congress through a friendly
congressman in 1923. And you can see there
some of the demonstrations, some of the later
demonstrations in my photograph and the text
of the equal rights amendment.
>> And something we are still working on today.
>> It is. Yes, it is. It's a cause I have
been in love with. I am in love with this
cause but we have not yet won it. You see,
in 1972, the United States Congress passed
the equal rights amendment and put it out
for ratification to the states. But Congress
put a time limit on it of seven years and
seven years is not enough time to lobby each
state for ratification. But now it's 1977,
35 out of the necessary 38 states have ratified.
But by March 22, 1979, we must have three
more states.
I'm elderly now. And I do not believe I will
live to see that happen. I am hopeful. I am
hopeful that others will move the cause of
equal rights forward. So I beg you to ask
yourself: What can I do? What can I do for
equality of rights?
Well, you see, I've always said the women's
movement is like a mosaic. If each of us will
put in one small piece, do one small thing,
together we will create a great work of art.
Equality.
>> Thank you Ms. Paul that was wonderful.
I think at this point I'm thinking about the
three things that I have learned from all
of you and I would sum them up as, hope, passion
and perseverance. There are so many things
we still need to do for equal rights today.
But we have a lot of questions from the public
so I would like to get to those questions
and so I would like to bring back Ms. Anthony
and Ms. Truth to the panel discussion and
ask you a few questions from our public. I'm
also looking at the list. I would like to
give a shout out to other folks that joined
us. Ms. Paul you mentioned New Jersey. We
have some folks watching from Weehawken, New Jersey. Some folks from Albany, New York. From Burbank,
California. From Utah. From Virginia and more
folks from Annapolis, Maryland. So thank you
all for joining us.
I think the first question I have is for ‑‑
actually for you, Ms. Paul. And that question
is, what do the colors of the sash mean? What
is the purple, gold and white stand for?
>> We are always asked that question. Wherever
we go and it's a very simple answer. We believe
that we had a glorious cause. And we wanted
to present it with beautiful colors. They
don't have any significance other than that
they became connected with the suffrage movement
and now with the movement for equal rights.
It's our trademark, if you will. It identifies
us as members of the cause.
>> Great, great. And so then the next question
is actually for Ms. Truth. So Ms. Truth,
you have a picture next to you, could you
tell us a little bit about that picture and
what year it was taken?
>> This picture here is Sojourner Truth she
has a picture of the Bible and her grandson
and a picture of her grandson there. I'm not
quite sure what year this was taken or whether
this was a photograph or a painting from a
photograph. I know it was in Washington, D.C.,
because this was the Bible that the colored
people of Baltimore gave to President Lincoln.
>> Very nice. Thank you. And I have another
question for you, Ms. Truth. What would you
want your legacy to be?
>> Well, I want people to remember not only
the name Sojourner truth. Remember that Sojourner
Truth showed up and spoke up. She always had
the courage to speak up when it wasn't even
fashionable for women to speak up in public.
I want them to remember that Sojourner Truth
believed for rights and equality for all.
For all women. And that Sojourner Truth was
way ahead of her time. So I want them to remember
the passion, the love, the dedication I had
to the cause, to the women's rights movement.
That's what I want them to remember.
>> Thank you. I have another question and
I think this one would be for Ms. Paul. That
question is, what did the first lady Wilson
think about women's suffrage and the right
to vote for women?
>> Well, unfortunately, she, she did not support
the right of women to vote or equality for
women. And as you may remember, Woodrow Wilson,
his wife died and he married a second time
and his second wife was very much, much against
us. And I fear that she influenced him against
the vote. But I will tell you this. President
Roosevelt ‑‑ I mean Theodore Roosevelt,
told me that a politician will never do anything
against his time. He will never do anything
until he sees that it is time to do it. And
Woodrow Wilson eventually came out and said
he would support rights once he saw the public
opinion moving in that direction. Unfortunately,
he said and he did it in New Jersey, my home
state and his, he said it's only state by
state by state. In state constitutions. Eventually
public opinion became so strong he couldn't
deny it and he even bucked his wife and took
the federal amendment seriously and helped
us in the end to win it especially against
those southern Democrats who were dead set
against it.
>> So you mentioned husbands and wives. Maybe
this question should go back to Ms. Anthony.
It's how did the average person deal with
votes for women? Did husbands and wives talk
about it? And that leads me to another question
for you. You never married. Is there a reason
why you didn't marry?
>> There are a number of reasons why I didn't
marry, although I did have offers of marriage.
One was of course that the laws eliminated
the personhood of a woman who got married.
And I did not think that any of the offers
came from someone who would respect me and
my work. And when I was of marriageable age,
I observed that if you married poor, you became
a housewife and a drudge. If you married wealth
you became a pet or a doll. To think if I
had married when I was in my 20s I would have
spent 40 or more years being a drudge or a
doll. I am glad I didn't have to do that.
Now as to whether women or men discussed it,
I certainly hope they did. I could not legislate
what goes on in the parlors dining rooms of the various
houses. And as Ms. Paul pointed out, there
were many women who were opposed to it women
suffrage as well as men. We could certainly
not have gotten the guarantee or could not
get the guarantee without the efforts of the
men because the power was theirs to give.
I know that many men were very sympathetic,
but there were very rigid and foolish ideas
about what a woman's proper sphere was supposed
to be and it was thought that once a woman
gets to do something as radical as participate
in her democracy, that all kinds of things
would happen. That they would start to wear
trousers and they wouldn't take care of the
babies and they would start demanding they
sit around and smoke cigars and drink Brandy
and all manner of ridiculous things. It was
just simply that we wanted an equal voice
in the government that we were just as
beholden to as the men.
>> Great, thank you. So one of the other comments
I have is that these were very hard times
for women. Does anyone have a comment about
how they kept hope going? Did you ever lose
hope?
>> I would not lose hope. There was much support
to be found within the movement from the ones
who were close to me and dear to me, and I
feared that I would not live to see the job
done but it was very important to see that
we had begun it. And we knew that we would
be turning it over to a generation of women
who were much better equipped than we were.
They had the undisputed right to speak in
public. They had business experience. They
had higher education. With all of those things.
I knew that failure wasn't possible.
>> Anyone else want to add to that? That's
wonderful.
>> For me, it was quite different. Hope was
all that I had. Hope was all that I had to
just survive on a daily basis. It was the
will of God that gave me the vision to go
out and speak for women's rights. I saw that
all my life, you see. How men were in charge,
the injustice done to women. Everywhere I
went. Men in charge. So early on I had this
vision in my head to speak up for women's
rights. So when I had the chance to speak
up, I got results. So I said it's a good thing
for women to speak up. Because if you do speak
up you do get results. So then when God told
me to sojourn the countryside to speak up
for women's rights, I knew that was a sign.
This to be my life journey, my life's work.
And with hope and daily prayer, that's how
I got through it.
>> Well, I would say this. Adding to what
Sojourner Truth has just indicated. I had not so much
hope as perseverance, you see I had a divine discontent
that laws were unjust. And against God's law
which again as a Quaker I believed was inside
of me. And therefore that inner voice, that
inner light just urged me onioned hope to
perseverance and I would like to think that
I carried Ms. Anthony's work forward and
Sojourner's Truth's work forward and the women of
today will carry our work forward.
>> Great. Thank you. I just got another question.
And it goes, how did the movement communicate
the message across the United States? So were
there newspapers that were willing to publish
pieces written by everyone? Or how did this ‑‑
how did it work as a grass roots movement
that went in a national way?
>> Well, I traveled back and forth across
the states and territories as much as I could.
The southern states did not particularly welcome
me so I did not spend much time there. But,
of course, we wrote letters to the newspapers.
We wrote broadsides that were distributed.
We had pamphlets and I spoke everywhere I
could. I had to do the speaking because Mrs. Stanton
was at home with her children. I would speak
and charge a small fee for people to listen
to me speak and we could help fund my travels
that way.
It was quite exhausting. And I think that's
another good reason why I never married.
>> When I got started, with all of my sojourns,
the work would spread ‑‑ the word would
spread from one city to the next. When I started
my sojourns, I started alone. Because my white
sisters had the same idea, but they didn't
welcome me right away. That didn't stop me.
I went from city to city, town to town. And
pretty soon they found out that we had the
same idea. So the white suffrage ‑‑ suffragettes
would invite me to their meetings and I would
start speaking and we started working together.
And then the colored women began to form their
organization and they had pamphlets and ads
in the newspaper so that's how the word got
out. But most of the word got out from my
sojourn up and down the countryside speaking
out and going to convention. Most of the time
I wasn't invited. I just showed up. And I
spoke out.
>> We had similar in the early days of my
work for the vote. We had similar newspapers
broadsides. We met and traveled which was
very difficult as Ms. Anthony has indicated.
But, of course, later on we had film, television,
radio for the equal rights amendment surely.
So we have ‑‑ I have had the advantage
of the modern conveniences as far as press
and film and television.
>> Thank you for that input. I would like
to say we could probably talk for many, many
more hours about the wonderful work each of
you has done. We are out of time. So I need
to end this conversation. I would like to
thank you very much for your time. Thank you
Ms. Anthony, thank you Ms. Paul and Ms. Truth.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you very much.
>> Back to work.
>> And thank you to the American historical
theater for their wonderful re‑enactors
who joined us for today's program. And you
can explore more stories like these from the
records of the National Archives at docsteach.org.
I would like to invite you to visit the National
Archives on‑line store. Right now they are
featuring a number of 19th Amendment centennial
gifts including my nice pin that I have on
my sash. Visit the national archives store.org.
And our commemoration of the 19th Amendment
continues this evening at 6:00 p.m. we will
have a book talk called, Vanguard, How Black 
Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted
on Equality for All. We will be joined by
author Dr. Martha Jones and moderator A'leilia Bundles.
tomorrow the foundation for the National Archives
will be hosting a program on the life and
legacy of Ida B. Wells at 1:00 p.m. that
program will include a presentation by an
Ida B. Wells re‑enactor and followed by
a discussion with moderator A'lelia Bundles
and special guest Ida B. Wells great granddaughter Michelle Duster. At 5:00 p.m. tomorrow there will also be
a discussion with three secretaries of state
on the very important role they play in the
election process. As well as the continued
struggle for women's rights. This is certainly
a timely program and we hope you can join us.
You can get more information about those programs
online at archivesfoundation.org. Finally
I would like to say thank you to our partner
the National Archives Foundation and our wonderful
sponsors who you see here on the screen whose
generous support helps make these Rightfully
Hers related programs possible. We are grateful
for their partnership with the National Archives
and the National Archives Foundation.
So this concludes our program. Thank you so 
much for joining us today.
