Inez Milholland - Suffrage Leader

Inez Milholland was born on August 6, 1886, in Brooklyn, New York. Her father, John Milholland, was a wealthy businessman and social reformer who supported causes like the NAACP. As a teenager, Inez lived with her family in London, where she attended Kensington High School for Girls, a private school that welcomed students from many different backgrounds. The inclusivity she experienced there, along with her father’s activism, helped shape her passion for social justice and women’s rights.

After high school, Inez studied for a short time in Berlin at the Willard School for Girls. In 1905 she returned to New York and enrolled at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie. At first, Inez was a star athlete, but everything changed after a trip to England at the end of her sophomore year. There, she met the famous British suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst and marched with her in support of women’s voting rights. Inspired, Inez shifted her focus from sports to activism.

Back at Vassar, Inez organized the Vassar Votes for Women Club. But the college president, James Monroe Taylor, banned students from discussing suffrage on campus. Inez refused to give up. Instead, she held club meetings in a nearby cemetery just outside school grounds. The group grew to over 40 members and staged creative protests until Inez graduated in 1909.

That same year, Inez made her first public mark on the suffrage movement. During a parade for presidential candidate William Howard Taft, she shouted for women’s voting rights through a megaphone from a window above the street, capturing the crowd’s attention.

Inez dreamed of attending graduate school at Yale, Harvard, or Columbia, but each school rejected her because she was a woman. Undeterred, she attended New York University School of Law. She earned her law degree and passed the bar exam in 1912, beginning her career as a lawyer focused on child labor and children’s rights.

While working as a lawyer, Inez stayed active in many reform groups. She joined the National Child Labor Committee, the NAACP, and the Women’s Trade Union League. She also helped publish The Masses, a magazine that promoted progressive ideas about politics and society.

At the same time, Inez became a rising star in the Women’s Rights Movement. Her most famous role came in 1913 when she led 8,000 women down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. during the Women’s Suffrage Procession. Wearing a crown and long white cape while riding a white horse, Inez became a powerful symbol of women’s freedom and determination.

Later that year, Inez met Eugen Jan Boissevain. In a bold move for her time, she proposed to him, and the two later married and had two daughters. The couple lived in England, where Inez worked as a reporter while continuing to support women’s suffrage.

In 1916, Inez returned to the United States to join a speaking tour with the National Woman’s Party. She traveled across 12 western states, giving speeches urging women to demand the right to vote. But her health was failing, she had delayed treatment for pernicious anemia in order to continue her work. In October, while speaking in Los Angeles, she suddenly collapsed. Her last words to the crowd were: “Mr. President, how long must women wait for liberty?”

Inez was hospitalized for several weeks, but her illness proved too severe. She died on November 25, 1916, at the age of 30. Her early death shocked the nation, but her legacy lived on. Just four years later, in August 1920, the 19th Amendment was ratified, giving women the right to vote. Inez Milholland’s courage and determination helped pave the way for that victory, and she is remembered as one of the most inspiring voices of the suffrage movement.

References:
“Inez Milholland.” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, www.nps.gov/people/inez-milholland.htm.
“Women of Protest: Photographs from the Records of the National Woman’s Party.” The Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/collections/women-of-protest/articles-and-essays/selected-leaders-of-the-national-womans-party/icon/.

Key words:
Civil Rights, Justice, Courage, Perseverance Freedom, Responsibility, Challenge Injustices, Stand Up for Your Beliefs

Image Citation:
Public Domain

Explore ARTEFFECT projects about this Unsung Hero:
Inez Milholland Artworks