A Day in the Life of a Suffragist, March 25

The Falls Church League of Women Voters will sponsor a dramatic presentation entitled “A Day in the Life of a Suffragist” Wednesday, March 25, at the Falls Church Community Center, 223 Little Falls Street. The program will begin at 7:30 p.m. and is free to the public.

Lynne Garvey-Hodge, commissioner of the Fairfax County History Commission, will depict the life of Mrs. Robert Walker, one of more than 120 women who were arrested at the White House in 1917 for picketing for the right to vote and then imprisoned at the Occoquan Workhouse. Their imprisonment served as a turning point for public support for the suffragists’ cause, and helped lead to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution in August 1920, giving women the right to vote.

In August 2008, Turning Point Plaza — a monument to the suffragists’ struggle — was dedicated at Occoquan Regional Park in a partnership between the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority and the League of Women Voters of the Fairfax Area.

“Last summer, we celebrated the 88th anniversary of the day the U.S. Constitution was amended to grant women the right to vote,” said Joan Lewis, President of the League of Women Voters of Falls Church.  “Voting is a precious right, and it is important to learn about and honor our history and those who made it.  This re-enactment makes history live.” 

For more information on the March 25 event, visit www.lwvfallschurch.org