Standing together: Inez Milholland's final campaign for women's suffrage

Abstract

In 1916, Inez Milholland Boissevain (1886-1916) embarked on a grueling campaign across the Western U.S. on behalf of The National Women's Party appealing for women's suffrage ahead of the 1916 Presidential election. Standing Together by artist Jeanine Michna-Bales retraces Milholland's journey. The 30-year-old suffragist delivered some 50 speeches to standing-room-only crowds in eight states in 21 days: Wyoming, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Montana, Utah, Nevada, and California. She battled chronic illness and lack of sleep during her travels and died a month after her last speech in Los Angeles, where her final public words were, "Mr. President, how long must this go on, no liberty?" Through her photographs, combining dramatic landscapes and historical reenactments of important vignettes of Milholland on her journey, Michna-Bales captures a glimpse of the monumental effort required to pass the 19th Amendment. Contextualizing Michna-Bales' photographs are a text by the author, historical ephemera including period newspaper accounts, Milholland's speeches, and excerpts from evocative personal letters to her husband, as well as an essay by Linda J. Lumsden, historian of women's rights and Milholland biographer. Standing Together reminds us that securing the vote for women was a long and difficult fight, and that even now, 100 years after the 19th Amendment was passed, many citizens in the U.S. are still fighting for the right to cast a ballot.--publisher's website.