Virginia Memory, Library of Virginia
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THIS DAY IN VIRGINIA HISTORY

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September 30, 1917

Letter, Pauline Adams to Edward Forstall Adams, 30 September 1917, Manuscript, Pauline Forstall Colclough Adams, Papers, 1917–1990, Accession 37402, Personal Papers Collection, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia. Letter, Pauline Adams to Edward Forstall Adams, 30 September 1917, Manuscript, Pauline Forstall Colclough Adams, Papers, 1917–1990, Accession 37402, Personal Papers Collection, Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Pauline Forstall Colclough Adams Wrote to Her Son from Prison

Pauline Forstall Colclough Adams (1874–1957) advocated votes for women. On September 4, 1917, she was one of thirteen picketers arrested for “flaunting their banners” before a selective service parade in front of President Woodrow Wilson's reviewing stand. The suffragists were imprisoned in the federal workhouse at Occoquan. After her release Adams continued to fight for suffrage, and in 1920 Virginia women gained the right to vote with the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The Virginia General Assembly, however, did not ratify the amendment until 1952.