THIS DAY IN VIRGINIA HISTORY
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September 30, 1917
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.