I recently spent a week in New Jersey on an archival research trip, looking for clues about the 1915 state suffrage campaign in NJ and the presence of Sara Bard Field and the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage road trip envoys on their mid-Atlantic stops that year. I visited archives at Rutgers University, the Morristown & Morris Township Library, and the New Jersey Historical Society in Newark. I also made a special trip to Mt. Laurel Township to visit the wonderful and inspiring Alice Paul Institute.
And I capped off a week of back-to-back research appointments with a day in New York City to see the new Suffs musical!
What an incredible opportunity of timing that the musical - which tells the story of Alice Paul's role in the final years and days of the U.S. suffrage movement - came out this year in the midst of my own deep dive into suffrage research. It was a surreal experience visiting Alice Paul's birthplace and family home and then seeing her story, and the story of the wider movement, celebrated on stage, set to music, in a packed theater!
I loved the show and appreciated how the musical embraced a rich and complex history with attention to the generational, political, and racial differences and conflicts within the movement.
After a week of research and visiting friends in the area, I had one free day before flying out and decided I was close enough to Philadelphia to pop over to the Valley Forge historical site to check out Washington’s headquarters.
Have you ever visited Valley Forge? It’s a beautiful park and I enjoyed the car audio tour that guides listeners on an hour-long route through acres and acres of rolling hills and historical monuments, buildings, and artifacts related to George Washington’s military campaign during the American Revolution. The tour gives you prompts and guidance on where to stop, get out, walk through historic buildings, and meander through trails and look across hills, immersed in the layered history of the region.
As much as I enjoyed learning about events and life at Valley Forge, and seeing the room where Alexander Hamilton sat manning George’s journal (speaking of that other history-based Broadway musical), I was on a search for something there related to a different struggle for Independence: the women's rights Justice Bell.
Fast forward from the 1770s to the 1910s and you might be surprised to learn there’s a bit of suffrage history hidden away at Valley Forge.
In 1915, the eastern states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Massachusetts all placed women's suffrage on the state ballot. In order to highlight the lack of liberty and justice and independence for women, Pennsylvania suffragists commissioned a women’s version of the Liberty Bell. They then toured their own "Justice Bell" around in support of the 1915 state suffrage campaign that year.
Photo: Liberty Bell for Suffrage, Library of Congress
I found it at Valley Forge!
The Justice Bell & The Justice Bell Tour, Washington Memorial Chapel,
Valley Forge National Historic Park, Pennsylvania,
Photo by Tiffany Wayne, May 2024
The men of Pennsylvania (and New Jersey, and New York, AND Massachusetts) voted AGAINST adding a women's suffrage amendment to the state constitution in 1915 and the Justice Bell became a national symbol for women's rights, not just for Pennsylvania. The suffragists made sure that the Justice Bell remained silent until American women in all states gained the right to vote with the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920.
Newspaper source: Evening Public Ledger (Philadelphia, Pennsyvlania), September 25, 1920
You can learn a lot more about the Justice Bell, its journey throughout the Pennsylvania suffrage campaign, and how it ended up at Valley Forge instead of at Independence Hall in Philadelphia with that other bell, at the Justice Bell Foundation. Look for their documentary, Finding Justice (coming soon through video on demand), AND for a forthcoming book about the full story of the Justice Bell by Justice Bell Foundation founder, Amanda Owen.
Lastly, some important book news of my own.
I’m excited to share that Bloomsbury Publishing (who recently acquired my long-time publisher, ABC-CLIO) has just re-released my 2020 book, Women's Suffrage: The Complete Guide to the Nineteenth Amendment in paperback! This is great news in making the book more widely available at an affordable price (under $30) for personal or classroom use.
Or via your independent bookstore at Bookshop.org, where you can see my recommendations for other new & interesting books in U.S. Women's History as well:
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