I've got nothing to do
with committee appointments.
Let her submit her proposal to Anna.
She's here in Philadelphia.
All she wants is half an hour.
She's a bright girl, Swarthmore...
and a doctorate from Penn.
Her family has money.
Carrie, are you listening?
Yeah.
She wants to lobby
for a constitutional amendment.
She thinks Congress is going to
suddenly roll over?
I thought you said she was bright.
- Paula who?
- Paul, Alice Paul.
- She worked in England.
- Don't bring me any radicals, Harriet.
She's not a radical, she's a Quaker.
She came all the way down here
to meet you and Anna.
Be nice.
- It's mine.
- I saw it first.
- It's calling my name.
- I must be deaf.
Heads.
- It's not your style.
- Nice try.
Carrie Catt's very proud of the
state-by-state campaign. Congratulate her.
On what? 64 years of begging,
and now women can vote in nine states.
How many years per state is that?
You congratulate her.
We go there and say, "Do the math,"
we won't get the letterhead or the office.
You want to be two girls on a soapbox...
or do you want to go to Washington
and play with the big lads?
I want them to give us
the Congressional Committee.
- What?
- Did you swallow it whole?
I strangled it first.
The President of the National American
Woman Suffrage Association...
the Reverend Anna Howard Shaw.
Don't bring up suffrage in England,
Shaw thinks the Brits are hooligans.
No matter what,
don't get your knickers in a knot.
- Don't start up, be polite.
- I'm always polite. When am I not polite?
It's the color, with your hair.
The passage of a constitutional amendment
is not a realistic goal.
- It could become one.
- Theoretically, yes, in the future.
First, we need more states.
Susan B. Anthony petitioned for it in 1868
and again in...
Thank you for the history lesson.
If Susan B. Anthony were alive today,
she'd say 1912 is the future.
Dr. Shaw and I worked side by side
with Susan and Elizabeth Stanton...
while you were still in diapers, Miss Paul.
Would you do me a favor
and please refrain...
from second-guessing her thoughts
on this topic?
"Do me a favor, don't second-guess
Susan's thoughts on cheese.
"We worked side by side.
We worked cheek to cheek with Susan.
"She despised Cheddar
and she loathed Muenster."
A constitutional amendment
that gives women the right to vote...
assuming it doesn't die in committee, will
almost certainly be vetoed in the Senate.
We waste time and money. We squander
the goodwill of the Democrats...
and worse, we look like babies
with no political savvy.
Which gives ammunition to our opponents.
Have you any other thoughts, Miss Paul?
A parade. In March.
The day Wilson's arriving
for his inauguration.
We're guaranteed a crowd, and hopefully...
some badly-needed publicity
from the newspapers.
Mrs. Blatch tells me
that you two met in England.
- Those women give suffrage a bad name.
- Better than no name at all.
I beg your pardon?
Lucy was studying at Oxford.
What? I was.
While I'm in sympathy
with the British suffragettes...
I don't approve of their methodology.
We don't throw bricks
to make our position clear.
If I send you to Washington...
I want your assurance
that there will be no hooligan tactics.
You have it.
I don't consider myself above the law
under any circumstances.
Then you may take over NAWSA's committee
in Washington.
Have your parade, Miss Paul.
Thank you.
You'll have to raise
your own funds, of course.
That the female mind
is inferior to the male mind...
need not be assumed.
There is something about it
essentially different...
and that this difference
is of a kind and degree...
that votes for women
would constitute a political danger...
ought to be plain to everyone.
I do not wish to see the day come...
when the women in my state
shall trail their skirts...
in the muck and mire of partisan politics.
These flippant girls
singing "votes for women"...
know not the disasters they invite
by this reckless movement.
Flip you for it.
Let me see.
How do you raise money to raise money?
Excuse me.
All we need is a handful of society women.
I found someone who designs parade floats.
Floats? I thought we were going to
keep it small.
Why?
You've never organized a parade before.
It's not like giving a dinner party.
- Have you ever given a dinner party?
- No.
Then what are you worried about?
Did you get the permit?
I've been to the District Police three times...
Go over his head,
to the Parks Commissioner.
- I could go under his belt.
- I bet you would.
I think 1,000 women marching...
means more than 10,000 signatures
on a piece of paper.
Suffrage is not a dead issue.
It's us, it's you. It's living, breathing women.
We're not just a petition
that can be crumpled up and tossed away.
And this is what marching does.
Marching shows the politicians
that we women...
are united in our demand for political...
Show me a raise. Screw the politicians.
Go ahead, if you think it'll help.
Now, there's...
A hundred and forty-six women
burned to death in a factory fire last month.
Where's your fire escape?
Laws are made by elected officials.
A fire escape can be required by law.
A vote is a fire escape.
If we take Sunday off to la-di-da for you,
we get fired on Monday.
You have children, missus?
They don't eat ballots.
Go ahead, shout your head off.
The ruling class are those who have a voice,
and that voice is a vote.
No one hears you.
- Votes for women.
- The parade is going to happen and...
Please, would you like one?
The more the merrier. Anyone?
A vote is a fire escape.
That's right. A vote's a fire escape.
Mrs. Wenclawska. Ruza.
Alice Paul.
Now give me the rest, college girl.
Helen Keller's in town.
Arrange for me to meet her.
I don't know which hotel.
She's deaf and blind.
If she found it, I'm sure you can.
Hi. Mabel Vernon.
I played hockey with Alice at Swarthmore.
Lucy Burns.
D.C. Police will not guarantee our safety
if we march on the 3rd...
- because Wilson's arriving.
- We're not changing the date.
Exactly what I said. I like that one.
And he said, "Well...
"miss, there might be trouble
with inaugural crowds...
"and I'm afraid I won't be held responsible."
And I said, "Look, mister,
we're entitled to police protection."
And he said, "Why don't you
take my advice, you ladies?
- "Why don't you stay at home?"
- Miss Paul?
Ida Wells-Barnett,
from the Chicago delegation.
I'm told you expect Negro women
to march in a separate unit, at the back.
Southern suffrage groups
threatened to withdraw...
Are the ladies afraid
we'll march out of step?
- Call their bluff.
- We can't afford to lose their support...
not with the Democrats in office.
Who's "we"? Women? Or just white women?
- Now, wait a minute.
- We have one agenda: Suffrage.
- Add another issue...
- lf we don't stand up now...
what happens to Negro women
when you finally get the vote?
They'll keep us out of the polling place
any way they can...
- Other colored groups have agreed.
- Not perfect, but practical.
Dress up prejudice and call it politics?
I expected more from a Quaker.
I'll march with my peers or not at all.
I understand.
How are you, ma'am?
Doris Stevens,
National Woman Suffrage Association.
We need volunteers.
If you have an hour to spare?
No, I can't, not today.
- Or if you'd like to make a contribution...
- No, thank you.
- Watch out, sweetheart. Hot soup.
- Jenny!
How are you, ma'am?
I'm Doris Stevens,
National Woman Suffrage Association.
We need volunteers.
If you have an hour to spare?
I'm sorry, I can't.
Or if you'd like to make a pledge.
Another time, perhaps.
Come along, Jenny. Mind the wet.
Jenny, come on, take my hand.
How are you, ma'am?
Doris Stevens,
National Woman Suffrage Association.
We're going to solicit donations.
Let's look like we need them.
I could tell you were from Wyoming.
That's my favorite state.
They gave women the vote from the get-go.
What a beautiful dog you're wearing.
Didn't we meet at Mrs. Bellwood's lunch?
I'm Doris Stevens,
National Woman Suffrage Association.
...by the politicians, by the newspapers.
It's very important to raise awareness...
- Sen. Leighton, good to see you.
- Good to see you.
Good evening, Senator.
- Hi, John. Nice to see you.
- Senator.
Beautiful, isn't it? I'm sorry, I'm Lucy Burns.
Emily Leighton.
Gosh.
I'm actually part of NAWSA's
Congressional Committee.
National American Woman
Suffrage Association.
We're giving a parade.
Have you heard about our parade?
I really don't follow politics, Miss Burns.
I haven't the head for it.
We're citizens or we're chattel.
You don't really need a degree from Harvard
to figure that out.
Would you excuse us?
Sen. Leighton, it's very...
nice to meet you.
Muller vs. Oregon, 1908.
Judge rules in favor
of shorter working hours for women...
then goes on record saying
healthy mothers serve the public interest.
That was a victory.
And as you're a labor lawyer, are you not?
Those women were being exploited.
Sure, now they're being patronized.
We're not brood mares.
Labor law with a sexual bias
will come back and bite us in the ass.
The issue isn't opportunity, it's protection.
Women need protection.
We all need protection.
But when women complain,
people call it hysteria...
and rush to fetch the doctor.
As long as women accept protective law,
they can't expect equality.
They need full citizenship.
Ben Weissman.
Alice Paul.
Inez Milholland.
I'm hungry. Have you eaten?
A stout old maid with facial hair,
Carry Nation waving her axe...
is what people think of
when you say "suffragist."
So NAWSA fights it
with Madonna and Child?
Women who nurture the family,
rock the baby...
serve the dinner, serve society.
- Serving, serving, serving.
- Always.
But the new suffragist is single,
young, independent...
- Educated.
...and very, very beautiful.
She's you.
On a horse.
A cowgirl?
- A warrior.
- A herald.
Joan of Arc with 10,000 women
following her down Pennsylvania Avenue.
An ideal woman
who can lead us up the mountain.
- Or off a cliff.
- No.
Something like this?
You could do this for a living.
- You think so?
- He does.
What's the name of that miserable rag
you work for? The Washington Post.
- That's exactly what I want.
- Have dinner with me tomorrow.
When I do business with men,
we have dinner.
Don't you want equal treatment?
- I'm having dinner with Helen Keller.
- Don't stare, she hates that.
Have lunch with me.
I'd like to meet
some Washington Post reporters.
- After lunch.
- Before.
- Don't you trust me?
- I don't know you.
Would you like to?
Negro men have been voting
since the Civil War.
You think the ballot's changed his life?
It's a cash-and-carry country.
What will the vote buy you?
- Self-respect, for starters.
- I vote and I have no self-respect.
What do you think women are going to do
when they vote? Reform politics?
Because we're morally superior?
That's a nice fairy tale.
I don't have any illusions about women.
There's good and bad, just like men.
I don't know what they're going to do
with their vote, and I don't care.
- Prohibition? Legalize birth control?
- It doesn't matter.
- That's not the point.
- What's the point?
We're legitimate citizens.
We're taxed without representation...
we're not allowed to serve on juries,
so we're not tried by our peers.
It's unconscionable,
not to mention unconstitutional.
We don't make the laws,
but we have to obey them, like children.
You know the Suffrage Amendment
has only once been voted on in the Senate?
But we've got nine states now.
That's four million women voters,
which means one-fifth of the House...
one-sixth of the Senate,
and one-seventh of the electoral votes...
come from suffrage states.
You want to know
what women can buy with that?
Were you the smartest girl in your class?
No. In the whole school.
Would you be talking to me
if I didn't work for The Washington Post?
No.
Have lunch with me, Alice Paul.
This desk was Susan B. Anthony's.
From the old headquarters.
It was in storage.
It's haunted.
Did you kiss him?
Because if you don't want him, I'll take him.
Listen.
Ask her how we'll get the amendment
on the floor.
What does she say?
She says:
"Just do it."
Hey, girls! Over here!
Get over here, come on!
Get off the streets, go home to your mother!
My mother is here!
If you was my wife, I'd bash your head in!
Welcome, Mr. President!
Welcome, sir.
Welcome to Washington, Mr. President...
- Why, thank you, Commissioner Stevenson.
- Right this way.
I thought there would be a big crowd.
Where is everybody?
Hey, you he-shes!
Get off the streets and go home,
you hussies!
- You want to be a man?
- Who wears the pants in your family?
What you got under your skirt?
Go back home!
Mom!
Officer!
Officer! Over here!
When's the last time
suffrage was on the front page?
"Nation aroused by open insults to women.
"Cause wins popular sympathy."
Another photograph of you,
warrior princess...
above the fold, thank you.
Alice, you were right about the wings.
"Even those who are opposed
to giving women the vote...
"must now admit that the movement
is no ephemeral thing."
The Evening Star blames the D.C. Police.
- So does The Post.
- My feet hurt.
We got lucky.
A hundred people in the hospital.
You call that lucky, Miss Paul?
She means the extra publicity.
Look, Anna...
The police were negligent.
The Post is calling for an investigation.
Wilson's a gentleman from the South.
I don't see how he can deny
a delegation of women...
especially when they were practically
molested at his doorstep.
- A delegation?
- Before the bruises fade.
Before he addresses Congress.
He's the President of the United States,
Miss Paul.
You don't exactly go calling on him
as though he were the missus next door.
Come on, Carrie. Can't a cat look at a king?
We should press our advantage.
I think you overestimate your advantage.
This is the first time the issue of suffrage
has been brought to my attention.
We hope that you'll support the issue
in your address to Congress, Mr. President.
As I promised in my election campaign...
Congress will focus on currency revision
and tariff reform.
These are issues
which affect all Americans...
and of course, must take priority
over special interests.
I can't very well instruct Congress
on the merits of an issue...
I'm not familiar with.
I hope you'll be patient
while I educate myself.
Mr. President.
How can you legislate tariff reform
when not all citizens are able to vote for it?
Isn't that why we fought
the American Revolution?
The way he seated us in a circle
like schoolgirls.
He's stalling, Lucy.
He knows Anna Shaw won't press him.
What we need is a separate committee...
dedicated to the federal amendment
and nothing else.
We've got women coming in
from every district to volunteer.
Now's the time to train them.
Lobby Congress.
Really pressure both Houses...
get the amendment on the floor
and to a vote.
It won't pass.
Then we'll use that as an excuse
to go after the Democrats.
Be a thorn in Wilson's side...
A rock in his shoe, we won't let up.
Inez, we need a bigger headquarters.
Any of your rich boyfriends own a building?
Would you please be quiet?
My sister's blind.
I have to read the titles to her.
That's it, you've ruined it for me. Let's go.
Come on.
Come on.
Instructions for lobbyists:
Before you visit a Congressman,
look him up in our card index.
What bills has he supported in the past?
What's his suffrage record?
Learn the names of his children.
We don't need women
voting in South Carolina.
We know how to take care of our women.
Be a good listener. Don't interrupt.
The majority of intelligent,
refined, educated women...
in our country don't want it,
and that's a fact.
Don't lose your temper.
Since you are suffragists,
you won't mind standing.
I'm with you. I'm for it. I'm going to
vote for it. Now don't bother me.
I was beginning to worry.
Didn't Mrs. Martin tell you
I was going to be late?
I asked her to call you.
You look tired.
Suffrage Amendment
finally made it out of committee.
Took forever to defeat it.
Senators love to hear themselves talk.
What did they say?
Why did they vote it down?
Because they know...
that you have your hands full
with the children already.
- Rebecca learn any new words today?
- Yes, "funny."
You didn't really expect the amendment
to get a two-thirds majority, did you?
I don't expect, I plan...
for every possibility I can imagine.
- You don't like surprises?
- Not even on my birthday.
Men plan, God laughs.
- I'm not a man.
- Ever wish you were?
Once.
When I saw my brother peeing his name
in the snow.
The wind is changing.
What?
Alice Paul's new, unauthorized
fundraising committee.
She's calling it the Congressional Union.
See who's on the advisory board?
Not without my specs.
Phoebe Harkes, Helen Keller, Harriot Blatch.
She's handpicked our best fundraisers.
And that money should've come here
to the National...
for state campaigns,
not her propaganda sheet.
You didn't authorize her
to publish a newspaper?
- Of course not.
- Read the editorial.
She's telling women to boycott Wilson
in the next election.
Rarely in the history of the country
has a party been more powerful...
than the Democratic Party is today.
Those who hold power are responsible
not only for what they do...
but for what they do not do.
If the Democrats refuse
to enfranchise women...
then it's incumbent upon voters
to boycott President Wilson and his party...
in the upcoming election.
President Wilson's inaction
establishes just as clear a record...
as does a policy of open hostility.
Leave that.
Maybe he'll feel he has to respond.
Wilson doesn't subscribe to The Suffragist.
He reads The Evening Star.
Hello.
- I apologize for not returning your calls.
- One call.
Yours?
It's the Coliseum, isn't it?
Have you been to Rome?
Are you trying to make small talk?
Because you stink at it.
I know why you're here.
The Star wouldn't print some tirade
from your propaganda sheet...
and you want me to help you at The Post.
The Suffragist is not propaganda,
it reports on suffrage.
- And it's an editorial, not a tirade.
- This paper supports the Democrats.
Mr. Clayburgh isn't going to
hand you editorial space.
You want ink, buy a pen.
All I want is 15 minutes with him.
Could we talk about it over lunch?
Dinner. And don't wear that hat.
- I like this hat.
- It's ballast, isn't it?
If you took it off, you'd drift.
You'd sleep late, you'd go to the park,
read magazines.
- Detective novels.
- Go dancing?
- Play tennis.
- No rhythm?
Am I getting too personal?
- I know what you're thinking.
- That saves time.
- Dinner on Friday all right?
- We must have a bad connection.
Julia passed away four years ago.
Friday?
- No night's good for me.
- Because I don't have a wife?
Because you're a coward
who won't champion a reasonable editorial.
Dinner, Francisco's, Friday?
- Bring your editor?
- All right, whatever, come on.
- Could you type this for me?
- I'm just here to make a donation.
It won't take you long. The typewriter's here.
I don't know how to type.
The letters are on the keys. Thank you.
Yes?
Thank you. Nice.
Did you sign up for training? We need
volunteers to lobby for the amendment.
I'm Sen. Leighton's wife.
He doesn't approve.
If everyone approved,
there'd be no point to it, would there?
I love my husband.
I see no reason to publicly embarrass him.
Women like you
are worse than anti-suffragists.
You perpetuate the lie
every day at breakfast.
I beg your pardon?
You don't know what you're talking about.
Hi. Mr. Weissman?
Of course. Follow me.
My father went to the bathroom.
My shoe.
It's untied.
Do you mind?
He's the youngest newspaper editor
I've ever met.
Do you want to split the manicotti?
You're back early.
He had to take his son home.
His son?
My sister had the baby.
A girl. She had a girl.
God. In one more year I'm going to be 30.
I can just see it now.
I'll end up back in Brooklyn
with a hairless cat...
called Lester.
Leave the baby-making to women...
who aren't lucky enough
to have your brains or your ability.
Don't complicate your life.
My mother had eight of us.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton had seven.
When she and Susan Anthony
were together...
they took turns feeding the babies.
I'm not feeding anyone's babies.
Are you done? Let's go over the budget.
In the morning. I'm too tired.
Think how tired you'd be
if you had seven children.
I'm tired of being alone.
If you say you're not, you're a liar.
Before you sit down, Miss Paul...
$25,343.88...
is a very impressive total.
Why hasn't any of that money
been forwarded to the National Treasury?
It was collected
by the Congressional Union.
The Union was created to fund
the Committee's efforts...
to lobby Washington
for a federal amendment.
We're not budgeted
by the National Treasury.
I move to suspend the activities
of the Congressional Committee...
during which time the board will investigate
unauthorized expenditures.
Second the motion.
Did you hear that?
Investigation of our finances.
Good. Great, let them keep
their Congressional Committee.
We can run our own campaign.
To hell with NAWSA.
I don't want to fight other women.
Carrie Catt is the next president of NAWSA.
I don't think she is a woman.
Seriously, has anyone seen her naked?
She called you a thief.
If you don't resign,
she'll make sure you're voted out...
and then what?
Are we going to fold our hands
like good little girls?
Do what Mama says?
Hope that Wilson will pat us on the fanny
when he goes by?
Look at me.
No one will blame you
if we split with NAWSA.
They're not giving us any other choice.
Here's your tea.
Thank you.
Stick some on top.
Yeah, put your tongue on the top.
Okay, get ready for bed. Come on.
The National Woman's Party
is composed entirely of women...
and does not align itself
officially or unofficially...
with any existing political party.
The NWP does not put forth
a candidate for election.
We are a single-platform party,
dedicated to the passage...
of the following constitutional amendment:
The right of citizens
of the United States to vote...
shall not be denied or abridged
by the United States...
or any state, on account of sex.
We pledge unceasing opposition
to any and all political candidates...
who refuse to support this amendment.
And in the matter of foreign trade...
the economy demands...
Don't push, no pushing!
- Mrs. Catt.
- One question.
NAWSA does not support
the National Woman's Party.
Miss Paul said she plans to organize...
Miss Paul is taking a thoughtless
and irresponsible stance...
that amounts to an endorsement
of the Republican candidate.
Think Miss Paul's campaign
will cost Wilson his reelection?
President Wilson has kept us out of the war
in Europe...
and NAWSA will continue to endorse him,
as will women voters in the West.
Extra, read all about it.
Kaiser presses on, read all about it.
Thank you, ma'am.
Give this to Mrs. Harold for expense money.
She's a widow now.
Yeah, got it.
It isn't fair.
- Should have called heads.
- Mrs. McEwan!
Buck up. I'm only going to one state,
I'll be the first one back. Come here.
- Alice?
- Yeah?
- Alice, Inez wants you.
- Where is she?
She's by the side entrance.
I can't go to California.
You have to find someone else.
There is no one else.
You're the woman on the horse...
you can make or break a rally.
Alice, I can't tell you...
I'm sorry, I'm exhausted.
Run around Europe, waste your time
on peace missions...
and now you bail when it really matters?
Waste my time? You couldn't say that
if you'd been with me in France.
We're not in France, we're in the
United States and people want to hear you.
Stuff them. Nothing's more important
than ending a war.
Not suffrage, not anything.
You can't understand until you've seen it.
Inez, this is an election year.
And you're wearing blinders.
I'm seeing around the corner.
You hear that? It's a military band.
You want a war, here's your war.
This war's been going on
for over half a century.
The women who started it
are dead and buried.
Here is where it ends, now is when we win.
You're tired, I'm tired. Who isn't tired?
But don't sit down yet.
If the woman on the horse drops out...
what message is that going to
send the troops?
God...
I can't say no to you.
Then why try?
Get some sleep on the train. You look awful.
That's the spirit.
Even God rested on Sunday.
Come on. I'll let you drive.
I'm busy.
You do know how to drive,
don't you, Miss Paul?
You do know how to drive,
don't you, Miss Paul?
Is that a car or a quilt?
You want to learn?
Easy!
You've got to keep your head up
when you're driving.
It's very important to watch the road.
Little easier when you let out on the clutch.
Okay, there we are. That's better.
Now watch the road.
Keep your head up. Don't look so tense.
Watch the road, watch the tree!
Not the clutch, the brake.
My little sister picked it up just like that.
You look at your feet
when you dance, don't you?
I'm a Quaker. We don't dance.
- What?
- Take off the damn hat.
Okay. Come on now, put it in reverse.
Keep your head up. Don't look down.
All right, Miss Jenny.
Look at you.
All right, love.
Did you see the paper?
"The National Woman's Party
is traveling west by train.
"They will embark on a speaking campaign...
"urging women voters to vote...
"against the Democrats in this election...
"who oppose a federal amendment.
"Noted contributors to this effort include...
"Mrs. Thomas Leighton."
I use my housekeeping allowance,
that's all.
It has nothing to do with you.
Emily, I'm a Democratic Senator.
You're my wife.
It's got everything to do with me.
You'll withdraw your membership.
They count on my monthly contributions.
I've closed your account.
You can charge at the grocers...
and the bills will be sent to my office.
Mr. President, how long must women wait
for liberty?
I do not believe that women will vote
in a national election.
We declare our faith
in the principles of self-government.
If they were to, they would not be
as intelligent as I think they are.
That woman, irrespective of her race...
was made first for her own happiness,
with the absolute right to herself...
to all opportunities life affords.
Women should be patient,
and continue to work...
in the admirable way
they have worked in the past...
campaigning for suffrage state by state.
We ask of our rulers no special favors...
no special privileges...
no special legislation.
I am very glad to make my position
about the suffrage plank clear to you.
My private thoughts aside,
I'm not at liberty to urge upon Congress...
policies which are not supported
by the party for whom I am a spokesperson.
We ask justice.
We ask equality.
We ask that all...
We ask that all...
the civil and political rights...
that belong to citizens
of the United States...
be guaranteed to us...
and our daughters...
forever.
What?
What, Lucy?
Inez...
collapsed.
And they took her to the hospital.
But she's all right, isn't she?
My dear Inez...
My dearest Inez...
How can death claim you?
And I, remembering
how the faces of many women...
turned toward you with expectation.
How can I find consolation?
Lucy Burns called again.
You are being ridiculous.
She was a grown woman.
She knew she had pernicious anemia.
Stop blaming yourself.
My coming home
has nothing to do with Inez.
Campaign's over, that's all.
"You put your hand to the plow,
you finish the row."
What are you doing up here?
Canning fruit.
What fruit? It's winter.
Winter fruit.
You needed a rest, okay, you had a rest.
You feel bad about Inez, we all do.
It's awful, but it's not over.
Inez was tired. She asked me to replace her.
Nobody ever made Inez Milholland
do anything in her life.
She couldn't say no to me.
Don't you read the Ladies' Home Journal?
"Alice Paul's relentless.
'Do it for suffrage, do it for suffrage."'
That's what we need to hear.
- Get a parrot.
- Don't use her as an excuse.
She would hate that.
She said, "Men plan, God laughs."
You ever wonder what we're doing, Lucy?
'Cause it seems like he is laughing.
And it's so unfair...
that anyone should have to die in a fight...
that shouldn't even be a fight.
Especially her.
Isn't it ridiculous?
She's dead,
and we're right where we started...
which is nowhere at all.
I'm lost, Lucy.
We laughed, too.
Remember? In London?
That time that we hid in the coat closet
so that we could interrupt Parliament...
and you had to pee.
And I said to you, I said:
"Hey, here's some Lord's boot. Go ahead."
I thought to myself:
"If she's game for that, that's it.
We're gonna be friends for life."
We laughed.
You know, we can still laugh.
I don't see that there is any other way.
That is what we do.
We piss in the boot.
We come out guns blazing, yeah.
I wish Alice was here.
My friend Alice, you can't say no to her.
It's beautiful.
Heads, we'll milk cows.
Tails, we'll go and find Wilson's boots.
Has there been any reaction
from the President?
Who knew about this?
The National Woman's Party will station
sentinels at the White House gate...
from dawn until dusk every day...
until the Constitution of the United States
is amended...
to ensure that every citizen,
regardless of sex...
- is entitled to vote for the man...
- Or woman.
...or woman who occupies that House.
Give that good boy an extra cookie.
"Silent, silly, and offensive.
"A man's mind would
never dream of something...
"at once so petty and so monstrous."
Listen.
"The demonstration was denounced...
"by President of the National American
Woman Suffrage Association...
"Mrs. Carrie Chapman Catt,
who pointed out that the NWP..."
which is us, "represents only 10%
of the nation's suffragists."
Is that true? Did she make that up?
I think she might have.
What're you doing?
I'm heating bricks for the girls to stand on.
It's freezing out there.
Give them double coats.
Check to see who can donate coats, gloves,
sweaters, scarves. Try Mrs. Belmont.
"The President smiled and waved
to the ladies as his automobile swept in."
Phony baloney.
"Mr. And Mrs. Richard Lane announce
the marriage of their daughter Susan...
"to Roland Ashmore."
Just trying to mix it up.
"Captain of British steamer
made prisoner by German U-boat."
"German submarines sink five more ships."
They're within their legal rights.
They'll get tired of the cold. It won't last.
How about they're trespassing?
- On public property?
- Oh, yeah...
"The avenue is misty gray
"And here beside the guarded gate
"We hold our golden, blowing flags
"And wait."
Could you hold this, please? Thanks.
Senator Myers drafted a bill
that would outlaw treasonous banners.
Those banners quote the President.
You're a brave girl.
This continued picketing
by the National Woman's Party...
is the single greatest obstacle
to the suffrage amendment.
We do not support it...
and we have made that clear
to the President.
The Michigan suffrage committee is here
to pick up their bus.
- Can we put them...
- Ask Mrs. Lewis.
- Upstairs bathroom toilet's not working.
- Ask Mabel.
- Can I have dinner with Ben Weissman?
- Ask your mother.
Don't want to offend you.
You're not seeing him?
- No.
- That's what I told Lucy, but...
Heard you gave away your beau.
Beau?
Pardon my French.
If you mean Weissman, he's not,
and I didn't.
He only asked Doris out
because you never say yes.
Don't you want to get married, Alice?
Don't you want to get married, Alice?
I'm busy that day.
All the men I meet are idiots.
Or terrified of me.
But if I met someone like Weissman...
I would latch onto him like a mollusk.
It wouldn't be fair.
To him or Michael.
A little boy needs a mother.
My whole heart's in this fight.
There's nothing to spare,
not if I mean to win.
You underestimate your heart.
When you're alone...
you can make any choice you want.
But when someone loves you,
you lose that right.
I won't give anything away
until we have it all.
I can't.
Everything's a trade-off, isn't it?
Seems to be.
Tom, I need...
I need to tell you...
I want to tell you...
Tom, I have something to...
Looks like we've had enough
of Kaiser Wilhelm.
The United States is declaring war.
There are, and may be...
many months of fiery sacrifice
and trials ahead of us.
It is a fearful thing to lead
this great peaceful people into war...
"into the most terrible and disastrous
of all wars.
"We shall fight for the things which we have
always carried nearest our hearts."
"We shall fight for democracy...
"for the right of those
who submit to authority...
"to have a voice in their own governments."
- Wilson's going to fight for their rights?
- He's not gonna fight.
He's gonna send men
to fight the Kaiser for him.
He'll stay right here and tip his hat...
to all the American women
standing at his gate.
There won't be any women
standing at his gate.
- What?
- We can't picket a wartime president.
- Why the hell not?
- It's treason, that's why.
Treason is betraying your country.
Petitioning is not treason.
At worst, it's just rude.
Give it any name you want.
The war changes everything.
- This is not our war.
- Women have husbands, women have sons.
No one is gonna thank us
if we all slink off to roll bandages.
- It's not about being thanked.
- This is my country...
and if our soldiers need bandages,
I'm rolling bandages.
Roll them on the picket line.
We regretted it when
we dropped the cause during the Civil War.
And what happened?
Congress gave Negro men the vote
and told women to wait their turn, right?
And we're still waiting.
Tell me to be there, and I will.
Be there, right?
Right? Alice, tell her.
Inez said there was nothing more important
than ending a war.
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
You wanna go put your ear to your desk?
If we push Wilson now,
there's gonna be consequences.
For everyone.
Land hard, roll left.
"We shall fight for democracy." He said it.
He should have to eat it and choke.
I'm not saying that we ignore the war.
I'm saying that we saddle up and fight it.
He can't fight for democracy abroad
and deny it here at home. He can't.
- No mothers on the picket line.
- And no Alice Paul on the picket line, either.
I can't ask women to risk it
unless I risk it with them.
- No one's on the line if I'm not.
- I'll be there, don't argue with me.
You're Mama duck. We follow you.
If you go down, they'll scatter.
Use your head.
One of us on the line is enough.
- I'll flip you for it.
- No, it has to be me.
I photograph better than you.
I can't tell you...
what's right and what's wrong. Not now.
Not this time.
I thought about what I would say to you.
You've all worked so hard for so long...
and I am grateful to all of you.
No matter what you decide,
no one will judge you.
Certainly not me.
- Oh, my gosh!
- What is this?
- You ladies, what are you thinking?
- How dare you!
Our country's at war!
Shame on you! Shame on you all!
Never thought they'd picket
a wartime president.
- Public opinion may put a stop to it.
- And if it doesn't?
The President needs your support!
Maybe you should go to Germany!
- Maybe you would be happier there!
- Shame on all of you!
Shame on every one of you.
You should be home right now.
He made you District Commissioner.
He's Commander-in-Chief now.
Commander-in-Chief
doesn't get spanked by his mommy.
Not with the whole world watching.
- Ms. Alice Paul?
- I'm Lucy Burns.
I'm sorry, Miss, you're under arrest.
All of you.
What? We haven't done anything.
What's the charge? I'm talking to you!
What is it? What's the charge?
They've been arrested.
Contact their families.
Mabel, go to the station, then call me.
If we wanna hold them,
we gotta charge them with something.
- What?
- Obstructing traffic.
These arrests are purely political.
The charge of obstructing traffic
is political subterfuge.
We know, and I believe the court knows,
that President Wilson, his administration...
are responsible for our being here today.
We are not guilty of any offense.
I will continue to plead
for the political liberty of American women.
- Where 16 of us...
- Where 10 of us...
Where 12 of us, face your judgment today...
There will be 60 tomorrow.
I find these defendants guilty as charged
of obstructing traffic...
in violation of the police regulations
and the Act of Congress.
$10 each,
or 60 days in the Occoquan workhouse.
That's not enough!
To pay the fine would be admitting guilt.
We haven't broken the law.
Not $1.
60 days in Occoquan.
What?
You can't do that!
Should we ask for presidential pardon?
Nothing to be pardoned for.
They're false charges.
"American citizens were arrested
on a bogus charge...
"while exercising their constitutional right."
Get them out and appeal.
60 days for obstructing traffic?
It must be the District Commissioner.
The President appoints him.
- Are we picketing tomorrow?
- Yes, no mothers.
Hold on.
- Is that The Times?
- Yeah.
Don't bury this. What's your name?
Hold on.
Find a marshal and file a writ...
Just get them out.
What? No.
O-C-C-O-Q-U-A-N.
It's a workhouse in Virginia.
Matthew O'Brien. He'll take the case.
- All right, men.
- Let's go.
- Load up.
- Yes, sir.
Get on board.
We're political prisoners.
We wear our own clothes.
You'll wear what they all wear.
I want to see the warden.
You want to see him naked?
We haven't eaten,
we've been sitting here for hours.
- We need food.
- You'll eat when it's time to eat.
You'll bed down when it's time to bed down.
Now you bed down. Matron!
We are not guilty of any crime.
We're political prisoners.
I want these women fed...
and given pen and paper
to write to their families.
And we want our own clothes back now!
Now you bed down.
What are you doing? You're hurting me!
Easy does it.
Mrs. Lewis, Doris!
Stevens, is anybody hurt?
Ruza, are you there?
- No talking.
- Calm down.
Lock it down.
If she opens her mouth again,
put a buckle gag on her.
- Yes, sir.
- Any of them.
Where are the girls?
I had Mrs. Quinn take them to my mother's
to free you up.
I know how busy you are
with all your suffrage activities.
People saw you and Jenny
at the suffrage trial.
I don't know what kind of mother...
takes an 11-year-old
to a district courthouse.
Did you give her a look at the jail, too?
- I'll go and get them after breakfast.
- No, you won't. You leave them be.
I don't know a judge in this district
who would give you custody right now.
You won't take my children.
How will you stop me?
Can you afford an attorney?
An attorney?
To prove what, that I'm their mother?
And what will your judge say?
That this is your house?
Your house and your children?
What am I to you, Tom?
What am I then in your house? Chattel?
This is how you punish me?
I'm their mother!
They are not your children to take!
- I can't find my hat.
- Which hat?
- What do you mean, which hat? My hat.
- Where were you when you took it off?
Jesus Christ, Mabel.
If I'd remember, I'd know where it was.
Have we heard from O'Brien?
He filed the writ. He's meeting
with the judge. He'll call us back.
The Home Defense League revoked Maude
Younger's permit to speak in Nashville.
According to Senator Walsh,
we're called "the iron jawed angels."
Is that supposed to be an insult?
And Carrie Catt told The New York Times...
that we were no better
than anarchists and draft dodgers.
We drew straws
to see who'd bring you dinner.
I lost.
- I'm not hungry. You can have it.
- Thanks.
How can you eat with Doris in jail?
I can't find a photographer to show up
at the West Gate tomorrow.
Call The Post. Talk to the news editor.
He said 326 Americans died at a ridge.
He said I wasn't holding any cards
and I should know when to fold.
He doesn't know
about the ace up your sleeve.
You couldn't fold if your life depended on it.
You don't know how.
Don't take that as a compliment.
Doris is having the time of her life.
Don't worry. She'll write a book about it.
I changed my mind about the hat.
It suits you.
Mabel, how many volunteers do we have
for tomorrow's picket line?
I have to check my list.
- Okay, add my name.
- No, I won't.
They'll lock you up,
and it won't be for a lousy 60 days, either.
We need you out here.
Besides, I promised Lucy I wouldn't
until we were up a creek, dead in the water.
Mabel, add my name.
"I believe the might of America...
"is the sincere love of its people...
"for the freedom of mankind."
Woodrow Wilson...
March 6, 1915.
"We've forgotten the history
of our country...
"if we have forgotten
how to agitate when it is necessary."
Woodrow Wilson, September 8, 1916.
"Liberty is a fierce and intractable thing...
"to which no bounds ought to be set."
Woodrow Wilson, a message to Congress.
"There is nothing in liberty...
"unless it is translated into definite action."
July 4, 1914, Woodrow Wilson.
I don't wish to make any
plea before this court.
I have nothing to do with the making of
the laws which have put me in this position.
I am not here because I obstructed traffic...
but because I pointed out
to President Wilson...
that he is obstructing democracy.
Refused?
What do you mean?
Mrs. Leighton made it very clear
I wasn't her attorney.
She instructed the court
not to accept bail or fees on her behalf.
And she gave a statement to a reporter.
She said that, in prison or out,
American women are not free.
No talking.
It's warm in here. Can we open a window?
Get to work.
Can't you see she looks faint?
I'm only asking that you open a window.
Matron, my needle broke.
May I have another?
That's better, isn't it?
Put her in solitary.
You...
clean that up.
I'll have to report this to the warden.
I'm entitled to clean water
and an empty slop bucket.
I'm a lawyer, not a magician, Miss Vernon.
If Whitaker says no one in solitary
can see counsel...
no one sees counsel.
It's a new prison. He has the run of
the place until their paperwork's in order.
I need a judge who's not on a string.
We can't have a martyr on our hands.
Get on your feet!
What are you doing?
Okay.
I'm Dr. White, Alice.
The District Commissioner
asked me to speak with you.
Do you know where you are?
District prison hospital.
The mental ward.
You refuse to eat.
Can you tell me why?
The hunger strike was a tradition
in old Ireland.
You starve yourself on someone's doorstep
until restitution is made...
and justice is done.
It doesn't sound like
a very effective method.
A stinking corpse on your doorstep?
What will the neighbors say?
So you stand on the President's doorstep.
He's treated you very badly, hasn't he?
It's the law that treats women badly.
But you picket President Wilson.
He's the one who put you here.
We picket the office of the presidency.
It has nothing to do with Mr. Wilson...
and everything to do
with the position he holds.
But he's responsible
for your treatment here.
I believe I was sent here
by a district commissioner.
You call yourself a suffragist.
Yes.
Tell me about your cause.
Just talk freely.
Explain yourself.
Do you understand the question?
You asked me to explain myself.
I just wonder what needs to be explained.
It should be very clear.
Look into your own heart.
I swear to you, mine's no different.
You want a place
in the trades and professions...
where you can earn your bread.
So do I.
You want some means of self-expression...
some way of satisfying
your own personal ambitions.
So do I.
You want a voice in the government
under which you live.
So do I.
What is there to explain?
She shows no signs of persecution mania
or delusion.
I concur with Dr. Hickling.
There is no medical basis for a diagnosis.
You don't feel
she needs to be permanently hospitalized?
For her own safety. She's suicidal.
You said so in your report.
The prison doctor said so.
I said she was prepared to starve to death
in order to further her cause.
Okay, I'm not a doc,
but that sure sounds unhealthy to me.
"Give me liberty, or give me death."
Patrick Henry, an American hero.
Apples and oranges.
In oranges and women...
courage is often mistaken for insanity.
Eyes front!
Hunger strike?
I was standing
By my window
On a cold and cloudy day
Quiet!
When I saw that
Hearse come rolling
For to carry my mother away
Will the circle
Quiet!
Be unbroken
Get her out of here.
By and by, Lord, by and by
There's a better home a-waiting
In the sky, Lord, in the sky
Lord, I told that undertaker
"Undertaker, please drive slow
"For that body you are hauling
"Lord, I hate to see her go"
Will the circle
Be unbroken
By and by, Lord, by and by
There's a better home a-waiting
In the sky, Lord, in the sky
I will follow
Close behind her
Try to hold up and be brave
But I could not
Hide my sorrow
When they laid her in the grave
Will the circle
Be unbroken
By and by, Lord, by and by
There's a better home a-waiting
In the sky, Lord, in the sky
Where is she? Tell me where she is.
Tell me!
If you do anything to hurt that girl...
You do anything...
Mrs. Leighton!
Sit here, Mrs. Leighton.
Senator, you need to stay where you are.
She's ill.
Has she seen a doctor?
She's not ill, sir. She refuses to eat.
Maybe you can persuade her.
I'd like to be alone with my wife.
Only monitored visits. Those are the rules.
Sorry, no exceptions.
How are the girls?
- I want you to come home.
- No physical contact with the prisoner.
I'll speak to President Wilson.
- He can issue a pardon.
- For what?
I haven't broken any laws.
The girls keep asking for you.
If Rebecca can't sleep,
just sit beside her and pat her head.
Sometimes I do that.
They are the only reason I am here.
I'm sorry.
I know.
That's all the time we have.
- New York has voted to enfranchise women.
- Carrie...
I've never pressed you
for a federal amendment, Mr. President.
New York. That's 232 presidential electors.
- We're at war.
- Then call it a war measure.
- Congress will never pass it.
- Lf you support it, they will.
I'm sorry.
You've been very patient, I know.
Be patient a little longer.
I was put in a straitjacket
and taken to the psychopathic ward.
I could not see my family or friends.
Counsel was denied me.
I saw no other prisoners
and heard nothing of them.
I could see no papers.
Today I was force-fed for the third time.
I refused to open my mouth.
My left nostril, throat,
and muscles of my neck are very sore.
I vomit continuously during the process.
These women are not political prisoners.
Are you saying force-feeding
is a medical procedure?
Why can't these women see their lawyers?
We have no such thing in this country.
Are there doctors present
for this procedure?
The President has ordered
many investigations.
And no abuse has been disclosed.
Who ordered the force-feeding?
Let's not waste time with pleasantries.
I'll be blunt, may I?
The foreign press will pick this up.
Tell the President
that he can look like a damned fool...
or he can deal me in.
Now, sir.
This war could not have been fought
by America...
if it had not been for the services of women.
You're being released.
We have made partners of the women
in this war.
Let her be.
Shall we admit them only to a partnership...
of suffering, sacrifice, and toil...
and not a partnership of privilege and right?
I know the magic it will work
in their thoughts and spirits...
if you give this thing to them.
That is mere justice.
We shall need their moral sense...
to preserve what is right
and fine and worthy...
in our system of life.
Be assured, the voices of the radicals
who agitate and disrupt...
have no influence here today.
Got him.
The task of woman...
lies at the very heart of the war.
And I know how much stronger
that heart will beat...
if you do this just thing...
and show our women that you trust them...
as much as you, in fact, depend on them.
We shall deserve to be distrusted...
if we do not enfranchise them...
with the fullest possible enfranchisement...
as it is now certain
the other great free nations...
will enfranchise them.
Have I said that
the passage of this amendment...
is a vitally necessary war measure?
And do you need further proof?
Congress doesn't make it a law.
Thirty-six states have to agree,
and then they put it in the Constitution.
We need one more state.
- Hold still, Francis.
- I want a red rose.
No, you don't.
Red is what the anti-suffragists wear.
We don't need any more stars.
I can cut as many as I want.
Ms. Paul said I could.
Come on.
What? I can't hear.
They're going in now.
Ruza says we're short one vote.
We had Turner last night.
This morning he was wearing red.
Five will get you ten
they sent a whore to his room.
We'll move to New Zealand.
Women have been voting there since 1893.
I don't want to raise sheep.
Russia's got the vote.
Long winters.
I'd rather shovel than shear.
So that's your plan, then?
Expatriate sheep farmer?
Let's hear your plan.
I'm gonna pray that God is a woman.
- Mr. Gordon.
- Nay.
- Mr. Wells.
- Nay.
- Mr. Grayson.
- Aye.
- Mr. Fleming.
- Nay.
Telegram, sir. It's from your mother.
- Mr. Turner.
- Nay.
Traitor!
Mr. Burns.
Aye.
You need to take your seats. Order!
We better go outside.
There'll be reporters here in a minute.
How's my hair?
- Red.
- Good.