Last week, thousands of women attended the Centennial Women’s Suffrage March, and walked  from the Capitol to the Washington Monument in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the 1913 Women’s Suffrage March in which Alice Paul and many other suffragists demanded the right to vote the day before President Wilson’s inauguration in Washington D.C.

Annie Smith Peck participated a great deal in the suffrage movement – from marching in suffrage parades and acting as president of the Joan of Arc Suffrage League to writing numerous editorials in favor of suffrage. This being said, she always seemed to want to have things done her way – even if it meant quitting the show before it was over.

Following this line, here are two of my favorite vignettes that describe Annie’s notoriety and involvement (or lack therof) in the suffrage movement as well as a FABULOUS VIDEO that celebrates our fight for the right to vote:

True story:
In 1911, a woman walked into the Women’s Suffrage Headquarters in New York to purchase a ticket to the next political meeting on the votes for women movement.

“I am sorry,” replied the secretary, “but I have nothing left except the second gallery. Perhaps you would not care to climb as high as that.”

I don’t know that I would object to climb to the second gallery,” said the visitor calmly. “I am Annie Peck.”

So the secretary, then recognizing Miss Peck as the famous mountaineer, had no further hesitation in presenting her with a second gallery ticket.

True story # 2: Continue reading →