THE WOMEN OF 1916
An historic display at the Christopher Hawken House and Museum

“Women bring all voters into the world; Let women vote” THE WOMEN OF 1916
An historic display at the Christopher Hawken House and Museum, June 2016 through November

THE WOMEN OF 1916
An historic display at the Christopher Hawken House and Museum, June 2016 through November

Nineteen-sixteen was a presidential election year just like 2016. It was a year charged with emotion, controversy and women’s issues—just like this year. Women were not allowed to vote in many states and that included the State of Missouri. To add salt to the wound the National Democratic Convention was held in St Louis on June 14, 15, 16, in the old Coliseum on Locust Street. The City was filled with politicians, the press, suffragists from all over the country. Hotels and restaurants were booked solid, the streets jammed with traffic.
Democrat President Woodrow Wilson was running for re-election. He was not supportive of allowing women to achieve the vote nor discussing a Constitutional Amendment allowing women the right to vote. So, St Louis that June was the perfect stage upon which suffragists could and did stage a gigantic demonstration known as The Golden Lane.
Each room of Hawken House has mannequins dressed in authentic 1916 attire and placards discussing a suffragist’s issue. In addition, on the lower level of the Hawken House is a display of late 19th Century, early 20th Century political buttons and memorabilia.

Press release with more info about the exhibit

Location of Hawken House in Webster Groves
Address: 1155 S Rock Hill Rd, St. Louis, MO 63119
Phone: (314) 968-1857

About the Hawken House

Archival footage from the 1916 Democratic Convention in St. Louis, MO

See photo of the women suffragists protesting silently at the convention

Caption reads:
FILE PHOTO 1916 — Women Suffrage. Women demonstrating at the Democratic National Convention in St. Louis, hoping to obtain a party plank for women’s suffrage. They are standing at either side of Locust St. between Hotel Jefferson and the Coliseum, the route taken by delegates to the convention. Their golden sashes bore the words, “Votes for Women.”

From: http://www.stltoday.com/st-louis-suffragists-staged-protest-for-democratic-convention/image_97887e66-abd2-11df-a7ed-00127992bc8b.html

See Fox 2 News feature on the Hawken House exhibit with Jane Porchey, the president of the Webster Groves Historical Society, discussing all that the museum includes.

See STLToday feature on the convention