Mabel Vernon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Mabel Vernon
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Vernon c. 1917
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| Born | September 19, 1883 |
| Died | September 2, 1975 (aged 91) Washington, D.C., US
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| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Swarthmore College Columbia University |
| Occupation | Suffragist and pacifist |
Mabel Vernon (September 19, 1883 – September 2, 1975) was a brave American leader. She fought for women's right to vote, known as suffrage. She also worked for peace, making her a pacifist. Mabel was a key figure in the United States suffrage movement.
She was a Quaker and a member of the National American Woman Suffrage Association. Mabel Vernon was inspired by how women in Britain fought for their rights. She helped lead the Congressional Union for Women Suffrage (CUWS). With others like Alice Paul, she organized the Silent Sentinels protests. These protests involved daily picketing outside the White House to ask President Woodrow Wilson for women's voting rights.
Early Life and Education
Mabel Vernon was born in Wilmington, Delaware, on September 19, 1883. She finished school at Wilmington Friends School in 1901. Then, she went to Swarthmore College, where Alice Paul was also a student. Mabel graduated from Swarthmore in 1906. After college, she became a teacher. She taught Latin and German at Radnor High School in Wayne, Pennsylvania.
Fighting for the Right to Vote
Mabel Vernon became very active in the suffrage movement. In 1912, she attended a big meeting for the National American Woman Suffrage Association. She was the first person Alice Paul hired to help organize. Mabel joined Lucy Burns and Alice Paul to plan the huge Woman Suffrage Parade of 1913. This parade happened in March, at the same time President Woodrow Wilson was sworn into office.
In 1914, Mabel traveled across the country for the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage. She went through the Southwestern United States and California, ending up in Nevada. She was very good at raising money. She helped Anne Henrietta Martin in Nevada, who was working on a campaign to let people vote on women's suffrage.
In June 1916, women from states where they could already vote formed the National Woman's Party. The main political party at the time supported states deciding on suffrage. But they still blocked a national law for women's voting rights. Mabel Vernon was frustrated by this. She famously interrupted President Woodrow Wilson during a speech. She asked him why he opposed women voting nationwide. When she asked again, police made her leave the meeting.
Mabel Vernon was a main organizer of the Silent Sentinels campaign. This protest started on January 10, 1917. She made sure enough volunteers were there every day to picket the White House. Mabel and Alice Paul organized special days for the picket. On these days, all volunteers were from certain states or professions. This plan kept the protests in the news. Thousands of women took part in the eighteen-month campaign. Many picketers were arrested, leading to a difficult time for them.
In March 1917, the Congressional Union and the National Woman's Party joined together. Mabel Vernon was chosen as the Secretary of the new National Woman's Party. After the U.S. entered World War I, a group of women met with President Wilson. They asked him about women's right to vote. Doris Stevens wrote that President Wilson was touched by Mabel Vernon's words. Mabel asked, "If the right of those who submit to authority to have a voice in their own government is so sacred a cause to foreign people... will you not... give immediate aid to the measure... demanding self-government for the women of this country?"
Mabel Vernon was one of the first six women arrested for picketing the White House. They were charged with blocking traffic. On June 26, 1917, they were found guilty. Each was told to pay a $25 fine or spend three days in jail. All the women said they were innocent and refused to pay. After the Nineteenth Amendment passed, giving women the right to vote, Mabel kept working. In the 1920s, she supported women running for Congress. She also worked for the Equal Rights Amendment.
Mabel Vernon continued her education. She went to Columbia University and earned a master's degree in political science in 1924.
Working for Peace and Equality
In 1930, Mabel Vernon changed her focus. She moved from the women's movement to working for international peace. She supported the rights of people in Latin America and worked for disarmament. This means reducing weapons. Mabel joined the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom in 1930. In the 1940s, she led the Peoples Mandate Committee for Inter-American Peace and Cooperation. She was also part of the group from the Americas that helped create the United Nations.
From 1951, Mabel Vernon lived in Washington, D.C. with her friend and collaborator, Consuelo Reyes-Calderon. Consuelo helped Mabel write her memoir, Speaker for Suffrage and Petitioner for Peace. Other people who helped with the book included Hazel Hunkins Hallinan, Fern S. Ingersoll, and Rebecca Hourwich Reyher.
Mabel Vernon passed away on September 2, 1975.
In the 2004 movie Iron Jawed Angels, Mabel Vernon was played by Brooke Smith. The film shows her managing the National Woman's Party. She worked with lawyers while Alice Paul was in jail.
