Prison Special

Lucy Branham, in prison dress, speaking on the Prison Special tour

The "Prison Special" was a train tour organized by suffragists who, as members of the Silent Sentinels and other demonstrations, had been jailed for picketing the White House in support of passage of the federal women's suffrage amendment.[1] In February 1919, 26 members of the National Woman's Party boarded a chartered train they dubbed the "Democracy Limited" in Washington, D.C. They visited cities across the country where they spoke to large crowds about their experiences as political prisoners at Occoquan Workhouse, and were typically dressed in their prison uniforms. The tour, which concluded in March 1919, helped create support for the ratification effort that ended with the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment on August 26, 1920.[1]

  1. ^ a b Women of Protest: Photographs from the Records of the National Woman's Party. "Tactics and Techniques of the National Woman's Party Suffrage Campaign". Library of Congress. Retrieved 16 November 2018.