Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1961-10-11
'Hooroy for Womenr

This writer, who was with
the last group of Suf-
fragettes who pjcketed the
White House early in 1919
and who served a jail SEN
tence as a consequence with
other women of note, under
the Militant Party headed
by DR.. Alice Paul, an in
trepid spirit who has devoted
her life to the cause, wishes
to applaud the splendid let
ter to the editor with cap
ton mo Harridans They"
by DR.. Leito Owen Kildare.
One wonders how Florence
King could disparage wom-
ems suffrage.
Neither was I a "flat-heeled,
strident men-hating harri-
DAM" In 1919 I was wearing
the highest heels I could
find to give me added height
and never did I lack maScu-
line attention. I still think
a good man" the noblest
work Of God!
I remember Lucy Burns
was my Jail companion when
we we're taken off to the
D. c. Jail in the Black Ma
ria. We were young and gay
and full Of enthusiasm for the
cause then. And this expe-
rience enriched our lives.
Many are gone now but we
who are still living shall never
forget the most eventful years
Of our lives-winning suf-
frage.. Hooray for the women!
Lucille Agniel Gaines
l am one of the 218 women
who picketed the White
House in 1917, bearing ban
ners with such words as Mr..
President, how long must
women wait for justice?"
and who were Immediately
thrown into prison for "ob-
structing traffic on Pennsyl-
vania avenue"
Women have taken some
giant steps in the past. New
Zealand was the first nation
to grant suffrage to women
SO years ago. In the interven-
ing decades, suffrage has
made such gains globally
that today only 10 countries
restrict women's rights to
vote or hold office.
The newly published re-
port Of the United Nations
Commission on the Status of
Women shows that 81 coun-
tries, most of them newly in
dependent. have recently ex-
tended suffrage to women.
The latest country to ex-
tend suffrage to women is
Paraguay, whose government
declared on July 5, 1861.
that women shall have the
same political rights and OBJ
legations as men,"
Now every nation in the
Western Hemisphere has en-
franchised women. The COM
mission says that since 1915,
when the United Nations
was born. IS countries have
confirmed, granted or ex-
tended full or limited politi-
cal rights to women"
This is only one phase of
the wonderful story of wom-
ans development. We now
have many women lawyers,
doctors, and teachers, two
women Senators and II
women members of the
House Of Representatives. In
1858 Sonora Anhela Acuna
de Chacon, the first woman
lawyer Of Central America,
became the first woman AM
bassador to the Organization
of American States. Recently
four new peeresses were
created with authority to sit
in the House of Lords"
Today not only are there
l43 women serving as bank
presidents but the Census
Bureau lists among the
women of this country 2,46O
funeral directors and en-
balmers; 800 auctioneers:
240 blacksmiths, 100 boiler
makers, $50 locomotive en-
gineers, $50 plasterers, 1850
bus drivers, 800 railroad
brake men," $40 sailors and
deckhands, $50 bootblacks
and $50 longshoremen and
stevedores.
Unquestionably today
women are the Nations
backlog of brains" On
June 8, 1859, the then Secre-
tary of Defense, Neil H. Nc
Elroy, stated at the COM
mencement exercises of We'll
lesley College that women
provide the largest under
utilized backlog of brains in
the country" He stated that
they constitute an enor-
nous potential source for re-
search, scholarship and