1
00:00:01,001 --> 00:00:04,404
♪ ♪

2
00:00:10,643 --> 00:00:14,147
(gulls squawking, 
waves crashing)

3
00:00:14,180 --> 00:00:15,715
NARRATOR: 
By the fall of 1915,

4
00:00:15,749 --> 00:00:20,954
there could scarcely have been 
an adult in the United States

5
00:00:20,987 --> 00:00:24,190
unaware of the controversy 
over votes for women.

6
00:00:24,224 --> 00:00:26,793
It had been circulating 
on the periphery

7
00:00:26,826 --> 00:00:28,228
of the national conversation

8
00:00:28,261 --> 00:00:30,530
for six decades,

9
00:00:30,563 --> 00:00:32,565
and during the previous 
five years,

10
00:00:32,599 --> 00:00:34,934
had moved decisively 
to the center--

11
00:00:34,968 --> 00:00:40,640
a crusade of the few 
blooming into a mass movement,

12
00:00:40,673 --> 00:00:43,810
their demand for the ballot 
growing ever more insistent.

13
00:00:43,843 --> 00:00:49,182
Hotly debated in town halls, 
on street corners,

14
00:00:49,215 --> 00:00:51,651
and around dinner tables 
the country over,

15
00:00:51,684 --> 00:00:55,321
woman suffrage had divided 
husbands and wives,

16
00:00:55,355 --> 00:00:59,592
siblings, 
women, one from another,

17
00:00:59,626 --> 00:01:02,362
and had aroused 
vociferous opposition

18
00:01:02,395 --> 00:01:05,632
from every quarter 
of American society:

19
00:01:05,665 --> 00:01:09,002
industrial interests, 
politicians,

20
00:01:09,035 --> 00:01:12,172
and not least, the states 
of the former Confederacy,

21
00:01:12,205 --> 00:01:15,108
where the franchise was 
a jealously guarded instrument

22
00:01:15,141 --> 00:01:18,378
of white supremacy.

23
00:01:18,411 --> 00:01:22,982
With defeats far more numerous 
than victories,

24
00:01:23,016 --> 00:01:27,620
new voices had risen to champion 
new, more aggressive tactics,

25
00:01:27,654 --> 00:01:33,126
and the suffrage movement 
had splintered over strategy,

26
00:01:33,159 --> 00:01:36,329
highlighting the fundamental 
question of what it would take

27
00:01:36,362 --> 00:01:40,266
for American women 
to finally win the ballot.

28
00:01:40,300 --> 00:01:44,771
What no one anticipated in 1915

29
00:01:44,804 --> 00:01:47,474
was the lengths to which they 
would actually have to go.

30
00:01:49,342 --> 00:01:53,079
MARTHA JONES: 
This is a real struggle.

31
00:01:53,113 --> 00:01:55,315
It is a struggle over ideas.

32
00:01:55,348 --> 00:01:57,450
Who are women, 
what can they be?

33
00:01:57,484 --> 00:02:00,120
What can they do, 
who should they be?

34
00:02:00,153 --> 00:02:02,422
It is a struggle over power.

35
00:02:02,455 --> 00:02:05,091
Who gets to say 
what this nation is

36
00:02:05,125 --> 00:02:09,062
and how it does what it does?

37
00:02:09,095 --> 00:02:11,431
ALEXANDER KEYSSAR: 
The fact that there is 
resistance

38
00:02:11,464 --> 00:02:13,600
to the expansion 
of democratic rights

39
00:02:13,633 --> 00:02:16,169
is not uniquely American.

40
00:02:16,202 --> 00:02:19,072
When people have some rights 
that other people don't have,

41
00:02:19,105 --> 00:02:22,041
you have to convince them 
to share.

42
00:02:22,075 --> 00:02:25,145
Not everybody's 
going to want to.

43
00:02:28,081 --> 00:02:33,319
♪ ♪

44
00:02:33,353 --> 00:02:38,958
(car engine puttering, 
horn honking)

45
00:02:38,992 --> 00:02:42,896
(crowd cheering)

46
00:02:42,929 --> 00:02:48,668
(children chattering)

47
00:02:48,701 --> 00:02:53,973
♪ ♪

48
00:02:54,007 --> 00:02:56,643
NARRATOR: 
On September 16, 1915,

49
00:02:56,676 --> 00:02:59,712
at the Panama-Pacific 
International Exposition

50
00:02:59,746 --> 00:03:01,114
in San Francisco,

51
00:03:01,147 --> 00:03:04,517
four women-- 
virtual strangers--

52
00:03:04,551 --> 00:03:05,518
climbed into a waiting car,

53
00:03:05,552 --> 00:03:08,588
drove through the fairground 
gates,

54
00:03:08,621 --> 00:03:10,056
and headed east

55
00:03:10,089 --> 00:03:12,959
to launch a new phase 
in the very long struggle

56
00:03:12,992 --> 00:03:14,594
for woman suffrage,

57
00:03:14,627 --> 00:03:18,531
now in its 67th year 
and counting.

58
00:03:20,533 --> 00:03:23,670
It was close to midnight 
when they set out.

59
00:03:23,703 --> 00:03:28,441
Their final destination: 
Washington, DC.

60
00:03:28,474 --> 00:03:31,878
(fireworks exploding)

61
00:03:31,911 --> 00:03:37,016
MARY WALTON: 
The car takes off, 
very, very dramatic.

62
00:03:37,050 --> 00:03:40,420
Lights and fireworks, 
and it's on its way.

63
00:03:40,453 --> 00:03:44,057
NARRATOR: 
With few personal possessions,

64
00:03:44,090 --> 00:03:48,027
the travelers' cargo consisted 
primarily of an enormous scroll

65
00:03:48,061 --> 00:03:50,029
which had been gathering 
signatures

66
00:03:50,063 --> 00:03:52,065
at the Expo for months:

67
00:03:52,098 --> 00:03:54,400
a petition 
demanding an amendment

68
00:03:54,434 --> 00:03:56,069
to the U.S. Constitution

69
00:03:56,102 --> 00:04:01,641
that would enfranchise all of 
the nation's women at once.

70
00:04:01,674 --> 00:04:05,812
Bearing it across the continent 
was Frances Jolliffe,

71
00:04:05,845 --> 00:04:09,582
42 and a drama critic 
from Washington state;

72
00:04:09,616 --> 00:04:14,220
poet Sara Bard Field, 
33 and a native of Oregon;

73
00:04:14,254 --> 00:04:16,155
and two Swedes 
who had volunteered

74
00:04:16,189 --> 00:04:17,991
their brand-new 
Willys-Overland

75
00:04:18,024 --> 00:04:19,559
for the trip.

76
00:04:19,592 --> 00:04:22,061
(engine running)

77
00:04:22,095 --> 00:04:24,063
The "envoys," 
as they were called,

78
00:04:24,097 --> 00:04:26,399
would be taking 
a circuitous route,

79
00:04:26,432 --> 00:04:29,802
stopping for pre-arranged 
rallies, receptions,

80
00:04:29,836 --> 00:04:31,771
and press interviews

81
00:04:31,804 --> 00:04:35,008
in 48 different cities.

82
00:04:35,041 --> 00:04:37,343
Not counting unplanned detours,

83
00:04:37,377 --> 00:04:42,015
the itinerary 
was nearly 5,000 miles.

84
00:04:42,048 --> 00:04:44,717
On a good road, 
with the top up,

85
00:04:44,751 --> 00:04:47,720
they'd be lucky to log 
20 miles per hour.

86
00:04:49,455 --> 00:04:53,526
WALTON: 
You have to imagine roads 
at that time.

87
00:04:53,559 --> 00:04:58,231
Roads are like tracks across 
the prairies left by wagons.

88
00:04:58,264 --> 00:05:00,800
They had to cross the desert.

89
00:05:00,833 --> 00:05:04,337
There are no maps.

90
00:05:04,370 --> 00:05:07,206
TINA CASSIDY: 
There was no interstate 
highway system.

91
00:05:07,240 --> 00:05:08,875
There weren't streetlights.

92
00:05:08,908 --> 00:05:11,744
There weren't pay phones.

93
00:05:11,778 --> 00:05:13,279
There was really 
no infrastructure

94
00:05:13,313 --> 00:05:15,448
to support a crazy trip 
like this.

95
00:05:17,583 --> 00:05:22,121
NARRATOR: 
Already by Sacramento, 
Frances Jolliffe had had enough,

96
00:05:22,155 --> 00:05:25,158
leaving Sara Bard Field alone 
with the Swedes,

97
00:05:25,191 --> 00:05:28,895
one of whom talked incessantly.

98
00:05:28,928 --> 00:05:32,465
"Like Odysseus, I have many 
experiences to relate,"

99
00:05:32,498 --> 00:05:35,868
Field telegrammed a friend 
from the road:

100
00:05:35,902 --> 00:05:40,106
12 miles through alkali salt pan 
in Nevada's Great Basin,

101
00:05:40,139 --> 00:05:44,544
an experience Field described 
as "plowing through dust";

102
00:05:44,577 --> 00:05:46,913
snow drifts so high in Wyoming

103
00:05:46,946 --> 00:05:49,649
that everyone had to get out 
and push;

104
00:05:49,682 --> 00:05:52,719
a mud hole in Kansas 
that swallowed the Overland

105
00:05:52,752 --> 00:05:56,155
as if it were a shoe.

106
00:05:56,189 --> 00:06:00,560
CASSIDY: 
Newspaper outlets would call in 
with scenes from the road.

107
00:06:00,593 --> 00:06:02,862
The whole adventure of it

108
00:06:02,895 --> 00:06:05,798
was really captivating 
for the nation.

109
00:06:05,832 --> 00:06:08,901
Women were quite literally 
crossing

110
00:06:08,935 --> 00:06:10,370
a new divide in America,

111
00:06:10,403 --> 00:06:13,306
and being much more vocal 
and aggressive--

112
00:06:13,339 --> 00:06:17,343
demanding the vote, 
not asking politely.

113
00:06:17,377 --> 00:06:21,547
NARRATOR: 
The stunt was the handiwork 
of Alice Paul,

114
00:06:21,581 --> 00:06:23,950
a 30-year-old Quaker 
with a PhD

115
00:06:23,983 --> 00:06:26,185
from the 
University of Pennsylvania

116
00:06:26,219 --> 00:06:28,921
and a playbook inspired 
by her apprenticeship

117
00:06:28,955 --> 00:06:32,892
with Britain's notoriously 
militant suffragettes.

118
00:06:32,925 --> 00:06:35,395
Having been recently ousted

119
00:06:35,428 --> 00:06:37,597
from the movement's 
pre-eminent organization,

120
00:06:37,630 --> 00:06:38,931
the more moderate

121
00:06:38,965 --> 00:06:42,535
National American 
Woman Suffrage Association,

122
00:06:42,568 --> 00:06:46,339
Paul now led the upstart 
Congressional Union,

123
00:06:46,372 --> 00:06:49,275
a small cadre 
of committed activists

124
00:06:49,308 --> 00:06:51,377
who shared her impatience 
for the ballot

125
00:06:51,411 --> 00:06:56,382
and her willingness to employ 
unladylike tactics to win it.

126
00:06:57,450 --> 00:07:00,753
CASSIDY: 
Women had been at this 
for decades,

127
00:07:00,787 --> 00:07:02,555
and the movement 
was going nowhere.

128
00:07:02,588 --> 00:07:05,825
And Alice Paul really believed 
that the answer

129
00:07:05,858 --> 00:07:09,662
was in needing a new approach.

130
00:07:09,695 --> 00:07:12,799
♪ ♪

131
00:07:12,832 --> 00:07:16,202
NARRATOR: 
While her one-time allies 
from the National Association

132
00:07:16,235 --> 00:07:19,872
continued to wage the battle 
state-by-state,

133
00:07:19,906 --> 00:07:22,308
re-enacting the by-now 
tired ritual

134
00:07:22,341 --> 00:07:25,678
of pleading with male voters 
on street corners,

135
00:07:25,711 --> 00:07:30,082
Paul had set her sights 
on the federal amendment,

136
00:07:30,116 --> 00:07:32,418
and had appealed instead 
to female voters

137
00:07:32,452 --> 00:07:36,155
from the 11 so-called 
free states of the West,

138
00:07:36,189 --> 00:07:41,260
where women already were 
fully enfranchised.

139
00:07:41,294 --> 00:07:44,230
As the popular humor magazine 
"Puck" acknowledged

140
00:07:44,263 --> 00:07:48,901
with a two-page spread in its 
special 1915 Suffrage Issue,

141
00:07:48,935 --> 00:07:51,504
the four million women 
of the free states

142
00:07:51,537 --> 00:07:54,974
were poised to liberate 
their sisters elsewhere.

143
00:07:55,007 --> 00:07:59,011
All they had to do was vote 
in solidarity with the cause.

144
00:07:59,045 --> 00:08:02,949
Alice Paul's envoys would 
deliver that message

145
00:08:02,982 --> 00:08:04,817
to Capitol Hill

146
00:08:04,851 --> 00:08:06,853
and make it known 
to the Democrats--

147
00:08:06,886 --> 00:08:08,321
who held the presidency

148
00:08:08,354 --> 00:08:10,857
and controlled 
both houses of Congress--

149
00:08:10,890 --> 00:08:13,626
that thousands of Western women 
were prepared

150
00:08:13,659 --> 00:08:14,694
to hold them responsible

151
00:08:14,727 --> 00:08:18,598
for the federal 
suffrage amendment.

152
00:08:18,631 --> 00:08:22,134
J.D. ZAHNISER: 
The idea was to get 
the attention of the party

153
00:08:22,168 --> 00:08:24,370
and convince them 
that women's votes

154
00:08:24,403 --> 00:08:26,672
can alter the balance of power,

155
00:08:26,706 --> 00:08:30,810
and persuade them 
to push through

156
00:08:30,843 --> 00:08:33,312
the constitutional amendment.

157
00:08:33,346 --> 00:08:37,183
♪ ♪

158
00:08:37,216 --> 00:08:40,319
NARRATOR: 
By the time the envoys' Overland 
reached Washington, DC,

159
00:08:40,353 --> 00:08:42,021
on the morning of December 6,

160
00:08:42,054 --> 00:08:44,390
four states in the East

161
00:08:44,423 --> 00:08:49,228
had voted to keep women 
from the ballot box.

162
00:08:49,262 --> 00:08:52,398
And even those suffragists who 
dismissed Paul as a "militant"

163
00:08:52,431 --> 00:08:53,733
had begun to see the wisdom

164
00:08:53,766 --> 00:08:56,936
in her demand 
for the federal amendment.

165
00:08:56,969 --> 00:09:02,341
President Wilson received 
the envoys graciously.

166
00:09:02,375 --> 00:09:04,343
"Nothing could be more 
impressive," he said,

167
00:09:04,377 --> 00:09:06,212
surveying the petition.

168
00:09:06,245 --> 00:09:08,848
"This visit of yours 
undoubtedly will make it

169
00:09:08,881 --> 00:09:11,884
"necessary for all of us 
to consider very carefully

170
00:09:11,918 --> 00:09:13,953
what it is right for us to do."

171
00:09:13,986 --> 00:09:17,223
What the president did not say

172
00:09:17,256 --> 00:09:21,227
was that he had already decided 
what was right to do.

173
00:09:21,260 --> 00:09:24,297
As he'd put it to a friend 
just the night before,

174
00:09:24,330 --> 00:09:25,364
"Woman suffrage will make

175
00:09:25,398 --> 00:09:28,267
"absolutely no change 
in politics.

176
00:09:28,301 --> 00:09:31,504
"It is the home that will be 
disastrously affected.

177
00:09:31,537 --> 00:09:35,537
Who is going to make the home, 
if the women don't?"