2. 2
“A little of what you treasure, an ornament of beauty, a tribute of friendship, something
prized because of its place in household life, put in the melting pot; send it to the Suffrage
Campaign Committee.”1
-- New York Times, July 16, 1914.
In a cry for unity and justice, woman all across the country were asked to let go of a piece
of fine jewelry, a piece that’s meaning transcends its gold setting and past, and in return gain
something of much more value: equality. Definably feminine, jewelry is coveted by all. Take for
example, The Gaskin Necklace, made in 1910 by the British Arts and Crafts husband and wife
jewelry designers, Arthur and Georgia Gaskin (Figure 1). The combination of white and green
enameled setting only heightens the emphasis on the numerous cabochon amethysts, and
highlight the focal point of the necklace: the teardrop shaped pendant stone.2
The finely, detailed
organically looping silver chain adds to the impact of The Gaskin Necklace. Although the
original owner of this fine necklace is unknown, a woman such as Flora Drummond, a high
society social activist (Figure 2), would have worn this piece of jewelry. While many other
aspects of Mrs. Dummond suggests refinement and sophistication, her necklace draws the
viewer’s attention. One should ask, what is the occasion to wear such jewelry? Maybe just a
statement of style within the Victorian period? Possibly a gift from her husband? Or a reward for
being a dutiful and dedicated wife and mother to her children? All are plausible assumptions, yet
the correct answer may come as somewhat of a surprise: the Gaskin necklace was bought by a
woman for her own use and purpose: to show her support for women’s suffrage.
How could such a refined and otherwise subtle piece of ornament stand for the greatest
feminist issue? This question, and many others regarding jewelry as a political statement, will be
addressed in the following discussion. Suffrage jewelry is often overlooked in the realm of
1
“Jewelry for Suffrage,” New York Times (New York, NY), July 26, 1914.
2
Elizabeth Goring, Wearing the Colours: Rediscovering Suffragette Jewelry, (Edinburgh, Scotland: Workers’
2
Elizabeth Goring, Wearing the Colours: Rediscovering Suffragette Jewelry, (Edinburgh, Scotland: Workers’
Educational Association, 2009), 6-7.
3. 3
memorabilia from this period, mainly because many of the pieces themselves are scattered across
America and the United Kingdom with little documentation in order for scholars to address.
Reintroducing these otherwise forgotten objects into the visual culture discourse adds a hitherto
unrecognized element within the suffrage movement. With a specific emphasis on American and
British suffrage movements, I will discuss the function, marketability, social reach and
symbolism of suffrage jewelry. These themes support my belief that suffrage jewelry holds the
personification of solidarity and forcefulness of the one, Trans-Atlantic suffrage movement, in
order for women to prove that control of their own minds is not only legitimate, but necessary.
However, before examining the symbolic role of suffragist and suffragette jewelry, a
brief overview of the women’s suffrage movements in Great Britain and the United States proves
instructive. Suffrage is defined as the right to vote in a democratic political process. The
“Suffrage Movement” references the movement during the later half of the 19th
Century to the
beginning of the 20th
Century for the women’s right to vote, both in United States and the United
Kingdom contemporaneously.3
The United Kingdom’s national suffrage movement formally
began in 1872 by the National Society for Women’s Suffrage, gathering momentum because of
the Reform Act of 1832 and the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835 established suffrage to a
degree.4
In 1897, the more influential National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies
(“NUWSS”) formed. The NUWSS sought suffrage through non-violent demonstrations,
petitions, and lobbying, tactics used to uphold the organization’s middle class ideals of
intelligence and rule-abiding proper women.5
Even though members of Parliament gradually
more supportive of suffrage, as evidenced by several proposed suffrage legislations, some
3
Suffrage is connected to a variety of other peoples and social classes in history, for example the equal suffrage and
universal suffrage movements globally.
4
Harold L. Smith, The British Women’s Suffrage Campaign 1806-1928, (London, Addison Wesley Longman
Limited: 1998), 4-7.
5
Smith, 16.
4. 4
society women believed steadfast approval would not come soon enough. Emmeline Pankhurst
formed a much more radical organization: the Women’s Social and Political Union, (“WSPU”).6
Pankhurst believed that violent actions and militancy, such as law breaking, hunger strikes and
ultimate imprisonment, would bring about suffrage more rapidly by demanding the government
to take notice and therefore action on the issue.7
With the support by both major suffrage
organizations, complete enfranchisement came in 1928 in the United Kingdom, granting all
women of twenty-one years or older the right to vote.8
Like the British movement, the American suffrage movement began in the mid 19th
century, with its inception at the 1848 Seneca Falls Convention. At this meeting, a resolution
passed in favor of women’s suffrage, despite the fact that a portion of the attendees believed the
idea too radical for the time.9
Once the Civil War began, the suffrage sentiments hushed because
of the threat to the stability of the union.10
There was a hope for women: their loyal patriotism
6 A biography-film of Emmeline Pankhurst’s, entitled Suffragette directed by Sarah Gavron, will be released in
2015. Meryl Streep will play Pankhurst, and the film also stars Carey Mulligan and Helena Bonham Carter.
7
Elizabeth Crawford, The Women’s Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide, 1866-1928, (London: Routledge,
1999): 452. The women advocating for female voting equality prior to 1903 in the United Kingdom were known as
suffragists. Journalist Charles E. Hands, in the London newspaper The Daily Mail coined the name “suffragettes” in
1903. This derisive term specifically describes the younger, working class women of the WSPU who would do
anything, such as law breaking, hunger strikes and ultimate imprisonment, to see suffrage in the United Kingdom.
The motto of the organization revealed their essence: deeds not words. Pankhurst argued that the illegal activities
were critical in keeping the cause high within the complex political agenda of the time, unconventional yet
ultimately true. A feud over tactics to gain suffrage erupted between Emmeline Pankhurst and her oldest daughter,
Chistabel. An offshoot organization, the Women’s Freedom League, was founded by Chistabel. While historians
debate the effectiveness of the three British suffrage groups’ tactics, on thing that cannot be denied is the consistent
message among the three, which ultimately lent to cooperation and sharing of information and support among the
organizations. With the breakout of World War I in 1914, suffrage organizations scaled down their activities, going
so far as to suspend their campaign due to the threat of national stability.
8
Smith, 81. In 1918, the coalition government passed the Representation of the People Act, which enfranchised
women over the age of thirty, given that they met the minimum qualifications: either being a member or married to a
member of the Local Government Registry, a property owner, or a graduate who was able to vote in a University
constituency.
9
Robert P.J. Cooney, Jr., Winning the Vote: A Triumph of the American Women Suffrage Movement, (Santa Cruz,
California: American Graphic Press, 2005), 8.
10
The First National Women’s Rights Convention was held in 1850, with annual meetings throughout that decade,
at which suffrage was becoming a much more relevant topic in the nation because of the power that a vote had in the
decision of a free or slave state. A complexity adding to the American movement is that the founding of states
5. 5
and agitation against slavery would be rewarded post war; no such right was afforded.11
After the
Civil War, formalized formation of women’s suffrage organizations in America came about, with
the first being the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association (“NAWSA”), created
together by. Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Lucy Stone.12
With fluctuating gain
and loss into the new century, American suffragists were seen as tamer than the British
militarized movements led by Pankhurst and the WSPU. In 1916, Alice Paul, following in the
footsteps of Pankhurst in England, founded the National Women’s Party (“NWP”), a militant,
focused group determined to gain suffrage as soon as possible. Mimicking the WSPU’s tactics of
picketing and hunger strikes, two hundred American suffragists aligned with the NWP were
imprisoned from one protest in front of the White House in 1917.13
With the cooperation of both
the NWP and the NAWSW, on August 20, 1920 the Nineteenth Amendment of the Constitution
was ratified by the states, allowing women the right to vote. Clearly, strong links existed between
the British and American suffrage women.14
The two suffrage movements were also linked
ideologically, as well as through merchandising and marketing, iconography, slogans and
propaganda.15
For example, American and British publications shared information, and urged
their readers to subscribe to the other nation’s journals in order to globalize the movement as a
occurred at the same time as the movement’s beginning, allowing women in the country, mainly the west, voting
rights from the inception of their state government. Cooney, 16.
11
“Suffrage Activity in the Nineteenth Century” Motherhood, Social Service and Political Reform: Political Culture
and Imagery of American Woman Suffrage, National Women’s History Museum, accessed October 15, 2014,
https://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/votesforwomen/tour_02-02d.html.
12 In hopes that the Supreme Court would rule that women had the constitutional right to vote, the suffragists, who
adopted their name from their British counterparts, filed lawsuits in 1870s, all of which were unsuccessful. These
leads to the decades long fight for a Constitutional Amendment confirming women’s suffrage. Cooney 165.
13 Ibid., 319.
14 In fact, American voting rights preceded those in the United Kingdom because the formation of the nation
allowed innovative and modern ideas to incentivize settling in newly incorporated states, such as Wyoming and
Utah that granted female suffrage in 1869 and 1870 respectively. Cooney 120-22.
15
Kenneth Florey, Women’s Suffrage Memorabilia. (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc.,
Publishers, 2013): 1.
6. 6
whole.16
As evidenced by this comparison, the suffrage movements were clearly of one heart,
revealing itself fully on both sides of the Atlantic.
Jewelry was present in all stages of the suffrage movement and in both locations. For
example, the women of Wyoming gave Susan B. Anthony a jeweled pin for her birthday.
Anthony’s brooch boasted diamonds depicting the four states that had enfranchised women,
while the other states which has enfranchised women represented by silver enamel17
At
Anthony’s funeral in 1906, the very same flag pin was fixed to her breast. Yet before her coffin
was shut, Mary Anthony, Susan’s sister, removed the pin and gifted it to Anna Howard Shaw,
the current leader of the NAWSA. Making it a point to add a diamond for each additional state
that enfranchised women, Shaw referenced the importance of this state pin at the 1915 NAWSA
Convention in Washington D.C.:
This is Miss Anthony’s flag, which she gave to me just before she died. It was the gift of
Wyoming women and had four tiny diamonds in if for the four equal suffrage States; now
it has thirteen. Who says ‘suffrage is going and coming’? We have as many stars now as
there were original States when the government began.18
Clearly, tradition and symbolism are strict tenants of the suffrage movement’s founding. States
that often struggle between those who support and those who oppose suffrage reflects the
symbolic battle between the “collectible ephemera” that both United Kingdom and America
produced.19
No better form of symbolic memorabilia exists than jewelry.
A distinct female political culture produced through the suffrage movement. Jewelry
transformed the understanding of a women’s “domestic role into a political strategy demanding
16
Florey, 1.
17 I have exhausted all recourses trying to find the Flag Pin in question, but I have had no success. Multiple sources
noted its importance, but sadly none of them illustrated the piece.
18
Florey, 94.
19
Ibid.
7. 7
social reform.”20
While the politics of the movement are widely known, the cultural
understandings of the time period in both America and the United Kingdom provide insight into
the strategies and ideologies of the movement.21
Memorabilia unveils the owner’s character, his
or her interests and beliefs on a much more intimate level than state documents or bank records.
Jewelry offers a stepping-stone to understand functions of adornment. Memorabilia, with jewelry
in particular, embraces the dazzling complexity of the suffrage movement.22
Yet, how can jewelry be identified specifically as suffrage jewelry? One genuine
identifier is color. The American suffrage colors are purple, white and gold (often depicted as
yellow), which derive their origins from the British color scheme of purple, white and green.
These colors hold intrinsic symbolism within which the suffragists, and the suffragettes, wished
to align themselves. As Mrs. Emmeline Pethick Lawrence, the honorary treasurer of the WSPU,
described in 1908, “Purple…is the royal colour...It stands for royal blood and flows in the veins
of every suffragette, the instinct of freedom and dignity...white stands for purity in private and
public life...green is the colour of hope and the emblem of spring.”23
The difference between the
third as gold/yellow in American and green in Britain occurs because of the strategic focus of the
suffrage campaigns. American suffragists chose to focus on state suffrage legislation first, and
then work to the national level; while the British Suffragists attacked Parliament directly with
suffrage reform. In 1867, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony campaigned to assist
Kansas in approving its suffrage referendum. The sunflower, the Kansas state flower, was the
20
Ibid.
21
“Campaign Symbols,” National Women’s History Museum.
22
Varying examples of suffrage propaganda and memorabilia exist including banners, badges, medals, posters,
ballots, toys and games, music, journals and more. Kenneth Florey in his Women’s Suffrage Memorabilia: An
Illustrated Historical Study illustrates the categories of artifacts from this period.
23
Goring, Wearing the Colours, 3-4.
8. 8
visible symbol for that campaign.24
The flower and the colors gold and yellow have been
associated with the movement ever since, even though the other two colors, purple and white,
were not officially adopted until after the British chose these as the official colors in 1908.25
Yet,
with the founding of the first British suffrage organization a generation earlier, and the first
American suffrage society founded in 1850, the question must be asked; why were specific
colors adopted so late?
The answer is quite clear: while the colors offered symbolic resonance, the true reason
for determining selected colors may be attributed solely to marketable appeal and gain. The
suffragists determined that the movement lacked corporate branding. Compared to a modern day
football team, a color scheme and defined symbols drive tangible support and identification for
the organization. The color scheme of purple, white and green came about in the proceeding
preparations for the large demonstration in London’s Hyde Park on June 21, 1908, which came
to be known as “Women’s Sunday.”26
On this day, thousands of women demonstrated in unison,
wearing the shared colors to unite women from all economic backgrounds as a means of
universal dialogue. Supporters had been asked to wear any combination of the colors, yet
working women could not afford purple, white or green dresses. Therefore, the necessity of
accessories, such as sashes, buttons, and in this specific case, jewelry offered an option to
visually allow acceptance and support by all.27
American suffragists quickly followed suit,
adding purple and white to the already popular gold/yellow to form the official suffragists
24
“Symbolic Suffrage Colors,” National Women’s History Museum.
25 Some historians assert that suffragist jewelry was often absent from suffragist papers and catalogs because of a
color, specifically the use of yellow. A main reason for this is that very few yellow stones or precious gems exist,
while many more within the purple and white hews do. Additionally, colors promoted by the suffrage movement in
the United Kingdom, green, purple and white, and their gem counterparts, amethysts, pearls and dermatoid garnets
or emeralds, were popular colors for Edwardian jewelry. Therefore, not all jewelry displaying this color combination
would be suffrage jewelry. Florey, 93; Elizabeth Goring, “Suffragette Jewellry in Britain,” Omnium Gatherum – A
Collection of Papers, “The Decorative Arts Society 1850 to the Present” 26, 2002: 85-87.
26
Goring, Wearing the Colours, 3.
27
Ibid.
9. 9
societies branding as adopted from their peers in the United Kingdom. Ultimately, the colors
became trans-Atlantic symbols of not only dignity and purity, but also unity.
When speaking about adornment, a conversation about class immediately follows.
Suffrage concerned all women, regardless of their social status. All classes of women associated
with the movement wore propagandistic jewelry. Yet, the quality of some suffragists jewelry
indicates the status of certain women, such as The Gaskin Necklace, but in other, more mass-
produced items, one’s place in society does not indicate suffrage status. A prime example is the
Votes for Women Hammer Brooch (Figure 3). This long silver brooch in the shape of a hammer,
inscribed with the organization’s slogan Votes for Women, was worn by suffragettes aligned with
the WSPU. Seen as a militant badge of honor, the supporters who wore these pins smashed the
windows of establishments that did not support women’s suffrage. Figure Three illustrates the
brooch awarded to Agnes Kelly for her participation in the March 1912 window smashing
campaign.28
Mass-produced by the organization itself, the hammer pin allowed even the poorest
of women to show their support for the cause by wearing the simple, yet decorative object. As
suffrage crossed class lines in the fight for equality, employment, specifically for the poor, was a
factor to their allegiance to the movement because voting rights would lead to advocacy for
better work environments.29
How and by whom suffrage jewelry was produced greatly impacted the perceived
suffrage ideals of self-advocacy and pride. Jewelry was found in many forms: from mass
produced to home-made, official honors and medals made by the suffrage organizations, and
individual, grander pieces made for presentations or events. Jewelry for suffragettes made
28
Goring, Wearing the Colours, 8; Florey, 62, 92; Window breaking was one of many violent acts by British and
American suffragettes alike, including setting fire churches and other buildings, placing bombs in mailboxes, and
pouring acid on gold greens.
29
James M. VanderVeen, “Control of Their Bodies, Control of their Votes: Pin and Prophylactics Tell the
Suffragette Story,” Indiana Archeology 18.1 (2013): 60.
10. 10
between 1908 and 1914 ranged from simple, commercially-manufactured enamel or tin badges
to unique pieces of art with semi-precious stones, as examplified by the Gaskin Necklace.30
Suffrage women commonly produced the suffrage jewelry pieces themselves. Since
metalworking is critical to producing jewelry, suffrage women learned this highly male gendered
technique in order to create an their own wearable emblem of power. Therefore, while
craftsmanship of manufactured jewelry pieces was often more refined, the symbolic meaning of
wearing the hand made object heightened the suffrage sentiments of self-advocacy and pride.
The most wide-spread and influential piece of the British suffrage jewelry is the
Halloway Brooch made by Sylvia Pankhurst in 1912 (Figure 4), the daughter of British
suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst. This piece of jewelry encapsulates the suffragette experience by
mimicking the portcullis symbol of the House of Commons, where suffragettes were imprisoned
following a mass demonstration at the Albert Hall on April 29th
, 1909.31
In nearly a square
configuration, 20mm height and 25 mm length, this silver brooch speaks beyond its small frame,
with the deep inset interlocking prison bars forming sharp, triangular points at the base. At each
upper corner, a small link chain hangs loosely, allowing for the audible jangle of the chains
against the prison bars as the suffragette marches in her picket line. The tri-colored arrow of
purple, white and green enamel at the center of the pin draws the viewer’s eye throughout the
work, intently highlighting the angularly domineering presence of the small object. Pankhurst’s
design became highly revered for its directness and marketability for the movement.
30
Goring, Wearing the Colours, 4-5.
31
Richard Pankhurst, Sylvia Pankhurst: Artist and Crusader, (New York: Paddington Press, Ltd.,1979): 112-13.
This biography, written by the artist and activist’s son Richard, hoped to elevate his mother’s artistic work as
preferential to her suffrage work. This goal was not reached in my opinion.
11. 11
Yet, as examplified by Pankhurst, artistic representation and the needs of the movement
do not always coincide. Pankhurst stated, quite honestly, that her design was quite limited
because of a need to mass produce the object within a short time frame: “the urge for quantity,
speed and some sort of economy inevitably worked many a transformation.”32
Originally, the
Halloway Brooch – along with other highly marketable memorabilia – was sold in a WSPU
suffrage shop, alongside a Christmas angel pendant also designed by the Pankhurst.33
Commercial manufacturers likewise mass produced suffrage jewelry and by doing so
reinforced common motifs and colors set forth by the movement. For example, Mappin and
Webb produced gold brooches and pendants set with precious and semi- precious stones such as
amethysts, pearls and emeralds.34
Across the Atlantic, the Butler Brothers Jewelry Company in
Massachusetts produced an extensive line of jewelry with the slogan “The Ballot Is Denied To
Women-- The Blot on the Escutcheon,” more akin to a campaign button than a piece of
jewelry.35
Common motifs that the Butler Brothers, Mappin and Webb and other manufacturers
used in their jewelry designs varied from traditional feminine objects such as flowers, to images
of religious figure such as angels and the personification of hope, to the extreme militant images
like chains and imprisonment, seen in the Halloway Brooch.36
American women had an equivalency to the Halloway Brooch in the Jailed for Freedom
Pin (Figure 5). Measuring one by one and half inch, this sterling silver brooch was shaped like a
prison door, complete with an unfixed chain from edge of the hinged door, to the handle, forever
32
Ibid,113.
33
Florey, 95-96; Many other examples of the Halloway Brooch remain in museums and suffrage archives, with this
specific example from the Museum of London. This museum has the largest collection of materials from militant
suffrage campaign, Goring, Wearing the Colours, 8.
34
Goring, Wearing the Colours, 5.
35
Florey, 93.
36
Goring, Wearing the Colours, 5.
12. 12
locked with a heart-shaped lock. Like the Halloway Brooch, the chain would make a clanging
sound when the suffragist marched forward.
The prison door in the Jailed for Freedom Pin is not just any typical door. Much like the
Halloway Brooch, the door had symbolic meaning to both its wearers and to the cause. Many
Jailed for Freedom Pins were given to suffragists who had been jailed for picketing outside the
White House, thus seen as badges of honor for the warriors in the fight for equality. They were
presented at the NPW’s conference in 1919, to “militant women” members who went above and
beyond for the cause.37
In a speech given prior to their “pinning,” chairperson of the NPW, Mrs.
Belmont, spoke admiringly about these women:
We are here this afternoon to do honor to a hundred gallant women, who have endured the
hardship and humiliation of imprisonment because they love liberty. The suffrage pickets
stood at the White House gates for ten months and dramatized the women’s agitation for
political liberty. Self-respecting and patriotic American women will no longer tolerate a
government which denies women the right to govern themselves. A flame of rebellion is
abroad among women, and the stupidity and brutality of the government is this revolt have
only served to increase its heat….While the government has endeavored to parry, tire, divert,
and cheat us of our goal, the country has risen in protest against this evasive policy of
suppression until today the indomitable pickets with their historic legends stand triumphant
before the nation.38
Symbolically, the Jailed for Freedom Pin speaks to the need for independence from the shackles
of Victorian social constructs. By adorning themselves with aggressively bold objects, such as a
prison door, the suffragists proved their resilience.
The Indiana Hatpin (Figure 6), similarly speaks to the resilience of suffragettes, even
though unsuspectingly. Found in the excavation of the West Washington Historic District of
South Bend, Indiana belonging to the Oliver Family, only the decorative end of the hatpin, which
37
Doris Stevens, Jailed for Freedom: American Women Win the Vote, ed. Carol O’Hare. (Troutdale, Oregon: New
Stage Press, 1995): 28.
38
Ibid., 131-132.
13. 13
features a bouquet of three flowers, remains.39
The center of each flower boasts a paste gem,
with two of the three remaining of the colors green and purple. Scientific studies reveal the last
flower featured either a white or clear gem. These three colors, closely associated with the
British suffrage movement, particularly the Women’s Social and Political Union. 40
Why would
an English Suffragist hatpin be in the possession of an American family? Much of the suffrage
support in America began in small towns, such as Elkhart, Indiana. The League of Women
Voters had a strong presence in both towns before the referendum.41
This seemingly trivial
connection clearly heightens the links of the British and American movements. While it is
unlikely that this hatpin is of British origin, it evidences the acknowledgement and respect of
their female allies across the pond in personal yet symbolic ways in a language associated with
women.
The increased support of the movement by both British and American women, aided by
the adoption of colors, shrewd marketing inspired increased fear of an independent female
population arose by the men in both nations. Take for example a hatpin, a gendered utilitarian
object used to hold a woman’s hair in place while wearing a hat, typically with some small
decorative end for both convenience and ornament. Decorative hatpins have been in use since the
fifteenth century, but reached their height of popularity during the nineteenth century. Between
1880-1920, hatpins were in vogue because of long, perfectly locked hair was the preferred
hairstyle for women. From Europe to the United States, lawmakers restricted the wearing and
length of hatpins during the suffrage period. Men feared for their own safety as they believed
39
VanderVeen, 56; The second half of this article discusses a condom tin found in the same dig as the hatpin end.
Discussing the social constrains of female sexuality and control over one’s body, VanderVeen makes a convincing
argument about contraception and a woman’s power in the bedroom.
40
Ibid., 60-61.
41
Ibid.,62-63; Both South Bend and Elkhard were great hubs for the temperance movement, building much of the
regional suffrage campaign from these locations.
14. 14
independent women unable to control themselves and would use these objects as weapons.42
Since hatpins varied in size from a few to twenty inches, the threat of these pins as weapons was
not entirely unreasonable. In fact, a 1904 issue of the San Francisco Call, illustrated maneuvers
using one’s hatpin as a weapon if attacked by a “ruffian.” The article illustrates that if attacked
from behind, a woman is to raise her hand above her head to retrieve the pin, then twist around
where the assailant’s face “will be at your mercy,” allowing clear access to stab (Figure 7). 43
In
February of 1909, the state of Oregon restricted the length of hatpins to ten inches.44
The
following year, multiple ordinances regulated hatpin length in the state of New York. During the
hearings for the New York legislation, boos, hisses, and shouts of “Shame!” were heard from the
women sitting in the gallery, reports The New York Tribune.45
While the majority of these laws
were based on solely fear of danger, one instance of a hatpin altercation purportedly occurred in
Vienna, Austria. As described by the Tacoma Times in 1911, a Viennese woman was arrested
and “fined 36 cents, with the alternative of 12 hours in jail” for possibly attacking a man with her
hatpin.46
The first arrest under the new hatpin law has been made, and the prisoner, a young
woman, will carry the case, to the highest court of Austria. A mere rude man walking
along the Prater was scratched by the hatpin of a girl who passed him on the street. He
seized Gretchen and took her to the nearest policeman.47
It is certainly possible that the man dramatized the events, an example of one of many instances
in which the writings of men who did not want women to move up within the social hierarchy or
exercise their rights.48
The actions can be justified as less of a murderous intent and more of a
42
Ibid., 58.
43
“How to Defend Yourself,” San Francisco Call, (San Francisco, CA), Aug. 21, 1904.
44
“Oregon Legislation Has Passed a Law Limiting Hatpins to 10 Inches Long,” Evening World News (New York,
NY), Feb. 12, 1909.
45
“Shame!’ Cry Women,” New York Tribune (New York, NY), March 15, 1910.
46
“Hatpin Pricks, Girl is Jailed,” Tacoma Times, (Tacoma, WA), Feb. 13, 1911.
47
VanderVeen, 60.
48
Ibid.
15. 15
man offended that a woman would rebuff his persistent advances. This seemingly innocuous
hatpin may ultimately be understood as symbolic of the Victorian social balance under attack in
both England and the United States put forth by the suffrage movement.
Both prison cell brooches and the Indiana Hatpin offer symbols of solidarity for the
suffrage movement with either intended or unintentional militant undertones. There is a clear
aggressiveness that some suffrage women wished to convey through their movement, which
reveals itself in their jewelry. Given this militancy, it is no surprise that the suffragettes chose
Joan of Arc as their patron saint. As described by esteemed suffragette Inez Milholland, Joan of
Arc stood for “women’s righteousness with divinely sanctioned, even divinely ordained,
militancy” symbolizing “the leadership of righteous women in a patriotic “Holy War,” in a cause
of self-sacrifice for God and county.”49
Images of the Medieval religious warrior multiplied
within the movement, in all sorts of memorabilia, including jewelry. The WSPU Joan of Arc Pin
(Figure 8), gallantly depicts the patron saint is gallantly depicted in her militant, but feminine
armor, topped with a crown-like helmet and demanding the viewer with her downwardly drawn
sword. Claiming the land beneath her feet as land for all women, the image of Joan of Arc
perfectly connects suffrage to the historic fight for power.
The Medieval period not only drew characteristic inspiration, but also vision from
decorative objects. Take for instance Medieval Chastity belts, such as illustrated in Figure 9.
Defined as metal devices worn around the waist and between the legs to prevent sexual
intercourse and self –pleasuring, these objects were used to ensure a woman’s sexual purity
before marriage.50
The belts had locks to prevent opening. The women wearing these belts were
49
Doris Stevens, Jailed for Freedom: American Women Win the Vote, ed. Carol O’Hare (Troutdale, Oregon: New
Stage Press, 1995): 27.
50
Helen Sheumaker and Shirley Teresa Wajda, Material Culture in America: Understanding Everyday Life, (Santa
Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, Inc., 2008): 404.
16. 16
imprisoned by the social rules put forth by men. A clear connection can be made between the
Halloway Brooch and the Jailed for Freedom Pin to chastity belts. The suffragists drew upon the
scaring decorative object in the past used for social control for ammunition. Ultimately, the
suffragists redefined the objects at their disposal in order to prove women are able to control
their own lives. Suffrage jewelry, although small in size, was a loud statement for the necessity
of equality.
Yet, one must see that men did not “give” over the vote, women had to earn it. This
opposes the historical precedent that women did not earn the jewelry they wore; instead, they
were given it. Suffrage jewelry offered a way for women to reinvent the bondage of decorative
items provided by men. These women bought and even produced the jewelry by themselves, and
worn said jewelry for their own meaning.
Clearly, strong links existed between the British and American suffrage women and their
jewelry, particularly in regards to the jewelry’s function, marketability, social reach and
symbolism. Women from both nations proved through the successful suffrage movement that
control of their own minds is not only legitimate, but necessary. Suffragists chose jewelry to
speak their message of power because this was material culture at their disposal and accepted by
society. Now that these images have been reintroduced, I call for further investigation into
suffrage jewelry in order to rise up their cry for gender equality, which still has not been reached
one hundred years later. The jewelry from the suffrage movement are images of solidarity and
steadfast belief that all have the right to voice their opinions, especially in the ballot box.
17. 17
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Context. 15 Oct. 2014.
Cooney Jr., Robert P.J. Winning the Vote: A Triumph of the American Women Suffrage
Movement. Santa Cruz, California: American Graphic Press, 2005.
Crawford, Elizabeth. The Women’s Suffrage Movement: A Reference Guide, 1866-1928. London:
Routledge, 1999.
Finnegan, Margaret. Selling Suffrage: Consumer Culture and Votes for Women. New York:
Columbia University Press, 1999.
Florey, Kenneth. Women’s Suffrage Memorabilia. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland &
Company, Inc., Publishers, 2013.
Goring, Elizabeth. “Suffragette Jewellry in Britain.” Omnium Gatherum – A Collection of
Papers. The Decorative Arts Society 1850 to the Present 26, 2002: 84-99.
_____. Wearing the Colours: Rediscovering Suffragette Jewelry. Edinburgh, Scotland:
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http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/Images/WearingtheColours_tcm4-672114.pdf.
“Hatpin Pricks, Girl is Jailed.” Tacoma Times. (Tacoma, WA), Feb. 13, 1911.
“How to Defend Yourself.” San Francisco Call. (San Francisco, CA), Aug. 21, 1904.
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https://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/votesforwomen/intro.html.
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1979.
Phillips, Claire. Jewelry: From Antiquity to the Present. London: Thames & Hudson Ltd, 2004.
Russell, Rebecca Ross. “Gender and Jewelry: A Feminist Analysis.” PhD diss., Tufts University,
2010, http://books.google.com/books?id=Wx11yQK3J3QC&dq=rr+russell+gender+and+
jewellry+a+feminist+analysis&lr=&source=gbs_navlinks_s.
18. 18
Ryan, Agnes E. “Suffrage and Styles – Special Woman Suffrage Day at the National Style
Show.” Women’s Journal 4 Feb. 1911:33.
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Longman Limited: 1998.
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Troutdale, Oregon: New Stage Press, 1995.
“Suffragist Jewelry” Advertisement, Woman’s Journal 15 Oct. 1910: 171.
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Todd, Ellen Wiley. The “New Woman” Revised: Painting and Gender Politics on Fourteenth
Street. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.
VanderVeen, James M. “Control of Their Bodies, Control of their Votes: Pin and Prophylactics
Tell the Suffragette Story” Indiana Archeology 18.1, 2013: 56-71.
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19. 19
Illustrations
Figure 1: Arthur and Georgia Gaskin, Gaskin Necklace, 1910. Silver set with cabochon
amethysts and enameled in green and white. National Museums of Scotland
20. 20
Figure 2: Flora Drummond wearing a Suffragette necklace and her hunger strike medals. The
Scottish National Portrait Gallery.
21. 21
Figure 3: Votes for Women Brooch, 1912. Silver toffee hammer with inscription “Votes for
Women.” Museum of London, acquisition no. 50.82/1188a.
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Figure 4: Sylvia Pankhurst, Halloway Brooch, 1912. Silber with inset purple, white and green
enamel. H. 20mm, W. 25mm. Museum of London, acquisition no. 2005.145/6.
23. 23
Figure 5: Jailed for Freedom Pin, 1917. Sterling Silver. H. 3.81cm, W. 2.54cm. National
Museum of American History, acquisition no. 1987.0165.
24. 24
Figure 6: Indiana Hatpin, Early 20th
Century American. Gold-plated tri-flower bouquet with
purple and green paste gems. University of Indiana.
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Figure 7: How to defend oneself with a hatpin as a weapon. “How to Defend Yourself,” San
Francisco Call, August 21, 1904.
Figure 8: WSPU Joan of Arc Pin, 1912. Cast medal with green, white and purple enamel inlay.
National Museums of Scottland.
