Collections
The National Woman's Party (NWP) collection is an important resource for the study of the suffrage movement and the campaign for the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA). This unique collection, including the nation's first feminist library, documents the mass political movement for women's full citizenship in the 20th century, both in the United States and throughout the world. The collection contains books, pamphlets, political cartoons, scrapbooks, photographs, records, newsletters, and artifacts produced by women, about women.
The extensive holdings include a wide variety of objects and documents, most of which were produced by the NWP, for use in its parades, street theater, picketing and protests of the White House for passage of the Nineteenth amendment, granting women the right to vote. Items were also produced for the purpose of educating Congress and the public on the need for passage of the Equal Rights Amendment.
The collection outlines the history of the militant wing of the women's movement in the United States, documenting the strategies and tactics of the movement, demonstrating the use of visual images as effective publicity tactics in a pre-electronic age, and revealing the international work of the National Woman's Party in its historic quest for full citizenship for American women.
Highlights of the Collection
- Over 100 suffrage banners used in picketing and parades.
- More than 5,000 prints and photographs documenting the events and members of the NWP, their participation in the suffrage movement, and their efforts to pass Equal Rights Amendment.
- The NWP newspaper, The Suffragist (1913-1921), and its later title, Equal Rights (1923-1953).
- 200 original cartoon drawings by artist and NWP Official Cartoonist Nina Allender and other freelance political cartoonists whose work was included in NWP publications.
- Over 50 scrapbooks from members of the National Woman's Party detailing the suffrage and equal rights movements through newspaper articles, speeches, letters, brochures, photographs and other printed materials.
- An original Jailhouse Door pin awarded to the NWP suffragists who were imprisoned for picketing in front of the White House between 1917 and 1919.
- Paintings and sculptures of NWP leaders and other famous women throughout history (including marble busts by sculptor Adelaide Johnson of Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Alva Belmont).
- A decorative arts collection including furniture such as Susan B. Anthony's desk; Elizabeth Cady Stanton's chair, and the desk used by Alice Paul when writing the Equal Rights Amendment.
- Books, magazines, and reference works, including early women's magazines and suffrage journals, written by and about women from 1880 to present day on virtually every topic, composing the nation's first feminist library.