File 89, April 1917-October 1920

Once the United States entered World War I in April 1917, many suffragists stopped campaigning for the vote and devoted themselves to war work. The National Woman's Party (NWP), however, did not support the war and did not halt its agitation. Beginning in June 1917 suffragists were arrested for picketing and imprisoned, and their mistreatment gained national sympathy.  President Wilson eventually acquiesced and publicly came out in support of the federal women’s suffrage amendment in January 1918. The rest of File 89 chronicles the fight to pass the Nineteenth Amendment in Congress and its ratification by the states.