Pam Swing wanted to commemorate the February 24, 1919 suffragist picketing of the Massachusetts State House, as it was the last time American women were jailed for women’s suffrage. Her initial plan was to do a reenactment of some kind, and she applied to have a Brandeis undergraduate work with her through the Student Scholar Partnership program at the Brandeis Women’s Studies Research Center, where she is a Resident Scholar. In the fall of 2018, Pam and Elizabeth (Lizy) Dabanka ’20 began collaborating together.
We experimented with a few ideas before settling on writing a play. It was a wonderful partnership—we brainstormed scenes together, played with different approaches to dialogue, wrestled with how to cut down a large group of historic personae down to a manageable cast of characters, etc.
The play follows five of the twenty-two women arrested and jailed for attempting to picket President Wilson on his return from the Paris Peace Conference. By following their individual stories, we invite the audience into the emotional challenges of being asked to take a public stand for the cause of women’s rights. The brilliant mastermind behind the picket line was Alice Paul. As head of the National Woman’s Party, she relentlessly pursued her goal of holding President Wilson accountable for Congress’s reluctance to pass the 19th Amendment through years of setbacks. That’s part of the story too—Alice Paul was a formidable leader, and it was not always easy to balance concerns for personal safety with the desire to do as she requested.
One issue that was at the forefront for both of us was the fault line that runs between white and black suffrage efforts. Historically, there had been some overlap between black emancipation and women’s rights. For example, Lucy Stone, a prominent 19th century New England suffragist, was also an abolitionist. By the early 20th century, however, prejudice and politics resulted in a near-total segregation of suffrage organizations. White suffrage leaders justified it by citing the need for Southern states’ support to pass a national amendment giving women the right to vote. African American women were active suffragists, forming their own groups, but their contributions have not received the credit they deserved, in part due to lack of documentation. Even when the 19th Amendment became law, black women were prevented from voting, particularly in the South, by Jim Crow laws and other voting restrictions. It took the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 to grant full voting privileges to African Americans, though voting restrictions and voter suppression continue to be an issue even today.
We wanted to acknowledge this unfortunate, yet historically accurate, divide. We decided we wanted a racially diverse cast to reflect the contributions of women of color, particularly black abolitionists, in the fight for voting rights. We were intentional in including references to their absence through both explicit and implicit dialogue using language appropriate to the period.
As we approach the centennial of the passage of the 19th Amendment, “I Want to Go to Jail” celebrates and honors the women who would not give up until American women won the legal right to vote. The centennial also gives all of us an opportunity to think about the issues of voting rights and social justice, both then and now.
–Pam and Lizy
Pam and Lizy wish to thank:
- Fredie Kay, president of the Women’s Suffrage Celebration Coalition, who arranged and MC’d the Feb. 28, 2019 performance at the Massachusetts State House with the assistance of many WSCC volunteers
- Thea Iberall and Shirley Riga, playwright and producer of the musical “We Did it for You! Women’s Journey through History,” who generously shared actors from their performing troupe (and took roles themselves) as well as offering emotional and logistical support.
- Mary Smoyer and Katherine Dibble, founders of the Boston Women’s Heritage Trail, who offered unflagging encouragement.
- Brandeis Women’s Studies Research Center Scholars (past and present), Brandeis alum and playwright Amy Merrill, and David Gullette, who gave feedback on early versions of the play.
- Professor James Kenneally for giving us permission to use “I Want to Go to Jail” as the title for our play. His article, “I Want to Go to Jail: The Woman’s Party Reception for President Wilson in Boston 1919” (Historical Journal of Massachusetts, Volume 45 (1), Winter 2017) was an invaluable resource.
- Jen Montbach, website designer, for her artistic eye and much-appreciated technical expertise
- Scott Shelley, cinematographer, for filming the performance at the Massachusetts State House
- Sam Kruger, filmmaker, for filming and editing the performance at the Concord Museum, and collaborating with Pam on the video short.