Inez Milholland Boissevain (August 6, 1886 – November 25, 1916) was a leading American

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

, lawyer, and peace activist. From her college days at Vassar, she campaigned aggressively for

women’s rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

as the principal issue of a wide-ranging

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the ...

agenda. In 1913, she led the dramatic

Woman Suffrage Procession The Woman Suffrage Procession on 3 March 1913 was the first suffragist parade in Washington, D.C. It was also the first large, organized march on Washington for political purposes. The procession was organized by the suffragists Alice Paul and ...

on horseback in advance of President Woodrow Wilson's inauguration, though she had to accept that her beauty earned her more notice than her politics. She was also a labour lawyer and a war correspondent, as well as a high-profile

New Woman The New Woman was a feminist ideal that emerged in the late 19th century and had a profound influence well into the 20th century. In 1894, Irish writer Sarah Grand (1854–1943) used the term "new woman" in an influential article, to refer to ...

of the age, with her avant-garde lifestyle and belief in free love. She died of

pernicious anemia Pernicious anemia is a type of vitamin B12 deficiency anemia, a disease in which not enough red blood cells are produced due to the malabsorption of vitamin B12. Malabsorption in pernicious anemia results from the lack or loss of intrinsic fa ...

on a speaking tour, traveling against medical advice.

Early life

Born and raised in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, Inez Milholland grew up in a wealthy family. Known as Nan, she was the eldest daughter of John Elmer Milholland and Jean Milholland née’ Torry. She had one sister, Vida, and one brother, John (Jack). Her father was a '' New York Tribune'' reporter and editorial writer who eventually headed a pneumatic tubes business that afforded his family a privileged life in both New York and London. In London she met and was impressed by the English suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst. Milholland’s father supported many reforms, among them world peace, civil rights, and women's suffrage. Her mother exposed her children to cultural and intellectual stimulation. Milholland spent summers on her family's land in

Lewis, Essex County, New York : ''There is another Town of Lewis in Lewis County, New York.'' Lewis is a town in Essex County, New York, United States. The population was 1,382 at the 2010 census. The town is named after Morgan Lewis, the governor of New York at the t ...

; the property is now the Meadowmount School of Music.

Education

Inez Milholland received her early education at the Comstock School in New York and Kensington Secondary School in London. After finishing school, she decided to attend Vassar but when the college wouldn't accept her graduation certificate she attended Willard School for Girls in Berlin.Nicolosi, Ann Marie "The Most Beautiful Sufragette: Inez Milholland and the Political Currency of Beauty." pp 287–310. As a student, she was known as an active radical. During her attendance at

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...

, she was once suspended for organizing a women's rights meeting. The president of Vassar had forbidden suffrage meetings, but Milholland and others held regular "classes" on the issue, along with large protests and petitions. Defying the campus suffrage meeting ban, she convened one in a cemetery across the road. She started the suffrage movement at Vassar, enrolled two-thirds of the students, and taught them the principles of socialism. Milholland was president of the campus

Intercollegiate Socialist Society The Intercollegiate Socialist Society (ISS) was a socialist student organization active from 1905 to 1921. It attracted many prominent intellectuals and writers and acted as an unofficial student wing of the Socialist Party of America. The Society ...

, which was dominated by women at the time and reflected their identification with the oppressed.Linda Lumsden, ''Inez: The Life and Times of Inez Milholland'', p. 39. For Milholland, socialism was "a vital means to correct the monster evils under the sun." With the radical group she had gathered about her, she attended socialist meetings in

Poughkeepsie Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsie ...

, which were under the ban of the faculty."Inez Milholland Boissevain." Dictionary of American Biography. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1936. Gale U.S. History In Context. Web. Oct 6, 2011. An athletic young woman, she was the captain of the hockey team and a member of the 1909 track team; she also set a record in the basketball throw. Milholland was also involved in student productions, the Current Topics Club, the German Club, and the debating team. After graduating from Vassar in 1909, she tried for admission at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

, and

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III of England, Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world' ...

with the purpose of studying law, but was denied due to gender. Milholland was finally matriculated at the

New York University School of Law New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it is the oldest law school in New York City and the oldest surviving law school in N ...

, from which she took her LL.B. degree in 1912.Linda Lumsden, ''Inez: The Life and Times of Inez Milholland'', p. 69.

Careers

Milholland's causes were far reaching. She was not only interested in prison reform, but also sought world peace and worked for equality for African Americans. Milholland was a member of the NAACP, the

Women's Trade Union League The Women's Trade Union League (WTUL) (1903–1950) was a U.S. organization of both working class and more well-off women to support the efforts of women to organize labor unions and to eliminate sweatshop conditions. The WTUL played an important ...

, the Equality League of Self Supporting Women in New York (Women's Political Union), the

National Child Labor Committee The National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) was a private, non-profit organization in the United States that served as a leading proponent for the national child labor reform movement. Its mission was to promote "the rights, awareness, dignity, well ...

, and England's Fabian Society. She was also involved in the

National American Woman Suffrage Association The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations, the National ...

, which later branched into the grassroots radical

National Woman's Party The National Woman's Party (NWP) was an American women's political organization formed in 1916 to fight for women's suffrage. After achieving this goal with the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the NW ...

. She became a leader and a popular speaker on the campaign circuit of the NWP, working closely with Alice Paul and

Lucy Burns Lucy Burns (July 28, 1879 – December 22, 1966) was an American suffragist and women's rights advocate.Bland, 1981 (p. 8) She was a passionate activist in the United States and the United Kingdom, who joined the militant suffragettes. Burns ...

Lawyer

Milholland was later admitted to the bar and joined the New York law firm of Osborne, Lamb, and Garvan, handling criminal and divorce cases. In one of her first assignments, she was sent to investigate conditions at

Sing Sing Sing Sing Correctional Facility, formerly Ossining Correctional Facility, is a maximum-security prison operated by the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision in the village of Ossining, New York. It is about north of ...

prison. At the time, female contact with male prisoners was frowned upon, but she insisted on talking personally with the prisoners to uncover the horrible conditions. Additionally, she wanted to see what it felt like to be an inmate, so she had herself handcuffed to one.

Suffrage

Milholland stepped into her first suffrage parade on May 7, 1911. She held a sign that read, "Forward, out of error,/Leave behind the night,/Forward through the darkness,/Forward into light!" Milholland quickly became the face of the suffrage movement. The ''New York Sun'' stated that "No suffrage parade was complete without Inez Milholland." Suffrage leader Harriot Eaton Stanton Blatch had Inez lead parades in 1911, 1912, and 1913. On March 3, 1913, the day before

President Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

's inauguration, Milholland, 26, made her most memorable appearance, at the

in Washington D.C. which she had helped organize. Suffrage leader Alice Paul placed her at the head of the parade wearing a crown and a long white cape riding a large white horse named "Gray Dawn."Marilyn Elizabeth Perry
"Boissevain, Inez Milholland"
American National Biography Online. Feb. 2000. Horses became a very common method of spreading information about the suffrage movement and other suffragists such as

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rode horses to raise awareness for the movement. Milholland believed that women should have the right to vote because of the traits that were unique to women. She argued that women would metaphorically become the "house-cleaners of the nation." She believed women's votes could remove social ills such as

sweatshops A sweatshop or sweat factory is a crowded workplace with very poor, socially unacceptable or illegal working conditions. Some illegal working conditions include poor ventilation, little to no breaks, inadequate work space, insufficient lighting, o ...

tenements A tenement is a type of building shared by multiple dwellings, typically with flats or apartments on each floor and with shared entrance stairway access. They are common on the British Isles, particularly in Scotland. In the medieval Old Town, i ...

, prostitution,

hunger In politics, humanitarian aid, and the social sciences, hunger is defined as a condition in which a person does not have the physical or financial capability to eat sufficient food to meet basic Human nutrition, nutritional needs for a sustaine ...

, poverty, and child mortality. She told men that they should not worry about the women in their lives as they were extending their sacred rights and duties to the whole country rather than inside the home. Even though she spoke of these issues, she was always disappointed that she was better known for her looks than her brains. The concluding words of her last suffrage speech were, “Mr. President, how long must women wait for liberty?"

Pacifist

Milholland traveled overseas to Italy at the beginning of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

shortly after the '' RMS Lusitania'' had been torpedoed by a German U-boat. After landing, the captain informed Milholland that a German submarine followed them across the ocean. With this information, she began writing for the ''

Tribune Tribune () was the title of various elected officials in ancient Rome. The two most important were the tribunes of the plebs and the military tribunes. For most of Roman history, a college of ten tribunes of the plebs acted as a check on th ...

'' and became a war correspondent. Milholland worked to be allowed to visit the front lines in the war as she continued to write anti-war articles that led to her censure by the Italian government, which banned her from the country. Upon returning from Italy, Milholland suffered from bouts of depression. She felt that she had been barred from the front because she was a woman and not because she was a pacifist. She felt like she had returned a failure. She was also a leading figure on

Henry Ford Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was an American industrialist, business magnate, founder of the Ford Motor Company, and chief developer of the assembly line technique of mass production. By creating the first automobile that ...

's ill-fated Peace Ship expedition of late 1915, steaming across the Atlantic with a team of pacifist campaigners who hoped to give impetus to a negotiated settlement to the First

World War A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...

. However, she left the ship in Stockholm because the trip was unorganized and dissension had ensued between passengers.

Personal life

Inez Milholland became the classic

in the beginning of the 20th century. She loved the new dance crazes of the Turkey Trot and the Grizzly Bear and enjoyed traveling to Paris and buying Parisian couture gowns. Additionally, her views mirrored those of the New Woman when it came to sexual love. By the fall of 1909, Inez Milholland and

Max Eastman Max Forrester Eastman (January 4, 1883 – March 25, 1969) was an American writer on literature, philosophy and society, a poet and a prominent political activist. Moving to New York City for graduate school, Eastman became involved with radical ...

became rising radical stars due to their handsome looks. Inez knew Max through his sister,

Crystal Eastman Crystal Catherine Eastman (June 25, 1881 – July 28, 1928) was an American lawyer, antimilitarist, feminist, socialist, and journalist. She is best remembered as a leader in the fight for women's suffrage, as a co-founder and co-editor with h ...

, whom she met at socialist and suffrage rallies. Inez told Max that she loved him and tried to convince him to elope with her. When he finally reciprocated her love and agreed to marry her, their relationship fell apart. They both realized they could not be lovers, but they did remain close lifelong friends. In the same way that she fell fast in love with Eastman, soon after she began seeing the author

John Fox, Jr. John Fox Jr. (December 16, 1862 – July 8, 1919) was an American journalist, novelist, and short story writer. Biography Born in Stony Point, Kentucky, to John William Fox Sr. and Minerva Worth Carr, Fox studied English at Harvard University ...

She told him she loved him but he didn't reciprocate right away. When he did tell her that he loved her, she was no longer interested. In July, 1913 while on a cruise to London, Milholland proposed to Eugen Jan Boissevain, a Dutchman she had known for about a month. The two were married on July 14 at the Kensington registry office which was as soon as they could after their arrival in London without consulting their families. John Milholland was in New York at the time and heard about the marriage from the press. John insisted that the two get remarried in a church, but Inez refused. A complication arose when the couple returned to New York from London. Milholland was no longer an American citizen because the

Expatriation Act of 1907 The Expatriation Act of 1907 (59th Congress, 2nd session, chapter 2534, enacted March 2, 1907) was an act of the 59th United States Congress concerning retention and relinquishment of United States nationality by married women and Americans residi ...

provided that if an American woman married a non-American, she took her husband's nationality. Milholland did not stop flirting with other men after her marriage and often wrote to Boissevain to tell him. Although Milholland adored children, the couple never had any of their own.

Death

Inez Milholland memorial service - Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage

In 1916, she went on a tour in the West, speaking for women's rights as a member of the

. She undertook the tour despite suffering from

and despite the admonitions of her family, who were concerned about her deteriorating health. On October 22, 1916, she collapsed in the middle of a speech in Los Angeles, California, at Blanchard Hall and was rushed to

Good Samaritan Hospital Good Samaritan Hospital or Good Samaritan Medical Center may refer to: India *Good Samaritan Hospital (Panamattom), Koprakalam, Panamattom, Kerala *Good Samaritan Centre, Mutholath Nagar, Cherpunkal, Kottyam, Kerala United States *Banner - Univer ...

. Despite repeated blood transfusions, she died on November 25, 1916.

Legacy

After she died, her sister Vida Millholland devoted her time to suffrage work including going to prison for three days in 1917.Vida Milholland
Library of Congress, Retrieved 1 September 2016 In a tribute to Inez Milholland, Mount Discovery in the

Adirondacks The Adirondack Mountains (; a-də-RÄN-dak) form a massif in northeastern New York with boundaries that correspond roughly to those of Adirondack Park. They cover about 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2). The mountains form a roughly circular d ...

was renamed for her.

Carl Sandburg Carl August Sandburg (January 6, 1878 – July 22, 1967) was an American poet, biographer, journalist, and editor. He won three Pulitzer Prizes: two for his poetry and one for his biography of Abraham Lincoln. During his lifetime, Sandburg ...

wrote a poem about Inez Milholland titled "Repetitions," which appears in his 1918 volume, ''Cornhuskers''.

Edna St. Vincent Millay Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 – October 19, 1950) was an American lyrical poet and playwright. Millay was a renowned social figure and noted feminist in New York City during the Roaring Twenties and beyond. She wrote much of he ...

, who married Milholland's widower Eugen Boissevain in 1923, also wrote a poem, "To Inez Milholland," included in her collection ''The Buck in the Snow''.

Julia Ormond Julia Karin Ormond (born 4 January 1965) is an English actress. She rose to prominence by appearing in ''The Baby of Mâcon'' (1993), '' Legends of the Fall'' (1994), '' First Knight'' (1995), '' Sabrina'' (1995), '' Smilla's Sense of Snow'' (1 ...

portrayed Inez Milholland in the 2004 movie ''

Iron Jawed Angels ''Iron Jawed Angels'' is a 2004 American historical drama film directed by Katja von Garnier. The film stars Hilary Swank as suffragist leader Alice Paul, Frances O'Connor as activist Lucy Burns, Julia Ormond as Inez Milholland, and Anjelica Hus ...

.''

Phillipa Soo Phillipa Anne Soo (born May 31, 1990) is an American actress and singer. Soo gained prominence for originating the role of Eliza Hamilton in the Broadway musical ''Hamilton''. She earned nominations for the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actress in a ...

portrayed Inez Milholland in the 2022 Off-Broadway musical '' Suffs''. The Inez Milholland Professorship of Civil Liberties at

, filled by Burt Neuborne, was named in her honor.

References

External links

Inez Milholland Papers.Schlesinger Library
, Radcliffe Institute, Harvard University.

''The Adirondack Almanack'', April 23, 2010.

''The New York Times'', August 19, 2020.
Sidesaddles and suffragettes – the fight to ride and vote
Horsetalk.co.nz.
Standing Together: Inez Milholland's Final Campaign for Women's Suffrage
by Jeanine Michna-Bales {{DEFAULTSORT:Milholland, Inez 1886 births 1916 deaths American suffragists American women in World War I Deaths from pernicious anemia People from Brooklyn American socialist feminists Boissevain family Vassar College alumni American anti-war activists National Woman's Party activists Activists from New York (state) Women's Trade Union League people New York (state) lawyers 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American women lawyers