The following is republished with permission from WAPUSH Wednesday, part of the campaign to get a Women’s AP US History course in high schools. It was written by Hannah Cevasco.
Born: 24 July 1863, United States
Died: 1937
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Emily DuBois Haws
Emily Butterworth (née DuBois) was a suffragist born in New York City on July 24, 1863. She trained as a sculptor both in New York and in Europe before returning to the U.S. to study wood carving at Barnard. Her works were exhibited at small shows around Manhattan and received praise from art critics. She married Henry Butterworth of Yorkshire, England on October 10, 1900 and her American citizenship was subsequently revoked under the 1907 Expatriation Act. The Cable Act of 1922 partially reversed the 1907 Expatriation Act and allowed women who married noncitizens to reclaim their U.S. citizenship and, importantly, exercise their newfound right to vote. Butterworth petitioned the Southern District Court of NY and once again became a U.S. citizen on May 25, 1925.
Butterworth joined the women’s movement in the early 1900s and was a member of the Equal Franchise Society and the organizing committee of the Women’s Municipal League in NYC. She also joined the Women’s Political Union and was part of a delegation that distributed copies of the new Votes for Women Broadside newspaper on Wall Street in January 1911. Her attendance was recorded at various political events throughout the city, including an NWP audience with Senator William Calder of NY in 1917 where she urged him to support the 19th Amendment. Butterworth was arrested on November 10, 1917 for picketing the White House along with 40 other Silent Sentinels. She was released on bail but sentenced two days later and transferred from the D.C. District Jail to the Occoquan Workhouse, where she was present for the Night of Terror. For unknown reasons, she was left alone all night in the male section of the jail. She participated in the hunger strike and accepted an early parole offer along with two other suffragists on account of their poor health. They were released on November 24, 1917 while the other women returned to the D.C. District Jail. The physical effects of Butterworth’s time at Occoquan were apparent when she attended a small gathering in Brooklyn just days after her release to speak about her experience; she appeared frail and required assistance to mount the stage. She said “the treatment we received was most cruel. Everything was done to break the nerve of the women who were in jail with me. But in spite of all I underwent, I want to say that I am not one bit sorry for what I did.” In April 1918, Butterworth and the other two women who left Occoquan early on parole were called back to finish their sentence. They appealed for a rehearing and Butterworth was one of eight suffragists who each sued the D.C. Commissioners for $50,000 in damages on charges of imprisonment without lawful authority, brutal assault, solitary confinement in the men’s department, being forced to wear convict garb, and refusal of medical attention.
She and many other Silent Sentinels were honored with commemorative pins at a February 1921 National Convention of the NWP in Washington. Her involvement with the NWP appears to have waned after her prison experience, but Butterworth remained involved in local affairs in NY, including the Women’s Society of the Riverdale Presbyterian Church. At Alva Belmont’s funeral in 1933, Butterworth was part of the escort of honor during the church procession.
Works cited
Ancestry.com. “Naturalization Oath of Allegiance,” May 25, 1925.
Ancestry.com. “New York, New York, U.S., Extracted Marriage Index, 1866-1937 – Ancestry.Com.”
Ancestry.com. “New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943.”
Batlan, Felice. “‘She Was Surprised And Furious’: Expatriation, Suffrage, and the Fragility of Women’s Citizenship, 1907-1940.” Stanford Journal of Civil Rights & Liberties, n.d.
Dayton Daily News. “Officers Swoop Down on Women at White House.” November 11, 1917.
Dismore, David M. “Today in Feminist History: U.S. District Court Judge Hears Testimony on Mistreatment of Silent Sentinels.” Ms. Magazine, November 24, 2019. https://msmagazine.com/2019/11/24/feminist-history-november-24/.
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. “41 More ‘Suff’ Pickets Arrested at White House.” November 11, 1917. https://newscomwc.newspapers.com/image/686923236/.
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. “Mrs. Butterworth’s Talents Are Many and Varied.” June 15, 1913.
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. “Small Crowd Drawn by Women Pickets.” November 28, 1917.
The Buffalo News. “Suffrage Pickets Must Return to Workhouse.” May 1, 1918.
The Craftsman. “Impressionistic Effects in Wood Carving: A New Departure in This Old Craft.” July 1, 1909.
The Herald Statesman. “Riverdale.” October 8, 1928.
The Miami News. “Suffragists Ask Big Damages of Court Officers.” December 12, 1917.
The New York Times. “Many State Women To Attend Meeting.” February 7, 1921.
The New York Times. “Municipal League Tea.” November 9, 1908.
The New York Times. “New Newspaper Out Today: It’s the ‘Votes for Women Broadside,’ and Will Appear as Events Demand.” January 21, 1911.
The New York Times. “The Architectural League: Seventeenth Annual Exhibition of Architectural Designs and Industrial Art.” February 16, 1902.
The New York Times. “Woman’s Municipal League: Meeting to Be Held at the Plaza Thursday Evening.” March 30, 1909.
The Standard Union. “Woes of Militants No Drawing Card – About Seventy-Five Hear Suffragists Describe Picketing and Jail Experience.” November 28, 1917.
The Sun. “Suffs Urge Calder To Pledge His Vote.” March 31, 1917.
Times Herald. “D.C. Heads Must Reply to Suffragettes’ Suit.” December 12, 1917.
Times Union. “1,500 Attend Belmont Rites.” February 13, 1933.
Times Union. “Lucy Burns Free, Coming to B’klyn: Picket’s Sister at Meeting Plans Welcome Home.” November 28, 1917.
“U.S., City Directories, 1822-1995 – AncestryLibrary.Com.” Accessed July 12, 2024. https://www-ancestrylibrary-com.yale.idm.oclc.org/discoveryui-content/view/77030035:2469.