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 Serene Williams.
Born: 1891, United States
Died: 1945
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Ruth Capon
Office Manager of the National Woman’s Suffrage Club of Boston
Ruth Small was a suffragist from Newton Highlands, Massachusetts who was especially notable for her participation in a 1919 protest against President Woodrow Wilson. Small was an active member of the NWP in both Boston and Washington, D.C. In 1918, she went with a group of suffragists from Massachusetts to the nation’s capitol to publicly protest for suffrage. Small played an important role in the 1919 Boston protest. The demonstration was announced by National Woman’s Party leader Alice Paul and scheduled to take place when Wilson returned from promoting world peace in Europe after World War I. The direct action protest included a line of suffragists carrying banners demanding “freedom for women” in front of the capitol building on Boston Common. The banner Ruth Small carried said,
“MR. PRESIDENT, YOU SAID IN THE SENATE ON SEPTEMBER 30, “WE SHALL
NOT ONLY BE DISTRUSTED BUT WE SHALL DESERVE TO BE DISTRUSTED IF
WE DO NOT ENFRANCHISE WOMEN.” YOU ALONE CAN REMOVE THIS
DISTRUST NOW BY SECURING THE ONE VOTE NEEDED TO PASS THE
SUFFRAGE AMENDMENT BEFORE MARCH 4.”
During this protest, the suffragists publicly burned the words of President Wilson to protest his lack of support for women’s suffrage. 19 women were arrested, including Small, Katherine Morey and Betty Connolly and the women were sent to the House of Detention. At the time of her arrest, Small was working as an office manager of the National Woman’s Suffrage Club of Boston. It was reported in the Boston Globe newspaper that 50-70 supporters of the suffragists gathered outside and tried to break into the courtroom. 40 people were able to successfully make their way in to watch the sentencing. The protestors were sentenced to eight days in Charles St. Jail. After Small was detained, she spoke to the press stating that the women arrested should be treated as political prisoners. She was ultimately released after an unknown man paid her fine. Small protested the payment of the fine and claimed the authorities paid it unanimously to get her out of prison and out of the press. According to Historian James J. Kenneally, the arrests of the 1919 Boston protestors marked the only time suffragists served jail sentences as a result of working for women’s suffrage outside of Washington, D.C.
Works cited
The Boston Globe. “Militants Think Their Jail Treatment ‘Lovely.'” February 27, 1919.
The Boston Globe. “Suffragettes on Hunger Strike: Sixteen Jailed after Refusal to Pay $5 Fines for Actions Here.” February 26, 1919.
The Boston Globe. “Suffragettes Refuse to Reply to Court’s Questions.” February 25, 1919.
The Boston Globe. “‘Suffs’ Protest at the State House.” February 28, 1919.
The Boston Globe. “Three ‘Suffs’ are Forced to Quit Jail, Violently Protesting.” February 27, 1919.
The Boston Globe. “To Burn Wilson’s Speech on Common: Suffragist Lack Permit but Plan Meeting.” February 24, 1919.
Irwin, Inez Haynes. The Story of the Woman’s Party. 1921. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/56701/56701-h/56701-h.htm.
Kenneally, James. “‘I Want to Go to Jail’: The Woman’s Party Reception for President Wilson in Boston, 1919.” Historical Journal of Massachusetts 45, no. 1 (2017).
Reyher, Rebecca Hourwich. “An Interview Conducted by Amelia R. Fry and Fern Ingersoll.” Suffragists Oral History Project: Search and Struggle for Equality and Independence. Last modified 1977. https://oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=kt6x0nb1ts&brand=oac4&doc.view=entire_text.
Stevens, Doris, and Angela P. Dodson. Jailed for Freedom : a First-person Account of the Militant Fight for Women’s Rights. 100th ed. New York: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2020.