Vida Milholland (January 17, 1888 – November 29, 1952) was a women's rights activist and the sister of Inez Milholland, one of the leaders of the National Woman's Party.
Vida Milholland | |
|---|---|
 Milholland in 1918 | |
| Born | January 17, 1888 Brooklyn, New York, US |
| Died | November 29, 1952 (aged 64) Lewis, New York, US |
| Occupation | Suffragist |
Personal life
editVida was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1888. Her father, John Milholland, was a founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. She was the younger sister of the famed suffragist leader Inez Milholland.[1] When she was a young woman she was a concert soprano.[2] She had studied at Vassar College where she was known for athletics and drama. When her sister died in 1916 she devoted her time to suffrage work; she went to prison for three days in 1917 where she sang each night for her fellow prisoners.[3][4]
Suffrage work
editVida Milholland was an ardent suffragist and an active member of the militant National Woman's Party and a political ally of Alice Paul. Along with her sister Inez, she was also a member of the College Equal Suffrage League of New York State.[4]
Milholland participated in the picketing of the White House during the first World War in support of women's suffrage.[5] She spent time in Occoquan Workhouse as part of the Silent Sentinels protest.[6] In 1917 Milholland told stories of her imprisonment at the Ritz-Carlton alongside Dora Lewis and others. Alva Belmont presided over this meeting.[7] In 1919 she represented the NWP on their "Prison Special" tour of America where she sang at every meeting.[3]
At a 1921 conference in Washington, D.C. she was honored for her part in the suffrage movement.[5] Vida dressed in a white Crusader's costume the way Inez used to appear at a memorial for her sister in New York in 1924.[8]
Death
editVida Milholland died in Lewis, Essex County, New York on November 29, 1952.[2]
References
edit- ^ Doerksen, Clifford. American Babel: Rogue Radio Broadcasters of the Jazz Age.
- ^ a b "Miss Vida Milholland". New York Times. December 2, 1952.
- ^ a b Vida Milholland, Library of Congress, Retrieved 1 September 2016
- ^ a b Goodier, Susan (2017). Women will vote : winning suffrage in New York State. Pastorello, Karen, 1956-. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-1-5017-1320-0. OCLC 980346683.
- ^ a b "Many State Women to Attend Meeting". New York Times. February 7, 1921.
- ^ Linda, Lumsden (2004). Inez: The Life and Times of Inez Milholland. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 179.
- ^ "Suffrage Pickets to Talk". New York Times. November 8, 1917.
- ^ "Sees Snub to Negro by Woman's Party: Inez Milholland's Father Represents Course Towards his Guests at her Grave". New York Times. August 18, 1924.