The National Woman's Party (1916-1919) : its story and its images

The purpose of this study was to explore the story of the National Woman's Party with regard to its images during the period from 1916 to 1919. The role of the Woman's Party was considered in the context of the larger women's suffrage movement; the image of the Woman's Party was compared and contrasted as it was presented in several media sources; and the reactions to the Woman's Party were analyzed in the context of contemporary social expectations. Historical background for the Woman's Party's origins and development was assembled chiefly from secondary sources. The Party's images during the period of 1916-1919 were explored through examination of materials written or compiled by the National Woman's Party and its members (including a limited amount of research in the National Woman's Party Papers in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress), materials written or compiled by the rival suffrage group—the National American Woman's Suffrage Association, and articles written for and published in several contemporary newspapers and periodicals over the period of time discussed. The specifics considered were images of the Woman's Party's leadership, political strategy, and methods. A model of a turn-of-the-century "ideal woman" was then considered as a standard for comparison with the images of the Woman's Party