Catherine Mary Flanagan (August 19, 1888 – August 3, 1927) was an 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 ...

affiliated with the

Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association The Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association (CWSA) was founded on October 28, 1869, by Isabella Beecher Hooker and Frances Ellen Burr at Connecticut's first suffrage convention. Its main goal was to persuade the Connecticut General Assembly to rat ...

and later the

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 was among the

Silent Sentinels The Silent Sentinels, also known as the Sentinels of Liberty, were a group of over 2,000 women in favor of women's suffrage organized by Alice Paul and the National Woman's Party, who protested in front of the White House during Woodrow Wilson's ...

arrested for protesting outside the White House in 1917.

Biography

Catherine Mary Flanagan was born on August 19, 1888, in

Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960. It is the core city in the Greater Hartford metropolitan area. Census estimates since the ...

, the second of seven children of Irish immigrant parents. Her father had moved to the US as a political exile after participating in the Irish Freedom movement, and following his death, she began work as a stenographer and as a bookkeeper at age 13. She became involved in the women's suffrage movement in the 1910s, and was hired as the secretary of the

(CWSA) in 1915. In 1917, Flanagan took vacation leave to travel to Washington, D.C., to join the

(NWP) in the

protest outside the White House. Flanagan and five other suffragists were arrested on charges of "obstructing traffic and unlawful assembly" and were jailed at the

Occoquan Workhouse The Lorton Reformatory, also known as the Lorton Correctional Complex, is a former prison complex in Lorton, Virginia, established in 1910 for the District of Columbia, United States. The complex began as a prison farm called the Occoquan Wor ...

for 30 days after they refused to pay a $10 fine. After her release, Flanagan wrote an account of her treatment in jail that was circulated in the national press and attracted public support for the suffrage movement. She resigned from the CWSA and formally joined the NWP. In 1920, she delivered Connecticut's ratification document endorsing the Nineteenth Amendment to the State Department. Following the passage of the amendment, she turned her attention to campaigning for recognition of the Irish Republic. Flanagan moved to Utah and married William H. Leary in 1921; a year later, they had a son. She died August 3, 1927, in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

from complications of an

ectopic pregnancy Ectopic pregnancy is a complication of pregnancy in which the embryo attaches outside the uterus. Signs and symptoms classically include abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding, but fewer than 50 percent of affected women have both of these symptoms. ...

Legacy

Flanagan was inducted into the

Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame The Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame (CWHF) recognizes women natives or residents of the U.S. state of Connecticut for their significant achievements or statewide contributions. The CWHF had its beginnings in 1993 when a group of volunteers partn ...

in 2020. She is memorialized at the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial in

Lorton, Virginia Lorton is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 18,610 as of the 2010 census. History Lorton is named for a village in the Lake District National Park, Cumbria, in England. Joseph Plasket ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flanagan, Catherine 1880s births 1927 deaths People from Hartford, Connecticut National Woman's Party activists Activists from Connecticut American people of Irish descent Suffragists from Connecticut