Ella Riegel (1867 - January 20, 1937) 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 ...

and

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

activist. Riegel was a graduate of the first class of

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United St ...

and would remain associated with the college the rest of her life.

Biography

Regel was born in 1866 in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Riegel was part of the first class of

and graduated in 1889. She became interested in

anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of behavi ...

and

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

. Riegel was also good with

finance Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fina ...

s and made money through

investing Investment is the dedication of money to purchase of an asset to attain an increase in value over a period of time. Investment requires a sacrifice of some present asset, such as time, money, or effort. In finance, the purpose of investing i ...

stock In finance, stock (also capital stock) consists of all the shares by which ownership of a corporation or company is divided.Longman Business English Dictionary: "stock - ''especially AmE'' one of the shares into which ownership of a company ...

s. Riegel promoted the cause of

women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vot ...

in many different ways. She was first part of the Congressional Union for Woman's Suffrage, where she served on their finance committee. Later, she joined 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 ...

(NWP). In 1916, she was part of the "

Suffrage Special The Suffrage Special was an event created by the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage in 1916. The Suffrage Special toured the "free states" which had already allowed women's suffrage in the United States. The delegates were raising awareness o ...

," a group of more than twenty

suffragists 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 ...

who traveled to the West to promote woman's suffrage. Riegel served as the business manager for the Suffrage Special. Along with Mrs. Charles Wister Ruschenberger, she sent photographs of a "women's liberty bell" to each

United States Senator The United States Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives being the Lower house, lower chamber. Together they compose the national Bica ...

. The bell had a chained tongue, so it could not ring. In 1919, Riegel met with

James P. Goodrich James Putnam Goodrich, (February 18, 1864 – August 15, 1940), was an American politician and member of the Republican Party who served as the 29th governor of Indiana from 1917 to 1921. His term focused on reforming the operations of the ...

, Governor of

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

, to urge him to call a special legislative session to ratify the woman's suffrage amendment. In a 75-woman protest carried out on February 9, 1919, Riegel was arrested. and The protest was part of a series of "watch fires" carried out by the NWP due to the failure of the Senate to pass the 19th amendment. Riegel carried a suffrage banner and was one of 47 women arrested. She later helped organize the

Prison Special The "Prison Special" was a train tour organized by suffragists who, as members of the Silent Sentinels and other demonstrations, had been jailed for picketing the White House in support of passage of the federal women's suffrage amendment. In Feb ...

to raise awareness about the imprisonment of activists and the inhumane treatment they received in jail. After women won suffrage rights, Riegel continued to fight for expanding rights in Pennsylvania, where she served as the chair of the state NWP. Riegel also fought for women's independent citizenship and full guardianship of their own children. Riegel was the woman's party delegate to the

Hague conference The Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) is an intergovernmental organisation in the area of private international law (also known as ''conflict of laws''), that administers several international conventions, protocols and soft ...

for the Codification of International Law in 1930. She traveled through

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

and worked with the Women's Consultative Committee of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

. Riegel died in her apartment on Bryn Mawr campus on January 20, 1937. She left $100,000 from her estate to Bryn Mawr, and an archaeology

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

was created in her name. In 1940, an archaeological museum named for Riegel was opened in the Bryn Mawr library.

References

External links

Ella Riegel Study Collection
{{DEFAULTSORT:Riegel, Ella 1867 births 1937 deaths American suffragists American women's rights activists National Woman's Party activists Bryn Mawr College alumni The Hague Academy of International Law people