Florence Bayard Hilles (1865–1954) was an American suffragist, one of the founders of 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 ...

Biography

Hilles was born in 1865, the daughter of Thomas Francis Bayard. She was a munitions worker in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and assisted in the reconstruction effort that followed it. After hearing Mabel Vernon speak, she joined the suffrage movement. On a 1916 suffrage tour, she was the principal speaker, and in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

scattered flyers from a seaplane. In 1917, she was elected to the national board of the National Woman's party. Though descended from a Democratic family, she often switched parties, sometimes supporting Democrats, other times campaigning against them. Hilles served as a Silent Sentinel, picketing the White House, leading 1,000 women in a "Grand Picket" on March 4, 1917. She was the chairwoman of the Delaware branch of the National Woman's Party, and jailed with

Dora Lewis Dora Lewis (October 13, 1862 – January 31, 1928), also known as Mrs. Lawrence Lewis, was an American suffragist. She was active in the National American Woman Suffrage Association and later helped found the National Woman's Party. Lewis took part ...

, sent to Occoquan Virginia Workhouse. In 1919, she was prominent at the "Watchfire demonstrations". An advocate of the Equal Rights Amendment, she was viewed as one of the most prominent supporters of the amendment. From 1933-1936, she served as the National Chairman of the National Woman's Party. She married William S. Hilles, a lawyer. The Sewall–Belmont House and Museum's library, the Florence Bayard Hilles Research Library (also the oldest Feminist library in the United States) was founded by her. Hilles died in 1954.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hilles, Florence Bayard 1865 births 1954 deaths American suffragists National Woman's Party activists