May Jane Walker Burleson - "Jennie" May Burleson (1888–1957) was a notable socialite, artist, and Texan suffragette who was the Grand Marshal of the

Woman Suffrage Parade of 1913 The Woman Suffrage Procession on 3 March 1913 was the first suffragist parade in Washington, D.C. It was also the first large, organized march on Washington for political purposes. The procession was organized by the suffragists Alice Paul and ...

in Washington, DC. Alice Paul interviewed by Amelia R. Fry Mounted with confidence on her horse, she led a parade of 5,000 people up

Pennsylvania Avenue Pennsylvania Avenue is a diagonal street in Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County, Maryland, that connects the White House and the United States Capitol and then crosses the city to Maryland. In Maryland it is also Maryland Route 4 (MD 4 ...

, Washington, DC and "into a melee that changed the direction of the suffrage movement." During the 1930s her name was associated with scandal, attracting wide media attention in Texas, as she shot and killed the woman her husband married after their contentious divorce in 1938.

Early life

Jane Walker was born and spent her early years in Galveston, Texas. Her parents John Caffery Walker (1849 - 1924) and Clara Waters Wilson Walker (1855 - 1937) had four children. Walker's father was a lawyer and judge from a prominent Texas family.

Education

Burleson studied art in New York under the eminent painter William Chase and received her teaching certificate from Chase's

normal school A normal school or normal college is an institution created to train teachers by educating them in the norms of pedagogy and curriculum. In the 19th century in the United States, instruction in normal schools was at the high school level, turni ...

upon graduation. In 1914 she took courses at

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GWU is the largest Higher educat ...

in economics and sociology.

Manila, Philippines

After her marriage in 1908 to Lieutenant Richard Coke Burleson (1881-1960) of the Third Field Artillery, they were ordered to

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

. With her teacher's certificate from Chase's

, she worked as supervisor in Manila public school system for two years where she trained and supervised five hundred teachers who in turn taught "thousands of children."

Washington, DC

Upon their return to the United States, Lieutenant Burleson was stationed at Fort Myer just out of Washington, DC. In Washington, she joined the short-lived Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage association which was founded in 1913 by Alice Paul and

Lucy Burns Lucy Burns (July 28, 1879 – December 22, 1966) was an American suffragist and women's rights advocate.Bland, 1981 (p. 8) She was a passionate activist in the United States and the United Kingdom, who joined the militant suffragettes. Burns ...

to campaign for a

constitutional A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these prin ...

amendment guaranteeing

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 ...

Burleson was the Grand Marshal of the

in Washington, DC. She was featured in a February 1914 article in the ''Meriden Morning Record'' under the heading "Women Worth While." She was described as a "handsome young wife" who "was one of the most accomplished women in the army and navy circles in Washington, DC- an expert swimmer and diver who played golf, tennis and could "ride the most spirited mount." Burleson's husband served overseas during World War I, commanding the 107th Regiment of the 53rd Field Artillery Brigade in Belgium. He advanced to the rank of Colonel and received several medals for his service.

Controversies

Her husband filed for divorce in 1935 and the case was heard in the District Court of San Saba County in November 1936 with his appeal for divorce being denied. Justice Blair In April 1937, attorneys allegedly acting on behalf of Jennie May Burleson "filed a cross action for divorce," which resulted in a divorce. However, Jennie Burleson alleged that she had not authorized the cross action suit. On September 27, 1937, Jennie May Burleson filed a "voluminous" report to have the April 1937 divorce judgment retracted "because the defense of insanity was not set up in some manner as against either spouse obtaining a divorce; and charged her attorneys with fraud, collusion, and misrepresentation in filing her cross action for divorce, knowing her nervous and mental state, and in not securing an order of the court to place her under "observation and a judgment as to her sanity before submitting to a trial." Her submission was dismissed by Justice Blair. The divorce made headlines in the media as a society scandal.

Incarceration

In 1940, Burleson was again on the front pages of American newspapers for the murder of Isabelle Burleson, the woman Richard Burleson married immediately after their divorce was granted. Jennie Burleson traveled by train from Texas to

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-largest ...

, sought out Mrs. Burleson at a restaurant she frequented, and shot her twice. The jury found her guilty of voluntary manslaughter by reason of insanity and she was sentenced to twelve years. In October 1948, she was released having served eight years in prison in South Carolina and she returned to the Walker family home.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burleson, Jane Walker 1888 births 1957 deaths Suffragists from Texas American socialites