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 The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) was an organization formed on February 18, 1890, to advocate in favor of women's suffrage in the United States. It was created by the merger of two existing organizations, the National ...

and later helped found 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 ...

. Lewis took part in 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 ...

protest to advocate for women's suffrage. Dora Lewis 160039v

Involvement with the National Woman's Party

In 1913 Dora Lewis became a very early executive member of the National Woman's Party (NWP). She was a very active member of the NWP and she was arrested numerous times for her advocacy in support of suffrage. Lewis served three days in jail for picketing in July 1917 and was arrested on November 10, 1917. After this arrest she was sentenced to 60 days in a workhouse. Lewis was also arrested in August 1918 at the Lafayette Square meeting in honor of the late

Inez Milholland Inez Milholland Boissevain (August 6, 1886 – November 25, 1916) was a leading American suffragist, lawyer, and peace activist. From her college days at Vassar, she campaigned aggressively for women’s rights as the principal issue of a wi ...

(where she was the primary speaker) and sentenced to 15 days. Later she was arrested in January 1919 during the watchfire demonstrations (which she began when she set fire to copies of President Wilson's speeches on democracy) and sentenced to five days.

Night of Terror

On the night of November 14, 1917, known as the " Night of Terror", the superintendent of 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 Work ...

, W.H. Whittaker, ordered the nearly forty guards to brutalize the suffragists there, including Dora Lewis. The guards threw her into a dark cell and smashed her head against an iron bed, knocking her out. Her cellmate, Alice Cosu, believed Lewis to be dead and suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

. According to affidavits, guards grabbed, dragged, beat, choked, pinched, and kicked other women. Newspapers carried stories about how the protesters were being treated. Dora Lewis went on a

hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...

while at Occoquan. Despite the violence she experienced as a result of her work on behalf of women's suffrage, Lewis chose to continue to be active with the movement. After the Nineteenth Amendment was passed through Congress, Dora Lewis went throughout states such as Georgia, Kentucky, and Delaware to encourage support for ratification, meeting with limited success. In 1918 Lewis became chairwoman of finance for the NWP, and in 1919 she became their national treasurer. In 1920 she headed their ratification committee. In 1921 she was photographed at the new suffragist memorial by Adelaide Johnson that was placed in the capitol.

Personal life

Dora Lewis was raised in a prominent family in Pennsylvania. She was married and often was referred to as Mrs. Lawrence Lewis. Her papers are known as the Dora Kelly Lewis Correspondence Collection 2137 and are located at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. Adelaide Johnson, sculptor 160055v

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Dora American suffragists 1862 births 1928 deaths National Woman's Party activists