Ruza Wenclawska

Wenclawska in New York City, c.1916

Ruza Wenclawska (died 1977), also known as Rose Winslow, was a Polish-American suffragist, factory inspector and trade union organizer.[1][2]

Early life

Wenclawska was born in Poland, and came to the United States with her parents when she was an infant.[1] At the age of eleven, she began work as a mill girl in the hosiery industry in Pittsburgh.[3] She also worked as a shop girl in Philadelphia, but when she was nineteen, she caught tuberculosis, and had to quit working for two years.[3]

Later life

Wenclawska worked as a factory inspector and a trade union organizer in New York City with the National Consumers' League and the National Women's Trade Union League.[3] She also gave speeches for the National Woman's Party.[3] In 1914, she and Lucy Burns were leaders of the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage's campaign in California to urge voters to oppose Democratic congressional candidates.[3] She did similar work with other organizers in Wyoming during the electoral campaigns of 1916.[3] In 1917, she was part of the Silent Sentinels protests at the White House, for which she served time in district jail and the Occoquan Workhouse.[3] While in Occuquan, she went on a hunger strike and was force-fed.[4][3][2][5] During that time, she smuggled letters out to her husband and friends.[6] Wenclawska was also an actress and a poet.[3]

Legacy

She was portrayed by Vera Farmiga in the 2004 film Iron Jawed Angels.[7]

References

  1. 1 2 "Officers and National Organizers - Women of Protest: Photographs from the Records of the National Woman's Party - Collections - Library of Congress". Library of Congress. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Starving for Women's Suffrage: "I Am Not Strong after These Weeks"". History Matters. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Rose Winslow Organizer National Woman Suffrage Movement". American Civil War. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  4. ↑ Marcia Amidon Lusted (1 August 2011). The Fight for Women's Suffrage. ABDO. pp. 74–. ISBN 978-1-61783-099-0.
  5. ↑ "Women's Rights: People and Perspectives: People and Perspectives - Google Books". Women's Rights: People and Perspectives: People and Perspectives. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  6. ↑ Crista DeLuzio (12 November 2009). Women's Rights: People and Perspectives: People and Perspectives. ABC-CLIO. pp. 109–. ISBN 978-1-59884-115-2.
  7. ↑ "Iron Jawed Angels (2004) Acting Credits". The New York Times. Retrieved December 28, 2014.

External links

Excerpt from Ruza Wenclawska's Occuquan Workhouse diary

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