Lillian Ascough
Lillian Ascough (born c. 1892 in New York City)[1] was an American Suffragist.[2] Originally from Detroit, Michigan, she served as the Connecticut Chair[3] of the National Woman's Party and the Vice President of the Michigan Branch NWP.[4][5] At the August 1918 demonstration at Lafayette Square, Ascough was sentenced to fifteen days in jail. Then, in February 1919 she participated in the watchfire demonstrations and was again arrested and sentenced to five days in jail. She was a speaker in the Suffragist Special Tour (also known as the Prison Special due to the speaker's voicing their experiences as political prisoners)[6] of the U.S. during Feb-Mar 1919.
Lillian Ascough | |
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Lillian Ascough in 1915 | |
Born | 1892 New York City |
Died | date unknown |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Suffragist |
Education
Ascough studied in Paris and London for stage concerts but left her education in order to become a suffragist.[7]
Suffragist Special Tour
Lillian Ascough, Abby Scott Baker, Harriot Stanton Blatch, Lucy Burns, Agnes Campbell, Anna Constable, Sarah T. Colvin, Edith Goode, Jane Goode, Florence Bayard Hilles, Julia Hurlbut, Caroline Katzenstein, Dorothy Mead, Ella Riegel, Elizabeth Rogers, Mrs. Townsend Scott, Helen Todd, and Marjory Whittemore were a part of the Special Tour, the Suffrage Special, wherein these women spoke publicly, distributed literature, and sold the Suffragist. This tour is credited with arousing interest in federal suffrage among many voting age women.[8]
July 12th Connecticut rally
Ascough joined a rally in Hartford and Simsbury, Connecticut to appeal to President Woodrow Wilson to grant women the right to vote. A telegram written by the protestors was sent to Wilson, and published on July 13, 1918 in the Hartford Courant:
"Resolved, That we citizens of Connecticut, assembled in meeting in Simsbury, Conn., do petition the President to use his undoubted power on behalf of the women, as he has already used it on behalf of many measures, to bring about the passage by the Senate, of the federal suffrage amendment; and thus to give liberty to the magnificent democratic sentiments he has expressed as spokesman of America, and uphold the great principles of democracy as a leader among nations."
— Protestors, ConnecticutHistory.Org
There Ascough was documented declaring that Senator Brandegee’s mind belonged to an earlier generation and compared it to an antique, "interesting to observe, but not for present day use."[9][10]
References
- "Lillian Ascough in the 1940 Census". Ancestry. 1940. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
- "Lillian Ascough | Turning Point Suffragist Memorial". suffragistmemorial.org. Retrieved 2018-08-04.
- Stanton, Elizabeth Cady; Anthony, Susan B.; Gage, Matilda Joslyn; Harper, Ida Husted (1922). History of Woman Suffrage: 1900-1920. Fowler & Wells. p. 72.
Ascough suffragist.
- Morris-Crowther, Jayne (2013-03-15). The Political Activities of Detroit Clubwomen in the 1920s: A Challenge and a Promise. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 978-0814338162.
- "Ascough, Lillian". nationalwomansparty.pastperfectonline.com. Retrieved 2018-08-04.
- "Suffrage Prisoners" (PDF). Library of Congress.
- "Mrs. W. D. Ascough of Hartford, Conn., chair of the Connecticut branch of the Woman's Party". Library of Congress.
- "Suffragists Timeline: 1916". groups.ischool.berkeley.edu. Retrieved 2018-08-12.
- "Connecticut Suffragists Appeal to the President – Today in History: July 12 | ConnecticutHistory.org". connecticuthistory.org. Retrieved 2018-08-04.
- "Senator Brandegee Stonewalls Women's Suffrage". www.ctexplored.org. Retrieved 2018-08-04.