Vida Milholland

Vida Milholland (January 17, 1888 – November 29, 1952) was a women's rights activist and the sister of Inez Milholland, one of the leaders of the National Woman's Party.

Vida Milholland
Born(1888-01-17)January 17, 1888
Brooklyn, New York
DiedNovember 29, 1952(1952-11-29) (aged 64)
Lewis, New York
NationalityAmerican
OccupationSuffragist

Personal life

Vida was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1888. Her father, John Milholland, was a founding member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. She was the younger sister of the famed suffragist leader Inez Milholland.[1] When she was a young woman she was a concert soprano.[2] She had studied at Vassar College where she was known for athletics and drama. When her sister died in 1916 she devoted her time to suffrage work; she went to prison for three days in 1917 where she sang each night for her fellow prisoners.[3][4]

Suffrage work

Vida Milholland was an ardent suffragist and an active member of the militant National Woman's Party and a political ally of Alice Paul. Along with her sister Inez, she was also a member of the College Equal Suffrage League of New York State.[4]

Milholland participated in the picketing of the White House during the first World War in support of women's suffrage.[5] She spent time in Occoquan Workhouse as part of the Silent Sentinels protest.[6] In 1917 Milholland told stories of her imprisonment at the Ritz-Carlton alongside Dora Lewis and others. Alva Belmont presided over this meeting.[7] In 1919 she represented the NWP on their "Prison Special" tour of America where she sang at every meeting.[3]

At a 1921 conference in Washington, D.C. she was honored for her part in the suffrage movement.[5] Vida dressed in a white Crusader's costume the way Inez used to appear at a memorial for her sister in New York in 1924.[8]

Death

Vida Milholland died in Lewis, Essex County, New York on November 29, 1952.[2]

References
  1. Doerksen, Clifford. American Babel: Rogue Radio Broadcasters of the Jazz Age.
  2. "Miss Vida Milholland". New York Times. December 2, 1952.
  3. Vida Milholland, Library of Congress, Retrieved 1 September 2016
  4. Goodier, Susan (2017). Women will vote : winning suffrage in New York State. Pastorello, Karen, 1956-. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-1-5017-1320-0. OCLC 980346683.
  5. "Many State Women to Attend Meeting". New York Times. February 7, 1921.
  6. Linda, Lumsden (2004). Inez: The Life and Times of Inez Milholland. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 179.
  7. "Suffrage Pickets to Talk". New York Times. November 8, 1917.
  8. "Sees Snub to Negro by Woman's Party: Inez Milholland's Father Represents Course Towards his Guests at her Grave". New York Times. August 18, 1924.
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