Lorton is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 20,072 as of the 2020 census.
Alice Stokes Paul was an American Quaker, suffragist, feminist, and women's rights activist, and one of the foremost leaders and strategists of the campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits sex discrimination in the right to vote. Paul initiated, and along with Lucy Burns and others, strategized events such as the Woman Suffrage Procession and the Silent Sentinels, which were part of the successful campaign that resulted in the amendment's passage in August 1920.
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 NWP advocated for other issues including the Equal Rights Amendment. The most prominent leader of the National Woman's Party was Alice Paul, and its most notable event was the 1917–1919 Silent Sentinels vigil outside the gates of the White House.
Lucy Burns was an American suffragist and women's rights advocate. She was a passionate activist in the United States and the United Kingdom, who joined the militant suffragettes. Burns was a close friend of Alice Paul, and together they ultimately formed the National Woman's Party.
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 nonviolently protested in front of the White House during Woodrow Wilson's presidency starting on January 10, 1917. Nearly 500 were arrested, and 168 served jail time. They were the first group to picket the White House. Later, they also protested in Lafayette Square, not stopping until June 4, 1919 when the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed both by the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The Lorton and Occoquan Railroad (L&O) was a seven-mile railroad line running between the District of Columbia-operated Lorton Reformatory prison in Lorton, Virginia, and the wharf at Occoquan, Virginia, across the Occoquan River separating Fairfax County and Prince William County. The line operated from 1911 until it was decommissioned in 1977, and most of the rolling stock was sold in 1980. It was powered at various times by cable, steam, and diesel.
NOVA Parks is an inter-jurisdictional organization that owns and operates more than 10,000 acres of woodlands, streams, parks, trails, nature reserves, countryside and historic sites in Northern Virginia in the United States. The Authority was organized in 1959. NOVA Parks presently operates 34 regional parks.
The District of Columbia Department of Corrections (DCDC) is a correctional agency responsible for the adult jails and other adult correctional institutions for the District of Columbia, in the United States. DCDC runs the D.C. Jail.
The Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton, Virginia is a vibrant, 55-acre center for the arts and arts education that, through adaptive reuse, utilizes existing structures on repurposed land in the former Lorton Reformatory. A strong community partner with a growing national reputation, the Workhouse hosts celebrations, offers space for special events, and showcases Fairfax County's commitment to the arts. The Workhouse is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and relies on the generosity of WAC partners and community.
Occoquan Regional Park is a regional park along a tributary of the Potomac River, located in Lorton in Fairfax County, Northern Virginia.
Ruza Wenclawska, more widely known as Rose Winslow and later as Rose Lyons by marriage, was a Polish-American suffragist, factory inspector and trade union organizer. She was a dedicated member of the National Woman's Party. Wenclawska's main goal within this organization was to advocate fair treatment in the workplace for women. She also worked as an actress and a poet.
Mary A. Nolan was an American suffragist known for her narrative recounting the Night of Terror. She spent much of her life in Jacksonville, Florida, and was often described as one of the oldest suffragists active on the National Woman's Party (NWP) picket lines. Sent to prison five times, she was the only suffragette from Florida to go to prison as a result of their activism. Nolan also became one of the first women to vote in Florida. She was buried at Evergreen Cemetery in Jacksonville.
Matilda Hall Gardner (1871–1954) was an American suffragist and a member of the national executive committee of the National Woman's Party.
Edith M. Ainge (1873–1948) was an American suffragist and a Silent Sentinel. Ainge joined the National Woman's Party NWP led by Alice Paul, aiming to get the 19th amendment ratified. Ainge was arrested approximately five times from September 1917 to January 1919 for "unlawful assembly" at NWP protests, and she eventually went on to serve as treasurer of the NWP.
Katharine A. Morey was an American Suffragist, Silent Sentinel, officer of the Massachusetts State Branch of the National Woman's Party, and a member of the NWP Advisory Council. She and Lucy Burns were the first two American women to be arrested in front of the White House for the cause of women's suffrage.
The "Prison Special" was a train tour organized by suffragists who, as members of the Silent Sentinels and other demonstrations, had been jailed for picketing the White House in support of passage of the federal women's suffrage amendment. In February 1919, 26 members of the National Woman's Party boarded a chartered train they dubbed the "Democracy Limited" in Washington, D.C. They visited cities across the country where they spoke to large crowds about their experiences as political prisoners at Occoquan Workhouse, and were typically dressed in their prison uniforms. The tour, which concluded in March 1919, helped create support for the ratification effort that ended with the adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment on August 26, 1920.
Jailed for Freedom is a book by Doris Stevens. Originally published in 1920, it was reissued by New Sage Press in 1995 in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The commemorative edition was edited by Carol O'Hare to update the language for a modern audience. Jailed for Freedom will be reissued again in 2020 by Black Dog & Leventhal in a 100th anniversary edition.
Julia Ridgely Emory was an American suffragist from Maryland, who led protests in Washington, D.C., for women's right to vote.
The Turning Point Suffragist Memorial is a monument to American suffragists. The memorial is located in Lorton, Virginia's Occoquan Regional Park and stands in close proximity to Occoquan Workhouse, a prison where 168 suffragists were once held during the 1910s Silent Sentinels demonstrations.
Catherine Mary Flanagan was an American suffragist affiliated with the Connecticut Woman Suffrage Association and later the National Woman's Party. She was among the Silent Sentinels arrested for protesting outside the White House in 1917.
