Ruza Wenclawska

Ruza Wenclawska
Wenclawska in New York City, c.1916
Born Ruza Wenclawska
(1889-12-15)December 15, 1889
Suwałki, Poland
Died 1977 (aged 87–88)
Nationality Polish-American
Other names
  • Rose Winslow
  • Rose Lyons
Occupation
  • Suffragist
  • Factory inspector
  • Trade union organizer
  • Actress
  • Poet
  • Shop girl
  • Mill girl
Spouse(s) Philip Lyons

Ruza Wenclawska (December 15, 1889 – 1977), also known as Rose Winslow and later as Rose Lyons by marriage, was a Polish-American suffragist, factory inspector and trade union organizer.[1][2] She also worked as an actress and a poet.[3]

Early life

Wenclawska was born in Suwałki, 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, Philip Lyons, and her friends.[6] Wenclawska was also an actress and a poet.[3] She died in 1977.[7]

Legacy

She was portrayed by Vera Farmiga in the 2004 film Iron Jawed Angels.[8]

In 2017 the book Feminist Essays by Nancy Quinn Collins was published; it was dedicated to Wenclawska.[9]

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 10 "Rose Winslow Organizer National Woman Suffrage Movement". American Civil War. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  4. ↑ Marcia Amidon Lusted (August 1, 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. Retrieved March 22, 2015.
  6. ↑ Crista DeLuzio (November 12, 2009). Women's Rights: People and Perspectives: People and Perspectives. ABC-CLIO. pp. 109–. ISBN 978-1-59884-115-2.
  7. ↑ "Photographs from the Records of the National Woman's Party - Profiles: Selected Leaders of the National Woman's Party - (American Memory from the Library of Congress)". Memory.loc.gov. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  8. ↑ "Iron Jawed Angels (2004) Acting Credits". The New York Times. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  9. ↑ Collins, Nancy Quinn (2017-02-15). Feminist Essays. Lulu.com. p. 3. ISBN 9781365759949. OCLC 973915683.
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