A Radical Suffragist in Washington, D.C.

Book excerpt: In September 1918 Elizabeth Kalb boarded a train to Washington, DC to fight for voting rights for women. For over two years, Elizabeth lived and worked at the National Woman's Party headquarters a block from the White House. Letters she wrote during that time describe detention at the Capitol and an arrest at the White House, raising money, serving in the organization's Tea Room and struggling through the 1918 flu epidemic. Elizabeth draws the reader into a world of intense partisanship, battles with police, and diverse personalities united in a common cause. Suffragists ensured that politicians could not ignore women's rights. Author Shirley Marshall uses this eyewitness account to create an indelible portrait of life within the National Woman's Party.