Today in Herstory: Suffragist Hikers Arrive in Princeton (13 feb 1917)

[niyad]

Today in Herstory: Suffragist Hikers Arrive in Princeton

February 13, 1913: This was an eventful, but exhausting, 27-mile second day of the Newark, New Jersey, to Washington, D.C., suffrage hike by “General” Rosalie Jones and her “Army of the Hudson.”


Hikers on their way out of Newark yesterday.

Though appreciative of temperatures that are no longer near the zero mark as they were yesterday, warmer weather has caused problems of its own. Melting snow and ice made going any distance through slush and water difficult on the already poor roads. But even so, when the army finally made its arrival in Princeton, thirteen of the original sixteen troops were still in the ranks and intent on finishing the hike.

The hikers started this morning from Metuchen, New Jersey, and after a luncheon in their honor at the Hotel Klein in New Brunswick, they approached Rutgers College. Some students spotted and then surrounded Olive Schultz in the advance scout car. When one yelled, “General Jones is coming!” the rest of the students, many in cadet uniforms, formed a single-file line when a student leader said, “Fall in!” They then lock-stepped out to meet her.

The students gave the General and her troops a slightly modified version of a traditional school yell (“Rah, Bow-Wow-Wow; Rah, Bow-Wow-Wow; Rutgers, suffragettes, Bow-Wow-Wow Rutgers!”) as the two armies marched together across the campus. Students then demanded a speech, which General Jones happily gave. It was accompanied by even more cheers. The atmosphere was so supportive that when she was introduced to the college president, General Jones pinned a suffrage button on his coat.

There was a brief, unplanned stop on the way to Princeton, the final destination of the day. What looked like a woman wearing a bonnet was spotted far out in a field, and Elizabeth Aldrich decided to see if she could be converted to the cause. Not until Aldrich had gone over a fence and some distance into the field was it discovered that the effort was doomed to failure, because scarecrows are universally neutral on all issues. Unfortunately, this was far from the biggest error of the day. Due to a wrong turn, a planned 20-mile hike became a 27-mile trek.

. . . .

http://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2015/02/13/today-in-herstory-suffragist-hikers-arrive-in-princeton/

[monmouth4]

1. aaack, women hikers....n/t

[LiberalEsto]

2. Rah-Bow-Wow-Wow?

Never heard that one when I went to Rutgers. But I'm glad they welcomed the suffrage marchers.

[niyad]

3. so I am. don't forget, this was 1917. perhaps the cheer was updated at some

point.