The historic women’s suffrage march on Washington - Michelle Mehrtens

翻译人员: Rong Chen 校对人员: Yuelong Dai

On March 3, 1913,

1913年3月3日，

protesters parted for the woman in white:

抗议者们为白衣女让路；

dressed in a flowing cape and sitting astride a white horse,

肩披斗篷，脚踏白马的

the activist Inez Milholland was hard to miss.

激进家伊内兹·米尔霍兰格外显眼。

She was riding at the helm of the Women’s Suffrage Parade-

她领导着第一次大规模——

the first mass protest for a woman’s right to vote on a national scale.

女性争取全国选举权的游行。

After months of strategic planning and controversy,

在经过数月的战略筹备与争议后，

thousands of women gathered in Washington D.C.

数以千计的妇女们聚集在华盛顿特区

Here, they called for a constitutional amendment granting them the right to vote.

呼吁修改宪法来赋予她们选举权。

By 1913, women’s rights activists had been campaigning for decades.

截止1913年，女权主义者们 已经奋斗了几十年。

As a disenfranchised group,

作为一个没有权利的群体，

women had no voice in the laws that affected their– or anyone else’s– lives.

妇女对影响她们或任何其他人 生活的法律没有发言权。

However, they were struggling to secure broader support for political equality.

但是，她们很难取得政治平等的广泛支持。

They’d achieved no major victories since 1896,

她们在1896年犹他州和爱达荷州

when Utah and Idaho enfranchised women.

赋予女性权利后就没有再取得重大胜利。

That brought the total number of states which recognized a women’s right to vote

那时候全国已有四个州

to four.

承认女性的选举权。

A new, media-savvy spirit arrived in the form of Alice Paul.

一个新的，非常懂得利用媒体的人 爱丽丝·保罗出现了。

She was inspired by the British suffragettes,

她深受英国妇女参政论者激励，

who went on hunger strikes and endured imprisonment in the early 1900s.

那些妇女在20世纪初进行绝食抗议 并忍受牢狱之灾。

Rather than conduct costly campaigns on a state-by-state basis,

保罗没有一州一州的组织昂贵的活动，

Paul sought the long-lasting impact of a constitutional amendment,

而是需求修正宪法的长久力量，

which would protect women’s voting rights nationwide.

以此保护全国范围的女性的选举权。

As a member of the National American Women Suffrage Association,

作为美国国家妇女选举权协会的一员，

Paul proposed a massive pageant to whip up support and rejuvenate the movement.

保罗建议组织一个盛大的游行 来支持并为活动重新赋予活力。

Washington authorities initially rejected her plan-

华盛顿当局一开始拒绝了她的计划——

and then tried to relegate the march to side streets.

后来又试图把游行安排到小巷里。

But Paul got those decisions overturned

但保罗设法推翻了那些决定，

and confirmed a parade for the day before the presidential inauguration

取得批准在总统伍德罗·威尔逊 就职典礼前一天

of Woodrow Wilson.

举行游行。

This would maximize media coverage

这会保证最大的新闻报道，

and grab the attention of the crowds who would be in town.

并引起在城里的人们的注意力。

However, in planning the parade,

但是，在筹划游行的时候，

Paul mainly focused on appealing to white women from all backgrounds,

保罗主要的注意力是在 召唤各阶层甚至种族歧视者的

including those who were racist.

白种女性。

She actively discouraged African American activists

她积极的抵制非洲裔美国人

and organizations from participating-

组织并参与活动——

and stated that those who did so should march in the back.

并且声称她们如果参加 就应该站在队伍后面。

But black women would not be made invisible in a national movement

但黑人妇女是不会在她们帮助组织 的这种全国性运动中

they helped shape.

被忽视的。

On the day of the march,

在游行的那一天，

Ida B. Wells-Barnett,

艾达·B·威尔斯-巴尼特，

a ground-breaking investigative journalist and anti-lynching advocate,

一位开创性的调查记者和反私刑倡导者，

refused to move to the back and proudly marched under the Illinois banner.

拒绝站在队伍后面 并伊利诺斯州的旗帜下自豪地前行。

The co-founder of the NAACP, Mary Church Terrell,

全国有色人种协进会的联合创始人 玛丽·丘吉尔·特勒尔，

joined the parade with the 22 founders of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority,

和德尔塔-西格玛-塞塔姐妹会的 22个创始人加入了游行队伍，

an organization created by female students from Howard University.

这个姐妹会是由哈佛大学的女生建立的。

In these ways and more,

通过这些以及更到的方式，

black women persevered despite deep hostility

黑人女性坚韧不懈，尽管面临着运动中

from white women in the movement,

白人女性的深切敌意，

and at great political and physical risk.

以及巨大的政治和人身风险。

On the day of the parade,

游行当天，

suffragists assembled to create a powerful exhibition.

妇女政权者聚集一起组建了一个强力的展示。

The surging sections of the procession included international suffragists,

游行队伍中激增的部分 包括国际妇女政权论者、

artists, performers and business-owners.

艺术家、表演家和商人。

Floats came in the form of golden chariots;

花车包括金色战车；

an enormous Liberty Bell; and a map of enfranchised countries.

一个巨大的自由钟； 和一个平权国家的地图。

On the steps of the Treasury Building,

在财政部大楼的台阶上，

performers acted out the historical achievements of women to a live orchestra.

表演者在现场管弦乐队的配合下， 将历史上女性的成就表演出来。

The marchers carried on even as a mob blocked the route,

游行坚持继续，尽管有一群暴徒挡路，

hurling insults and spitting at women,

对妇女辱骂吐吐沫，

tossing cigars, and physically assaulting participants.

投掷烟头和暴力殴打。

The police did not intervene,

警察没有出来干预，

and in the end, over 100 women were hospitalized.

最后，100多名女性住院治疗。

Their mistreatment, widely reported throughout the country,

全国广为报道她们所受到的不公正待遇

catapulted the parade into the public eye—

使游行进入公众视野——

and garnered suffragists greater sympathy.

为女权争取者们赢得了更多的同情。

National newspapers lambasted the police,

全国性报纸严斥了警察，

and Congressional hearings investigated their actions during the parade.

议会听证会调查他们在这次游行活动中的表现。

After the protest, the "Women’s Journal" declared,

《女性周刊》在抗议后宣布

“Washington has been disgraced. Equal suffrage has scored a great victory."

“这是华盛顿的耻辱。 平权取得了重大胜利。”

In this way,

就这样，

the march initiated a surge of support for women’s voting rights

游行激发了持续多年的对女性选举权

that endured in the coming years.

的支持大潮。

Suffragists kept up steady pressure on their representatives,

平权者继续向代表试压，

attended rallies, and petitioned the White House.

参加集会，请愿白宫

Inez Milholland, the woman on the white horse,

脚踏白马的伊内兹·米尔霍兰女士

campaigned constantly throughout the United States,

在全美持续抗争，

despite suffering from chronic health problems.

尽管忍受病痛折磨，

She did not live to see her efforts come to fruition.

她没能在健在时看到成功的结果。

In 1916,

1916年，

she collapsed while giving a suffrage speech and died soon after.

她在发表妇女参政演讲时倒下， 不久便与世长辞。

According to popular reports,

根据流行报道，

her last words were,

她说的最后一句话是，

“Mr. President, how long must women wait for liberty?”

“总统先生，女性自由还得等多久？”

Though full voting inclusion would take decades,

尽管取得完全的投票权还要等几十年，

in 1920, Congress ratified the 19th amendment,

1920年，议会通过了第十九次修正案，

finally granting women the right to vote.

最终赋予了女性的选举权。