Inez Milholland Pageant Poster, 1924

Poster from a 1924 pageant, “Forward into Light” about the life of Inez Milholland

A labor lawyer, World War I correspondent, public speaker, social activist, and New York society figure, Inez Milholland was the idealized image of a suffragist. Believing that people would respond to the parade’s symbolism and spectacle, she rode as its herald. Her strong and feminine figure symbolically led the way to a brighter future for women. Milholland suffered from pernicious anemia, she had been warned by doctors that constant vigorous campaigning would be dangerous to her health but disregarded their concerns to further promote the cause. She collapsed and died in 1916 while traveling to promote woman suffrage. She became the martyred heroine of the movement, forever remembered as the 1913 parade’s inspiring herald.

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