Exhibition Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote

Harris & Ewing. Virginia Arnold (b.1880), holding “Kaiser Wilson” banner, August 1917. Reproduction. NWP Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (094.00.00)

Cloth fragment from “Kaiser Wilson” banner, August 1917. NWP Records, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress (095.00.00)

Nina E. Allender (1873–1957). “First to Fight,” *The Suffragist*, vol. 5, no. 85, September 8, 1917. On loan from the National Woman’s Party at the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument (096.01.00)

“Anti-suffrage” felt pennant, circa 1910s. On loan from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (086.02.00)

“Anti Suffrage” pinback button, circa 1910s. On loan from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (086.03.00)

“Vote No on Woman Suffrage” pinback button, circa 1910s. On loan from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (086.04.00)

“Mr. Suffer-Yet” pinback button, circa 1910s. On loan from the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (081.03.00)

Black and white “Vote No on Woman Suffrage," pinback button, circa 1910s. On loan from the Ann Lewis Collection (086.05.00)

The Infamous Kaiser Wilson Banner

For several days in mid-August 1917, attacks on the pickets reached a fevered pitch, fueled by sailors and soldiers enraged by banners comparing Woodrow Wilson to German emperor Wilhelm II. This one, held by Virginia Arnold, questioned Wilson’s supposed sympathy for self-government. August 14 was especially violent, and when unable to keep replenishing their torn banners, the pickets withdrew to the balcony of NWP headquarters, only to have sailors scale the wall. A gunshot ripped through a window. This colorful fragment was retrieved from the White House sidewalk by passerby Anne B. Cushman, who sent it to the NWP in 1943.