One hundred years ago this week, preparations were underway for Alva Belmont’s Women’s Suffrage meeting at Marble House. Daughter Consuelo, Duchess of Marlborough, was recruited to co-host the event with national leaders such as Alice Stokes Paul (1885-1977) of New Jersey and Maud Howe Elliot of Portsmouth. Titanic survivor Margaret (“Unsinkable Molly”) Tobin Brown also participated as a touring celebrity, living in a rented cottage next to the Muenchinger-King Hotel. The Women’s Suffrage movement was generated from headquarters in New York City and Washington D.C., with a local office at 128 Bellevue Avenue.
Planning letter from Alva Belmont and Alice Paul, NHS collection.