Letter from Harriot Stanton Blatch about Emmeline Pankhurst
9/15/1913
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Harriot Stanton Blatch wrote this letter to President Woodrow Wilson on behalf of the Women's Political Union. She expressed her concern over a telegram from the Department of Labor and urged the president to treat Emmeline Pankhurst with fairness and admit her into America. Blatch compares Pankhurst's political actions to those of Russian revolutionaries and includes telegrams between the Women's Political Union and the Department of Labor with her letter. It comes from an appeal of English suffragette Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst for admittance.
Transcript
OFFICERSHARRIOT STANTON BLATCH PRESIDENT
ELIZABETH ELLSWORTH COOK VICE PRESIDENT
MARCIA TOWNSEND TREASURER
EUNICE DANA BRANNAN CHAIRMAN FINANCE COMMITTEE
NORA BLATCH DeFOREST GENERAL SECRETARY
CAROLINE LEXOW FIELD SECRETARY
377
TELEPHONE: BRYANT 7754
EXECUTIVE BOARD
MAUD CABOT
ROSE PERKINS HALE
DORA G.S. HAZARD
FLORENCE KELLEY
MARY KNOBLAUCH
ALICE J.G. PERKINS
ELIZABETH SELDEN ROGERS
VOTES FOR WOMEN
WOMEN'S POLITICAL UNION
HEADQUARTERS AND SHOP
46 EAST TWENTY-NINTH STREET
NEW YORK
13 WEST FORTY-SECOND STREET
New York, September 15, 1913
[written in pencil] Labor
[hand stamps] RESPECTFULLY REFERRED FOR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT AND CONSIDERATION
[illegible signature]
Secy to the President
[hand stamp] RECEIVED BUREAU OF IMMIGRATION SEPT 20 1913
[hand stamp] THE WHITE HOUSE SEP 17 1913 RECEIVED
My dear President Wilson:
Because of persistent rumors in regard to Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst's entrance into the United States, the Women's Political Union sent a telegram to the Secretary of Labor, a copy of which I enclose. A copy of the Secretary's reply is also forwarded with this letter.
The Women's Political Union finds this answer of the Department of Labor in marked contrast to the assurances received from the Secretary of Labor in marked contrast to the assurances received from the Secretary of Labor under the last Administration at the time of Mrs. Pankhurst's first and second visits to America. In 1910, the then Secretary of Labor to our inquiry as to what treatment Mrs. Pankhurst would receive at the port of New York, immediately assured us that as Mrs. Pankhurst's acts in England showed no "moral turpitude" she could enter the country as would any other visiting foreigner. In 1911, when Mrs. Pankhurst's second visit occurred, we received to our inquiry as to the proposed attitude of the immigration authorities towards her, the same reply as in 1910. Mrs. Pankhurst's acts were regarded throughout the Taft Administration as not showing "moral turpitude".
At the end of March of this year, for the first time one of the English militants was held for inquiry at one of our ports, but in the end it was again decided that although Miss Florence Ward had been imprisoned many times for destroying property in connection with the struggle of women for political freedom in England, her acts in no way showed "moral turpitude", and she was admitted to the United States at the port of Boston, Massachusetts.
In the case of Miss Ward, she not being widely known, there may have been ground for subjecting her to a searching inquiry, but surely no such excuse could be offered in defense of subjecting Mrs. Pankhurst to such treatment. No intelligent person but knows that Mrs. Pankhurst is engaged in a political struggle with the English government and is not seeking any political connection with the United States.
We urge the present Administration to take exactly the same frank and unequivocal position invariably held by the last Administration, and refuse to introduce into the immigration department any invidious distinction between the treatment accorded those who are conducting a fight for the political freedom of women in England and that accorded those who are conducting a fight for the political freedom of men in Russia. May we not expect for
President Wilson - 2
Mrs. Pankhurst and the militants of Great Britain, the same treatment by the immigration officials as that shown the Russians revolutionists, Madam Breshkovsky and Count Tschaikovsky? They were not subjected t any inquiry as to their acts in Russian or attitude towards the Czar, and English militants should not be required to answer questions in regard to their attitude towards the government of Great Britain.
I am
Respectfully yours,
Harriet Stanton Blatch
To His Excellency, Woodrow Wilson
President of the United States
Washington, D.C.
ENCLOSURE.
COPY
Honorable W.B. Wilson
Department of Labor
Washington, D.C.
Kindly inform me is report true that Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst on arrival will be examined by board of inquiry Ellis Island as to fitness to enter United States? If true, kindly state why such a course adopted in her case and not in case of Russian revolutionists, Krapotkin, Stepinac, Madam Breshkovsky and Count Tschaikovsky.
(Signed) Harriot Stanton Blatch
President, Women's Political Union, 13 West 42nd Street.
Reply to Mrs. Blatch from the Department of Labor
"Replying to your telegram of yesterday, would say that inspectors of immigration have original jurisdiction of aliens seeking admission to the United States. The Department has appellate jurisdiction and that only in cases of persons excluded by inspectors. If Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst seeks admission to the Untied States, her case will be handled in exactly the same way as any other alien seeking admission.
(SIGNED) W.B. Wilson."
This primary source comes from the Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
National Archives Identifier: 18503929
Full Citation: Letter from Harriot Stanton Blatch on Behalf of the Women's Political Union to President Woodrow Wilson; 9/15/1913; 51728/017; Appeal of Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst for admittance for visit, English Suffragette; Subject and Policy Files, 1893 - 1957; Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, Record Group 85; National Archives Building, Washington, DC. [Online Version, https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/harriot-stanton-blatch-about-emmeline-pankhurst, March 28, 2024]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.