Telegram from Jane Addams and Chicago Women to the Department of Labor
10/18/1913
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A group of women in Chicago sent this telegram to Louis F. Post, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Labor, in response to the Ellis Island Board of Inquiry's decision to deport Emmeline Pankhurst.
They appealed to American tradition and liberty in their request that the Department of Labor revisit the Pankhurst decision and permit her to enter the United States. It comes from an appeal of English suffragette Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst for admittance.
They appealed to American tradition and liberty in their request that the Department of Labor revisit the Pankhurst decision and permit her to enter the United States. It comes from an appeal of English suffragette Mrs. Emmeline Pankhurst for admittance.
Transcript
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCETELEGRAM
PO Y 283 Paid 139, ex.
Sa.....Chicago, Ills., October 18, 1913.
Hon. Louis F. Post,
Washington, D. C.
Whereas, the Associated Press reports to the American public that Mrs. Pankhurst's deportation has been ordered by the Board of Inquiry at Ellis-Island and,
Whereas, such action is in direct violation of the traditions and customs of the United States, which has always been hospitable to the political offenders and revolutionaries of all nations and,
Whereas, our Sister Republic, France, is at the present moment sheltering Christabel Pankhurst,
Now, therefore be it resolved:
That we the undersigned women of Chicago protest against the flagrant violation of our long established public policy, and
Be it further resolved:
That we respectfully petition the Department of Labor, in reviewing the case of this distinguished English woman, to reconsider the decision of the Board of Inquiry and to admit Mrs. Pankhurst; thus maintaining the high traditions of America's devotion to Liberty and Right of Free Speech.
(Signed)
DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
TELEGRAM
-2-
Jane Addams, Louise De Koven Bowen, Mary Rosette Smith, Mary McDowell, Margaret Dreier Robins, Harriet Taylor Treadwell, President Chicago Political Equality League; Margaret A. Haley, Business Representative Chicago Teachers Federation; Ida L. M. Fursman, President Chicago Teachers Federation; Mrs. Harriet S. Thompson, Director Chicago Political Equality League; Edith A. Phelps, Anna Nichols, Laura Dainty Pelham, Stella Miles Franklin, Kathleen Hamill, Mary Foulke Morrison, Anna Monroe, Edith Wyatt, Caroline Packard; Leonora Pease, Secretary Socialist Womens League; Mrs. L. Brackett Bishop, Marion M. Griffin, Margaret B. Dobyne, Mary E. Galvin, Judith W. Loewenthal, Agnes Nestor, E. Beatrix Dauchy, Belle Squire, Anna Willard Timmeus, Emma Steghagen, Grace Wilbur Trout, Florence Holbrook, Catarine Goggin, Mary Anderson, Sophoniaba Breckinridge, Edith Abbott, Esther Dresden, President Young Womens Suffrage Association; Amy Walker, Francis Harden, Anna Harden, Catherine Goggin, Mary V. Donoghue, Wilma Rhinesmith, Julia Donoghue, Serina Hayes, May E. Brown.
October 19, 1913........11am-
This primary source comes from the Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
National Archives Identifier: 18503940
Full Citation: Telegram from a Group of Women in Chicago, including Jane Addams, to Louis F. Post, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Labor; 10/18/1913; 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/jane-addams-others-to-labor-department, April 18, 2024]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.