The League of Women Voters of the Fairfax Area will help dedicate Turning Point Plaza this Sunday, July 27, at the Occoquan River Festival.
Turning Point Plaza will honor the women who were imprisoned at the Occoquan Workhouse located across from the current Occoquan Regional Park. In 1917, women suffragists were the first political group to protest in front of the White House. As a result, hundreds of women seeking the right to vote were imprisoned at both the D.C. Jail and the Occoquan Workhouse, part of the Lorton Prison complex. News reports of poor conditions and hunger strikes by the imprisoned suffragists became a major turning point in the struggle for women’s right to vote. These events led to passage of the 19th Amendment that gave women the right to vote. Turning Point Plaza at Occoquan Regional Park—so named in reference to the foregoing statement—will feature interpretive displays of these events and their significance to the continuing story of equal rights for women in America.
The ceremony begins at 10am at Occoquan Regional Park. But the project is just getting started:
Future plans of the Turning Point Plaza Suffragist Memorial include a long, brick wall with inserted plaques to commemorate the struggle for American women’s right to vote. A rose garden, benches and walking path located adjacent to the memorial, providing a quiet place of reflection and study, are also part of the future design. You may contribute to this memorial by sending donations to:
The League of Women Voters of the Fairfax Area (LWVFA)
4026 Hummer Rd., #214
Annandale, VA 22003-2403Please make checks payable to: LWVFA Ed Fund/Suffragist Memorial
*all donations are tax deductible*
A cause worthy of support.
VIVIAN J. PAIGE | All Politics is Local 