Suffragist Memorial In Lorton To Get White House Fence Donation

LORTON, VA — A section of the fence outside the White House where suffragists protested for the right to vote in the early 20th century is being donated to a national suffragist memorial under development in Occoquan Regional Park in Lorton. Early 20th century suffragists rallied regularly outside the White House fence, with many of them getting arrested, in their quest for the right to vote.

The Turning Point Suffragist Memorial Association is raising funds to build a national memorial in the park to honor the suffragists who fought to win the vote for women. The suffragists faced arrests, jail, torture and death in their fight for the right to vote.

Through a formal agreement, the National Park Service will lend a section of the historic White House fence that dates to the late 1800s to NOVA Parks for inclusion in the memorial. NPS historic preservationists are currently completing conservation work on the fence panels that were removed in 2019 as part of a White House fence replacement project.

The loan of this section of the fence to the memorial is a collaboration between the National Park Service, the Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission, the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial Association, and NOVA Parks. The memorial is expected to open in 2021.

"We are thrilled that not only will the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial indicate a major step forward in memorializing women's contributions to our democracy, but that it will also include this authentic piece of the history," Susan Combs, WSCC Chairwoman and the U.S. Department of the Interior's appointee to the commission, said Monday in a statement.

The Women's Suffrage Centennial Commission was formed by the U.S. Congress to coordinate the nationwide commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the passage and ratification of the 19th Amendment when women won the right to vote.

Occoquan Regional Park is part of NOVA Parks. An agreement between NOVA Parks and the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial Association calls for NOVA Parks to provide the land as well as maintenance for the memorial free of charge. The association must privately raise the funds to build the memorial. The association is accepting donations to cover the cost of the memorial.

"Including this section of the historic White House fence, in front of which the suffragists stood more than 100 years ago, will allow visitors to the memorial to feel even more in the presence of these courageous trailblazers," Pat Wirth, director and CEO of the TPSM Association, said in a statement.

The memorial will include a variety of features, including entrance plaza gates will resemble those at the White House where suffragists stood in protest. Also, the history of the suffrage movement will be told through 19 informational stations at the memorial.

The Turning Point Suffragist Memorial Association is a nonprofit group created to raise funds to build the national suffragist memorial.