100 years of Women’s Suffrage

When she died in 1933, her obituary in “Equal Rights,” the journal of the National Women’s Party, was headlined “Julia Jennings, Feminist.” Born in 1865 to the sister of a Confederate Army Brigadier General and a prominent farmer and master builder in rural Orange County, Virginia, Julia Jennings led an extraordinary life for a woman of her time. Among the first women to earn a degree in law from the National University (now George Washington University), she worked as a legal assistant for Western Union in Richmond, Virginia, and later served as the Virginia legislative chair for the National Women’s Party. Her advocacy for women’s suffrage included participating in the now-famous demonstrations at the White House gates, and frequent lobbying efforts with state and national legislators. In addition, Jennings was a prominent and active member of both the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

Julia Jennings was my great-grandmother’s older sister. Although I never met her, I began to hear family stories about her from my youngest years. As an adult, I decided to dig deeply into her story both for my own interest and to document the life of one of our nation’s unknown heroes from the Women’s Suffrage movement.

This presentation is both a story of her life AND a story of my own exploration of the contradictions and mysteries of researching an ancestor. Blessed with a rich legacy of photographs, letters, and documentary evidence from Julia’s life, I hope to share a more personal perspective on one woman’s history as we celebrate 100 years of women’s suffrage.

Peggy Jennings, EdD is a member of the Carlisle Branch of AAUW. An educator by profession, her first love has always been history.