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Transgender Day of Remembrance – November 20

Read About Transgender Lives

Transgender Day of Remembrance (TDOR) is an annual observance that honors the memory of the transgender people whose lives were lost in acts of anti-transgender violence.

buttons in the colors of the Transgender flag

The week before TDOR, people and organizations around the country participate in Transgender Awareness Week to help raise visibility for transgender people and address issues the community faces.

You can learn more about transgender lives with these recent memoirs by trans authors:

Transgender Day of Remembrance was started in 1999 by transgender advocate Gwendolyn Ann Smith as a vigil to honor the memory of Rita Hester, a transgender woman who was killed in 1998. The vigil commemorated all the transgender people lost to violence since Rita Hester's death, and began an important tradition that has become the annual Transgender Day of Remembrance.

Thanksgiving Crafts and Storytimes

Westover Drop-In Kids Program: Thanksgiving
Monday Nov. 18, 1:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Wednesday Nov. 20, 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Aurora Hills Family Fun: Make a Thanksgiving Craft

Saturday Nov. 23, 11:00 am – 12:30 pm
Glencarlyn Thanksgiving Storytime and Crafts

Saturday Nov. 23, 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Cherrydale Thanksgiving Storytime and Crafts

Romance 101 with Author Angelina M. Lopez

Everything you didn’t know about romance.

Are you interested in the Romance genre? Join Angelina M. Lopez, author of Lush Money, to learn how romance deals with heavy topics while also being fun escapism. Whether you’re simply curious about romance novels or a long time fan, come find out why reading romance is good for the soul.

This Week in 19th Amendment History: The Night of Terror

November 14, 1917

Celebrate the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment with stories about the people and events that led to the passage of women’s suffrage in the United States.

Just over 100 years ago this week, on November 14, 1917, a group of suffragists underwent a horrifying night of torture and abuse that would come to be known as the “Night of Terror.”

33 women protesters were taken to the Occoquan Workhouse in Fairfax County and subjected to brutal treatment by the prison’s guards in retaliation for the women’s ongoing peaceful protest for the right to vote.

Some of the picket line on Nov. 10, 1917. Left to right: Mrs. Catherine Martinette, Eagle Grove, Iowa. Mrs. William Kent, Kentfield, California. Miss Mary Bartlett Dixon, Easton, Md. Mrs. C.T. Robertson, Salt Lake City, Utah. Miss Cora Week, New York City. Miss Amy Ju[e]ngling, Buffalo, N.Y. Miss Ha. Harris & Ewing, Washington, D.C. (Photographer). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The arrest and imprisonment of the women was the culmination of months of organized protest. In response to the reelection of Woodrow Wilson, members of the National Woman’s Party (sometimes referred to as the “Silent Sentinels”) picketed for months outside of the White House. Bolstered by banners, signs, and a consistent physical presence, they called for the president to back a federal amendment granting women the right to vote (by 1917, nine U.S. states had extended voting rights to women).

The protests – carried out on a rotating basis to ensure a constant presence at the White House - had gone smoothly following their start after Wilson’s reelection. Wilson had even invited protesters inside the White House for coffee, although the invitation was declined.

But the mood changed after the U.S. entry into World War I, on April 6, 1917. The heightened patriotic fervor made criticism of the government more and more fraught, and members of the suffrage movement suffered for their outspoken and visible criticism of the president.

Policewoman arrests Florence Youmans of Minnesota and Annie Arniel (center) of Delaware for refusing to give up their banners. June 1917. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Helena Hill Weed, of Norwalk, CT, serving 3 day sentence in D.C. prison for carrying banner "Governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed." July 6-8, 1917. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

In June 1917, members of the ongoing picket began to get arrested. By October, police issued an ultimatum: if the picket continued, protesters could face sentences of up to six months in prison. Many of the arrested protesters were charged with “obstructing traffic” or given fines.

Hunger strikes emerged in the jails and workhouses where protesters were held, leading to force-feeding and other violent practices carried out by prison staff. In response to this, leader Alice Paul marched from the National Woman’s Party headquarters to the White House with a banner reading: “The time has come to conquer or submit for there is but one choice - we have made it” - the same slogan President Wilson used on posters encouraging Americans to buy war bonds.

The day after the police announce that future pickets would be given limit of 6 mos. in prison, Alice Paul led picket line with banner reading "The time has come to conquer or submit for there is but one choice - we have made it." October 20, 1917, Harris & Ewing, Washington, D.C. (Photographer). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Ten months into the ongoing picketing efforts, on November 13, 1917, 33 women were arrested around the White House. By the next day, they arrived at the Occoquan Workhouse, where, demanding to be recognized as political prisoners, they refused to put on prison uniforms or participate in the mandated work shifts.

Cell blocks at Occoquan [Workhouse], ca. 1917, Harris & Ewing, Washington, D.C. (Photographer). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The prison guards responded with violence. On orders from Occoquan Superintendent W.H. Whittaker, guards physically assaulted the women and threw them into dark and filthy cells.

One suffragist, Dora Lewis, was violently thrown down, hitting her head on an iron bed. Alice Cosu, who witnessed this, suffered a heart attack and did not receive medical treatment until the next day.  Organizer Lucy Burns was chained with her hands over her head to the bars in her cell and forced to stand for the entirety of the night.  Fellow protester Julia Emory assumed the same position for the night in solidarity.

One of the protesters, Doris Stevens, wrote an account of the “Night of Terror” entitled “Jailed for Freedom,” which chronicled the events of their imprisonment. She included excerpts of Lucy Burn’s accounts, which were recorded clandestinely during her imprisonment on scraps of paper and smuggled out of the workhouse.

 

Miss [Lucy] Burns in Occoquan Workhouse, November 1917, Harris & Ewing, Washington, D.C. (Photographer). Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Burns writes: “(Whittaker) refused to hear our demand for political rights. Seized by guards from behind, flung off my feet, and shot out of the room. All of us were seized by men guards and dragged to cells in men’s part.”

During their time in Occoquan, many arrestees resorted to hunger strikes. In response to this, the guards force-fed the women raw eggs and milk, causing them to become ill.  At one point, marines from the nearby Quantico Station were brought in to support the Occoquan guards.  By the time the women were released, many were too weak to walk on their own.

Kate Heffelfinger after her release from Occoquan Prison, ca. 1917. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The imprisoned suffragists were returned to D.C. after a November 23 ruling determined that, since they were arrested in D.C., it was illegal to incarcerate them in Virginia.  By November 28, they were out on bail, and by March of the following year, all of their arrests had been declared unconstitutional.

In early January 1918, President Wilson expressed his support for the voting rights amendment, which passed in the House but failed in Senate.  It would take until 1920 before the amendment was formally incorporated into the U.S. Constitution. The “Night of Terror” remains a pivotal point in the struggle for suffrage, a true show of the solidarity of the protesters and the lengths to which they would go for their cause – and the lengths their opposition would go to hamper their efforts.

Research sources used in this piece:

Read about Gertrude Crocker, Arlington's own Silent Sentinel suffragette, also jailed multiple time in 1917.

Learn more in these books available at the Library:

2020 marks the centennial of women’s suffrage in the United States. 

Arlington Theatre ‘N’ Bowling

On August 15, 1940, one of Arlington’s premier cinemas – the Arlington Theatre – opened its doors.

Architect’s conception of the Arlington Recreation Center, which included the Arlington Theatre. From special coverage of the building’s opening in The Sun, August 16, 1940.

Located at the intersection of Columbia Pike and South Fillmore Street, the Art Deco style building was a cinematic façade fit for its wide variety of movie screenings and could seat over 600 moviegoers at a time.

Part of a boom in cinema construction around the county, the Arlington Theatre joined the Wilson, Ashton, and Buckingham Theatres – all of which were part of the Neighborhood Theatres franchise. The Arlington Theatre was designed by architect Fred Bishop, who also designed Richmond’s iconic Byrd Theater and the Beacon Theatre in Hopewell.

The Arlington Theatre was a part of a larger building called the Arlington Recreation Center, which included commercial storefronts, a pharmacy, and a 24-lane bowling alley on the second and third floors. The bowling alley featured “modern, high speed” Brunswick Balke alleys and acoustical soundproofing. Bowlers could also treat themselves to the Center’s soda fountain and sandwich bar, or have orders delivered straight to their lanes.

Ad for the Bowling Center at Arlington Theatre

The Arlington Theatre drew major media attention for its inaugural night. Its opening was covered in a special section of the August 16, 1940, edition of The Sun, where it was featured alongside pieces on the broader growth and development around the Columbia Pike area. A reporter described the theatre:

“Modern in every respect, housed in a fireproof building and equipped with the famous Carrier air conditioning system, which also cools and refreshes the bowling alleys and the pharmacy. Large, spring-bottom seat(s), amply spaced, assure comfort for theatre patrons, while the lobby, lounges, and restrooms are furnished and decorated in modern and attractive styles.”

The theatre’s first film showing was a 6:30 p.m. screening of the 1940 film “My Favorite Wife,” the “delightfully delirious comedy” (according to the theatre’s advertisement) starring Cary Grant and Irene Dunne. Part of the popular screwball comedy genre of the era and adapted from the Alfred Lord Tennyson poem, “Enoch Arden,” the film garnered a successful opening night, with one reviewer describing it as “fast-paced, delightful comedy entertainment.”

The film played for two additional showings during opening week, screening in full on Friday, August 16 and Saturday, August 17. All screenings were accompanied by a screening of the “Information Please” program, a radio quiz show in which audience members would ask experts questions. The panel show was so popular that RKO-Pathé Pictures released filmed versions of the radio program that were released as 10-minute-long clips to accompany feature film screenings. The “guest guesser” for this particular broadcast was the 1940 Republican presidential nominee Wendell Willkie.

The Arlington Theatre also became a popular location for numerous community events, and in 1940 hosted then First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt for a charity Christmas Party held by the Kiwanis Club. During World War II, the theater was a place to buy bonds and defense stamps to support the troops. The Arlington Theatre and the other Neighborhood Theatres in the area would host themed screenings, including designating September 1942 as “Salute to our Heroes” month, with ads for showtimes also including the call, “Come on, moviegoers! Buy war stamps here!”

The Arlington Cinema ‘N’ Drafthouse in 2004

In 1985, the building transitioned to its modern iteration as the Arlington Cinema ‘N’ Drafthouse, which still operates today. It stands as one of the last operational cinema buildings from the heyday of the 1930s and 1940s construction and includes the Arlington Theatre’s original theater behind its movie screen with lighting, storage, and a green room. The Cinema seats up to 275 guests and features both movie screenings and live entertainment.

Read The Sun’s coverage of the Arlington Theatre’s 1940 opening in the Community Archives.

Learn more about local cinema history in “Movie Theaters of Washington DC,” by Robert K. Headley, available at the Library.

To learn more about Arlington's history, visit the Center for Local History on the first floor of the Central Library.

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Frozen Party on Wednesday, November 13

Let it Go! For families with kids of all ages. Join us for a “Frozen” spectacular! We will have crafts, snacks, and a showing of the first “Frozen” movie in anticipation of the sequel, which comes out on November 22.

Happy Birthday Westover Branch Library!

The New Westover Branch Library building is turning 10 years old! The current building opened in 2009. Help us celebrate with cake, games, and activities for all ages!



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