Alberta Hill Smith

(1889–1952) Alberta was secretary to the Women's Political Union, which was once known as the Equality League for Self-Supporting Women. It merged with the Congressional Union and later became the National Woman's Party under Alice Paul.

Alberta was audacious in her beliefs. She rode on horseback in the Woman Suffrage Parade in Washington, D.C., March 3, 1913. The parade was the brainchild of Alice Paul and marked the first significant public event that re-energized the suffrage movement. Over five thousand women marched in that parade.

Alberta is well known because her wedding was headline news. By itself that was not surprising. Both she and her husband were involved in politics. She worked on Woodrow Wilson’s presidential campaign in 1912. Her husband was secretary to the Secretary of the Navy. After the ceremony, the officiating priest asked if she planned to obey. With good humor and a gracious bow she said "no". The New York Tribune headline read, “Alberta Hill, Suffrage Bride, Laughs Refusal to ‘Obey Him.’”