Louisine Waldren Elder Havemeyer

(1855–1929) Louisine was an art collector, feminist, and philanthropist. In addition to being a patron of impressionist art, she was one of the more prominent contributors to the suffrage movement in the United States. The impressionist painter Edgar Degas and feminist Alice Paul were among the renowned recipients of the benefactor's support. After her husband's death in 1907, Mrs. Havemeyer focused her attention on the women's suffrage movement.

In 1912 and 1915, Louisine she lent her artistic collection to Knoedler's Gallery and organized exhibitions of her art works in New York to raise funds to support suffrage efforts. In 1913, she founded the National Woman's Party with the radical suffragist Alice Paul. Louisine became a well-known suffragist, publishing two articles about her work for the cause in Scribner's Magazine. The first, entitled "The Prison Special: Memories of a Militant," appeared in May 1922, and the other, "The Suffrage Torch: Memories of a Militant" appeared in June the same year.

Louisine participated in marches down New York's famed Fifth Avenue and addressed a standing room only audience at Carnegie Hall upon the completion of a nationwide speaking tour. A famous photograph of Louisine shows her with an electric torch, similar in design to that of the Statue of Liberty, among other prominent suffragists. Her attempt to burn an effigy of President Wilson outside the White House in 1919 drew national attention.