Vida Milholland

(1888–1952) Vida contributed far more to gaining suffrage for American women than has been recognized. She joined her more famous sister, Inez, at Vassar as a co-conspirator against the college's anti-feminist President James Taylor.

After Inez's death, Vida gave up her singing career and threw herself into suffrage work. She had a fine voice and sang at suffrage meetings. She joined the picketing of the White House. One of the most common banners one sees in photos is one showing the last words of Inez before she collapsed in Los Angeles: "How Long, Mr. President, Must Women Wait for Liberty." Vida was one of the first to be arrested for picketing, on July 4, 1917. She served three days in the District of Columbia Jail, during which time she sang every night for the benefit of her fellow prisoners.In 1919 she toured the United States as part of the "Prison Special" tour of NWP speakers and sang at all the meetings.

After suffrage was won in 1920, Vida worked on peace issues with the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. She had a partner in this work, Peg Hamilton. With other well-known female couples, they were an early lobbying group not only for peace but for same-sex partnerships. *courtesy SuffragistMemorial.org