Nell Mercer
Nell Fidelia Mercer | |
---|---|
Born | Nell Fidelia Mercer August 13, 1893 North Landing, Virginia |
Died | September 30, 1979 (aged 86) Andover, Massachusetts |
Nationality | American |
Other names | Nell K. Mercier |
Occupation | Business owner, Suffragist |
Nell Mercer (1893–1979) was a member of the Silent Sentinels picketing Woodrow Wilson's White House for women's suffrage.
Life[]
Nell was born in North Landing, Virginia on August 13, 1893.[1] She grew up in Norfolk, Virginia where she became a member of the Norfolk branch of the National Women's Party.
As a member of the Silent Sentinels picketing Woodrow Wilson's White House for women's suffrage, she was arrested in February 1919 for her participation in a watchfire demonstration and sentenced to five days in jail.[2] Mercer was honored for her sacrifices and in 1926 became a delegate to the Tenth Congress of the International Woman Suffrage Alliance in Paris, France.[1]
In addition to her activism,[3] Nell toured Europe for two years and, upon returning to the United States, stayed at the famous Brunswick Hotel in Boston's Copley Square. She would later purchase the landmark hotel and remarkably became its final owner and operator until the property was sold to IBM for their corporate headquarters many years later. Nell died in Andover, Massachusetts on September 30, 1979.[1]
In 2021 it was announced that Nell was to be the subject of a documentary by filmmaker Tara Price.
References[]
- ^ a b c Thompson, Taylor. "Biographical Sketch of Nell Mercer". Online Biographical Dictionary of Militant Woman Suffragists, 1913-1920. Alexander Street Documents. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ "Photographs from the Records of the National Woman's Party: Nell Mercer". Library of Congress. Retrieved July 22, 2012.
- ^ Adams, Katherine H.; Keene, Michael L.; Koella, Jennifer C. (2011-12-12). Seeing the American Woman, 1880-1920: The Social Impact of the Visual Media Explosion. McFarland. ISBN 9780786489039.
- Doris Stevens, Jailed for Freedom (New York: Boni and Liveright, 1920), 365.
- "Suffragists Burn Wilson in Effigy" New York Times February 10, 1919
External links[]
- 1893 births
- 1979 deaths
- American suffragists
- Virginia suffrage
- People from Norfolk, Virginia
- 20th-century American women