Lou’s View
CLEAR AS A BELL
By Lou Bernard
The rights of women, uncertain and being attacked. Women taking a stand, fighting for their right to make decisions. Criticism and mockery from the other side.
That all happened in 1915. What? Did you think I was referring to something more recent?
Over a century ago, women were fighting for their right to vote. The fight came to Lock Haven one afternoon, accompanied by the symbol of the fight: The Justice Bell.
The Justice Bell was a replica of the Liberty Bell, created in 1915 to promote women’s suffrage. Today it’s on display in Valley Forge, but over a century ago, it was traveling the country, symbolizing the fight for the vote. On August 10, 1915, it arrived in Lock Haven.
The whole event was organized by the Civic Club, largely led by several local women: Elizabeth Peale, Aida Furst, Dorothy Quigley, Jean Baird, Caroline Diack, Eleanor Kress, and Dora Merrill. Any of these women would make a fine column on their own; together they were crusaders in the early fight for women’s rights.
On a Tuesday afternoon, they led a parade of cars to meet the Justice Bell on the county line as it traveled through Clinton County. It had come through Centre County, slightly delayed by a gas leak in the truck carrying it, and reached Beech Creek at about 4:30 PM. And then, it was on to the county seat.
They escorted it through Lock Haven in a parade down Main Street, some of the women making speeches from their cars. The whole procession briefly stopped at the Hotel Irvin, on the corner of Jay and Main Streets, to eat dinner and attract a bit more attention, and then proceeded on through Lock Haven.
“The suffrage Liberty Bell has come and gone through the streets of Lock Haven,” reported the newspapers the next day. “This bell we hope will speak for centuries when its tongue is untied after the second of next November, proclaiming to all that women and men are on equal terms.”
There was another brief stop at the post office, where state organizer Emma MacAlarney stopped to give a speech to the gathering crowd. She was followed by prominent local attorney Henry Hipple, who was a big supporter of giving women voting rights.
“He said the suffrage bell did not convey the same message as the Liberty Bell,” the article read, ”For the Liberty Bell typified fair play and justice to all, and certainly women were not getting it now.”
Not everyone was thrilled with this event. The Stone Infantryman, for instance, was not happy.
The Clinton County Times, arguably the weirdest newspaper the county has ever had, used to run weekly interviews with the stone soldiers on the Civil War Monument. (Seriously. I swear.) At the time, the monument was at the corner of Main Street and Bellefonte Avenue, giving the Infantryman a full view of the speech and the bell. He wasn’t impressed.
Usually, the soldiers only offered up fishing tips and stuff, but this time, the Infantryman was very critical of the suffrage movement. “All this stream of yellow and parade of liberty bell will count for nothing when the second of November rolls around,” he was quoted as saying. “This Women’s Suffrage Movement has shot its big gun in Lock Haven, and had no effect upon the voters.”
This being an interview with part of a statue, it’s not exactly surprising that most people didn’t take it too seriously. To great cheers, the bell stayed overnight in Lock Haven and then left the next morning for Lycoming County, and of course, women did earn the right to vote.
The bell, a national symbol of women’s rights, came here. It rolled down Lock Haven’s Main Street, and here is one place where women fought hard for their rights. Keep it in mind.
