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It's a cold, drizzly night on November 14, 1917. The about 20 miles southwest of Washington, D.C. superintendent W.H. whitaker stands outside the gates of the facility. He supervises the Occoquan Workhouse, a correctional facility in Fairfax County, Virginia. Raindrops slide from the brim of his cap as he awaits the arrival of a fresh batch of inmates. In the distance, he sees headlamps loom through the drizzle and fog. It's a convoy of police vans creeping up to the prison gates. A young officer steps out of one vehicle and hurries up to Whitaker, shouting over the rain. Same again, sir? Whitaker growls back. How many this time? The officer shrugs. Hard to say. Maybe around 30. Whittaker grimaces. Not long ago, Occoquan was a typical correctional facility containing vagrants, thieves and ruffians. But over the last few months, Whitaker has witnessed an influx of a new breed of inmates. Suffragists, those petticoated troublemakers with their incessant cries of votes for women. Whittaker grumbles again under his breath as he waves the police vans through. Moments later, Whittaker strides into the prison intake facility where the new detainees are being lined up. Whitaker scans the row of women, his eyes gleaming with contempt. The superintendent warns the suffragists that in his prison he will not tolerate disobedience. Any misbehavior will be promptly punished with force if necessary. One of the women returns Whittaker's gaze, fixing him with a recalcitrant stare. He recognizes the tall, flame haired woman, Lucy Burns, one of the leaders of the suffragist movement. Whittaker knows that in order to break these women's spirits and cow them into submission, he will first have to subjugate Lucy Burns, and it's only a matter of time before he gets his chance. Hearing a commotion coming from the women's block, Whittaker finds Lucy Burns whipping up her fellow suffragists into agitation. The superintendent leaps into action. He orders 40 prison guards to arm themselves with wooden truncheons. He leads them to storm the women's block and teach the suffragists a lesson. On the infamous night of November 14, guards at the Occoquan workhouse brutally attack the women inmates, beating many to the brink of unconsciousness. Lucy Burns receives the harshest punishment of all. She is stripped naked and strung up by her wrists until morning. And the abuse doesn't end there. During their incarceration, the suffragists will be fed maggot infested food, kept in solitary confinement, and often beaten, a campaign of savage violence intended to crush their spirits and shatter their resolve. But these women will not be silenced in the face of adversity. They will only grow stronger and more determined. And after their release from prison, they will continue to agitate for equality until their voices drown out the opposition and the United States Congress finally ratifies the women's right to vote on August 18, 1920.
