Last updated: January 19, 2023
Place
Pemberton Square Courthouse
NPS Photo/Woods
Quick Facts
Location:
John Adams Courthouse
Significance:
Site of the Pemberton Square Courthouse
OPEN TO PUBLIC:
No
MANAGED BY:
Suffolk County Courthouse
On February 24, 1919, 23 members of the National Woman’s Party (NWP) faced trial at Pemberton Square Courthouse. The day before, police arrested these suffragists for protesting during President Woodrow Wilson's visit to Boston. 19 suffragists appeared in court after spending a night in the House of Detention, while four more joined them after being released on bail. Judge Wilfred Bolster moved the hearings to a smaller room after NWP members packed the original courtroom to show their support. Facing the judge either individually or in small groups, the suffragists had to pay a $5 fine for loitering. Four women paid the fine, two had their cases filed or postponed, and one was acquitted. The rest of the protestors, 16 in total, refused to pay the fine. Judge Bolster sentenced them to 8 days at Charles Street Jail.
Pemberton Square Courthouse in Boston, MA, ca. 1855-1895. (Credit: Boston Public Library.)
To learn more about what happened to the arrested suffragists, please visit Charles Street Jail.
Source:
James J. Kenneally, “ ‘I Want to Go to Jail’: The Woman’s Party Reception for President Wilson in Boston, 1919,” Historical Journal of Massachusetts 45, no. 1 (Winter 2017): 103-134.