In 1913 a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on the District of Columbia conducted an investigation to examine the lack of police protection for the participants of the woman suffrage parade, a watershed moment that emboldened the movement. After hearing the testimony of firsthand witnesses, the subcommittee's report concluded that “uniformed police and…special police acted with more or less indifference while on duty along the line of march.” In other words, many members of law enforcement, tasked with protecting the marchers and ensuring public safety, had failed to do those jobs. The report fell short, however, of “singl[ing] out any particular individual for reproof or condemnation.”
credit: U.S. Senate Historical Office
