L. J. C. Daniels | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Lucy Joselyn Cutler Daniels (1858-11-05)November 5, 1858 |
| Died | June 10, 1949(1949-06-10) (aged 90)[1] |
| Burial place | Grafton Village Cemetery, Grafton, Vermont |
| Education | New York University (JD) |
| Occupation | Suffragist |
| Organization(s) | National American Woman Suffrage Association National Woman's Party |
| Movement | Women's Suffrage in the United States |
Lucy Joselyn Cutler Daniels (November 5, 1858 – June 10, 1949), known best as her initialsL. J. C. Daniels, was an Americansuffragist and political activist fromVermont. Daniels is best known for her protests for women's suffrage by refusing to pay taxes on her property, as well as her staunch support for working-class and Black women to receive the vote. Daniels participated in multiple protests and demonstrations in front of theWhite House andCapitol building, as well as inBoston.[2]
Daniels was born inGrafton, Vermont to the wealthy family of Francis Daniels, aspeculator, and Lucy Barrett. The Danielses had six children, including Lucy.[3] Daniels graduated fromNew York University in 1896 with aJuris Doctor degree.[4] Daniels was known as an eccentric in Grafton.[5] She always travelled by bus and never sat down the entire way.[5]
Daniels protested heavily againstPresidentWoodrow Wilson, ultimately being jailed on three separate occasions.[6] As a wealthy suffragist, Daniels used her property to protest, refusing to payproperty taxes.[7] In response, local officials in Grafton auctioned off her bank stock inherited from her father. She then wrote on the front of a building she owned "A-SQUARE-DEAL: Votes for Vermont Women." In 1911, a tax collector came to auction off Daniels' remaining assets. The collector reminded Daniels that she could vote in school meetings, to which Daniels responded by pointing to her housekeeper, explaining that until the working-class women of Vermont could vote, she would not either.[6]
Daniels was heavily involved in theNational American Woman Suffrage Association and consistently lobbiedAlice Paul to recruit and include Black women in the fight for suffrage.[4] She associated the women's cause with race discrimination and sent a letter to Vermont CongressmanCarroll Page stating that women would "solve our problem just as for the Negroes -- with a federal amendment".[5]
In 1917, Daniels traveled toWashington, D.C. to protest at the White House gates, she was imprisoned. She returned in 1918 to protest at the Capitol and again in 1919 to protest at the White House, and was again jailed. When President Wilson returned from theParis Peace Conference in 1919, Daniels traveled to Boston to meet theS.S George Washington and protests against the president. She was, again, jailed.[2]
Daniels was avegetarian.[5] She was president of theNational Vegetarian Society.[8][9]
Daniels died at Rockingham Hospital inBellows Falls, aged 90.[1]