Catherine Flanagan | |
|---|---|
 Flanagan in 1920 delivering Connecticut's ratification of the19th Amendment to theSecretary of State | |
| Born | Catherine Mary Flanagan August 19, 1888 Hartford, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Died | August 3, 1927 (aged 38) Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. |
| Occupation | Suffragist |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
Catherine Mary Flanagan (August 19, 1888 – August 3, 1927) was an Americansuffragist affiliated with theConnecticut Woman Suffrage Association and later theNational Woman's Party. She was among theSilent Sentinels arrested for protesting outside the White House in 1917.
Catherine Mary Flanagan was born on August 19, 1888, inHartford, Connecticut,[1] the second of seven children of Irish immigrant parents.[2] Her father had moved to the US as a political exile after participating in the Irish Freedom movement, and following his death, she began work as astenographer and as a bookkeeper at age 13.[2] She became involved in the women's suffrage movement in the 1910s, and was hired as the secretary of theConnecticut Woman Suffrage Association (CWSA) in 1915.[3] In 1917, Flanagan took vacation leave to travel to Washington, D.C., to join theNational Woman's Party (NWP) in theSilent Sentinels protest outside the White House.[2] Flanagan and five other suffragists were arrested on charges of "obstructing traffic and unlawful assembly" and were jailed at theOccoquan Workhouse for 30 days after they refused to pay a $10 fine.[3] After her release, Flanagan wrote an account of her treatment in jail that was circulated in the national press and attracted public support for the suffrage movement.[3] She resigned from the CWSA and formally joined the NWP.[2] In 1920, she delivered Connecticut's ratification document endorsing theNineteenth Amendment to the State Department.[2] Following the passage of the amendment, she turned her attention to campaigning for recognition of the Irish Republic.[3]
Flanagan moved to Utah and married William H. Leary in 1921; a year later, they had a son. She died August 3, 1927, inSalt Lake City from complications of anectopic pregnancy.[2]
Flanagan was inducted into theConnecticut Women's Hall of Fame in 2020.[3] She is memorialized at theTurning Point Suffragist Memorial inLorton, Virginia.[4]