author
Doris Stevens
1888–1963
A bold voice in the fight for women’s rights, this American suffragist helped push the movement from protest to lasting legal change. She also wrote firsthand about the struggle, giving readers a vivid window into one of the most dramatic chapters of the campaign for the vote.
1 Audiobook
Jailed for Freedom
by Doris Stevens
About the author
Born in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1888, Doris Stevens became one of the most visible figures in the American suffrage movement. After studying sociology at Oberlin College, she worked as a teacher and social worker before turning fully to activism. She organized for major suffrage campaigns and became closely associated with the National Woman’s Party.
She is especially remembered for her role in the militant push for women’s voting rights, including the White House pickets that led to arrests and imprisonment. Her best-known book, Jailed for Freedom (1920), drew on those experiences and remains an important firsthand account of the suffrage struggle.
After the Nineteenth Amendment was won, she continued her public work as an advocate for women’s legal equality in the Americas. She served as the first chair of the Inter-American Commission of Women and was also the first female member of the American Institute of International Law, extending her influence far beyond the suffrage era.