Betty Gram Swing, born Myrtle Eveline Gram (March 16, 1893 – September 1, 1969), was an American militant suffragist.
Personal life
Betty Gram participated in landmark events of the women's rights movement in the early to mid-twentieth century. She joined the women's rights movement in 1917 and was subsequently jailed five times and went on two hunger strikes. When she was sent to Tennessee to push for the last vote needed to ratify the 19th amendment, a local newspaper announced, “110 Pounds of Femininity Hit Memphis”. Contemporary newspaper accounts often noted her attractiveness. She remained active for many decades in women's rights and other causes. In 1921, Gram married well-known radio commentator Raymond Gram Swing. She insisted that he take her last name as well if she was taking his and became Betty Gram Swing. The couple were the parents of two sons and a daughter. They divorced in 1944.
Suffrage Activity, 1917-1919
After graduating from the University of Oregon, Betty Gram embarked on a stage career, which she left when she came east to join the National Woman's Party (NWP), led by Alice Paul. The NWP had split with other women's suffrage groups over its focus on a constitutional amendment guaranteeing women the right to vote, as well as on its aggressive tactics. Other groups, namely the National American Woman's Suffrage Association, had built a state-by-state suffrage strategy and opposed the NWP's targeting of President Wilson and Democrats as well as its picketing effort.
The National Woman's Party began its Silent Sentinels picketing of the White House in January 1917. In March of that year, over one thousand women took part. By June, the White House decided to arrest the picketers. Since holding signs is not illegal, the women demanded to know the reason for their arrest. The eventual charge was obstructing traffic. Those charges were dismissed and no trial was held. But a new pattern had begun - the women picketers were not deterred. Upon their release, they went straight back to picketing the White House and were arrested again. A front-page photo in the Evening Tribune of San Diego bore the caption, "Washington has found that the only way to keep a picket away from the White House is to put her in jail." This time the picketers were found guilty of obstructing traffic and fined $25 or three days in jail. The women refused to pay the fine. A rapid escalation followed until the leader of the NWP, Alice Paul was sentenced to 7 months in jail. Betty and her sister, Alice Gram, and 39 others were jailed for obstructing traffic on November 10, 1917; that picket was part of a protest of Alice Paul's sentence. The charge of obstructing traffic was widely understood as a sham - the Oregonian newspaper clearly stated as much in an article covering the Gram sisters' arrest. In the same article, Betty was quoted as saying, "I am going to prison for the suffrage case, with the full knowledge that I have committed no offense."
Instead of being sent to the local jail, the November 10th picketers were sent to the Occoquan Workhouse in Virginia, where the inmates were forced to do prison labor. Horrible conditions faced the women in the workhouse - they were beaten, kept in isolation, and given rancid food. After being refused recognition as political prisoners, the women declared a hunger strike. The leaders of the NWP, including Alice Paul, were force fed. The Gram sisters were released after 17 days in jail, along with 22 other hunger strikers, although they had been sentenced to 30 days.
The arrests and hunger strike were widely covered in newspapers across the country and Betty was featured prominently. The Oregonian noted that, by the time they were released, Betty and Alice had lost 12 and 19 lbs respectively. But their arrests and ill-treatment did not deter the Grams or the other picketers, who continue pressuring President Wilson and Congress to take up a constitutional amendment granting women the right to vote. In January 1919, Betty Gram was one of two sentries outside the White House standing guard over a bonfire in which they burned President Wilson's speeches. The next month she was arrested in Boston when 21 members of the National Woman's Party gathered in front of the State House with suffrage banners. They were there to protest President Wilson's arrival in Boston. The women were arrested when they refused to comply with police orders to move. In newspaper accounts, Betty was singled out as resisting arrest and had to be "lifted bodily" into the police wagon.