About: Suffrage Torch

The Suffrage Torch (also known as the Torch of Liberty and the Suffrage Torch of Victory) was a wooden and bronze-finished sculpture of a torch that was used in the New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania women's suffrage campaigns starting in the summer of 1915. The torch was the idea of Harriot Stanton Blatch who wanted a visual publicity stunt to draw attention to the suffrage campaigns. The torch traveled throughout New York state and was handed over to Mina Van Winkle, head of the New Jersey suffragists. The torch was stolen in New Jersey and later recovered in Philadelphia. The suffrage torch drew a good deal of publicity during its use in the campaigns taking place in those three states.