When George Washington crossed the Delaware in 1776, the event was documented in the classic 1851 oil canvas by Emanuel Leutze. When suffragist Rosalie Jones marched to Washington to join the 1913 big suffrage parade, a cartoonist published his version in the Cleveland Plain Dealer (Courtesy: Library of Congress).

The suffrage band of hikers didn’t actually cross the Delaware. The weather didn’t permit it. However, The New York Times coverage of the event noted that the suffragists themselves pointed out the connection between the American Revolution and the unfinished revolution of women’s rights. One member of the hiking band suggested that George Washington and Rosalie Jones would go down in history together. The full coverage of the 1913 event. The “Spirit of 1776” suffrage campaign wagon is representational of the extent to which the suffrage activists used the 1776 theme throughout their literature and events. They stayed on message throughout.