Mama Went To Jail For The Vote

Mama Went To Jail For The Vote

By Kathleen Karr

Illustrated by Malene Laugesen

Hyperion Books, 2005

32 pages

Historical Fiction

      Wow, this is a powerful story! The title of this book and the cover art are why I chose this book. The turn of the twentieth century time period has always fascinated me! This is told in narrative form, and is told from the point of view of Susan Elizabeth, the main character. Where would we be today if not for the beautiful, strong-willed, made-of-steel women who came before us? I would hate to even peek a glimpse! This story is about one such woman, and her daughter. All little girls look up to their mothers and so does Susan Elizabeth, literally! She looks up at her while she rides a pretty white horse down Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House to protest Women's suffrage! In the story she compares her mother to an Indian Princess. Indeed! Susan's mother is a "modern woman" and dresses her in bloomers and takes her to parade rallies. I am partly amused and partly disgusted by the role her father plays in this story. First of all, they seem to be what would be considered "high society" and when her father returns home from work he condescendingly pats the mother and asks her "how many votes did she gather" that day? Sadly, there are still men today that think that women should be ornaments to men and only that. It amuses me because I know that we can overcome it today. They had to push against it back then. Susan's mother goes to jail for 6 months for protesting in front of the White House. At the end of the story, she is released from jail, but eludes to the many years that it took for women to receive the vote by the illustrations. You can see how Susan has grown and also how the fashions have changed as you see all of the women voting! One thing I learned is that every woman imprisoned for protesting for the vote was awarded a silver pin.

      The illustrations are wonderful! I think that they are my favorite! The colors are so pretty and vibrant. The expressions on the characters faces are very telling and essential to the story. The illustrations brought me the closest to the mother, since I am probably the age that she is in the story. I would like to think that I would be that brave.

      This is best used in the classroom as a history lesson, probably for older grades I should think. Girls especially would adore this story. You could have a class discussion about how you think that you would react, feel, think if you were in this time period. This could evolve into a piece of writing. You could also have them do research and find out even more facts about the Women's Suffrage Movement.