Alison Turnbull Hopkins

Alison Turnbull Hopkins (May 20, 1880 – March 18, 1951) was an American suffrage activist, known as one of the Silent Sentinels for her protests at the White House.

Personal life Alison Low Turnbull was born in 1880 in Morristown, New Jersey, to Lt Commander Frank Turnbull, a retired naval officer, and his wife, the former Marion Louise Bates, descendant of William Bradford, governor of Plymouth Colony in the 17th century. The couple had three children, Alison the oldest. She was raised on the family estate, "Feather Leigh Farms", where she was educated by private tutors. She left Morristown following her marriage to John Appleton Haven Hopkins a New York insurance executive, in 1901, returning in 1908, with her husband and three children, to make the estate their family home. The couple had three children, all born in New York City—John Milton (born 1903), Marion Louise (born 1904), and Douglas (born 1908). She served as president of the Summer Shelter of Morristown, an organization that brought poor children out of the heat of New York City to Morristown, for a few weeks at a time, during the summer months. She was a member of the executive committee of the Morris County branch of the State Charities Aid Society and on the board of managers of the Speedwell Society, which placed convalescent children in foster homes for care and recuperation. Locally, she was a member of the Executive Committee of the Women's Town Improvement Committee, chair of the Ladies House Committee of the Morristown Field Club, a member of the Whipping River and Morristown Garden Clubs, and a member of the Morris County Corn Growing and Industrial Contests, which established educational initiatives in schools to promote industrial work in schools, as a way to help encourage children to stay in school. These initiatives developed school gardens and corn growing contests, later expanding to flower and vegetable gardens.

Activism Alison Turnbull Hopkins was a member of Heterodoxy, a women's debating club based in New York City. In 1914, she became active in the suffrage movement, stating that, due to her civic and charitable work, she had realized that women would need political power in order to achieve reform. She was elected to the executive committee of the Congressional Union for Women Suffrage and later became the New Jersey state chair for the National Woman's Party. Among her notable political stunts was a speaking tour through Illinois in a car bearing the slogan "Don't Vote for Wilson," following William Jennings Bryan on his lecture tour.

In 1916, Hopkins was elected president of the New Jersey branch of the Congressional Union (NJCU). The Congressional Union merged with the Woman's Party to form the National Women's Party and in January, 1917, the NJCU became the New Jersey branch of the National Women's Party. Also in early 1917, the suffragists had begun picketing in front of the White House, calling themselves the Silent Sentinel.

In early March, Hopkins was among a large group of suffragists who paraded to the White House from the NWP headquarters. They hoped to be able to speak to Wilson, with the intent of gaining his support for a federal amendment. When they arrived, they found the gates locked and the White House grounds surrounded by police. Hopkins and several other leaders of the NWP remained at the front gate, while the remainder of the group paraded around the grounds. When Wilson, accompanied by his wife, rode through the gate in his limousine, he did not acknowledge their presence and the suffragists returned to the NWP headquarters. Charged with unlawful assembly and obstructing traffic, on July 17, they were sentenced to be jailed at Occoquan Workhouse for a period of sixty days. After their arrival at the workhouse, they were forced to dress in prison uniforms and jailed with other prisoners. John A. H. Hopkins visited his wife at Occoquan and then reported to President Wilson the deplorable conditions at the jail. The women were pardoned after three days by Wilson and "Mr. President How long must women wait for liberty." She also wrote a letter to Wilson, stating that, by pardoning her, he had denied her the right to appeal her arrest. She also accused him of signing the pardon in order to prevent any political embarrassment. Copies of this letter were distributed to members of the press. Alison Turnbull Hopkins was not arrested again.

Later life After suffrage was won, Alison Turnbull Hopkins opened a dress shop in New York City, called Marjane Ltd. The Hopkinses divorced in 1927. Alison Turnbull Hopkins died in 1951, age 70. Her niece was socialite Marjorie Oelrichs.