9. Brick Pavement: March on Washington

Brick Pavement

 By Becky Brown

Fifty years before Martin Luther King led "The March on Washington" for equal rights for African-Americans, women staged a spectacular parade in Washington's streets on March 3, 1913, the eve of  President Woodrow Wilson's inauguration. Organizer Alice Paul hoped to show Wilson, who'd refused to support the cause during his campaign, the political power of protest and the importance of the woman suffrage movement to Americans.

Five thousand marchers were led down Pennsylvania Avenue by Inez Milholland Boissevain astride a white horse.

Floats and divisions represented suffrage pioneers, state organizations, occupations such as doctors and librarians, men who supported equal suffrage and representatives of countries where women had the vote.

 

As they turned towards the Treasury Building the parade ran into a blockade of men in the streets.

Policemen refused to clear the path, siding with the mob.
Women were insulted, groped, and beaten. It was estimated that 300 were injured.

A few marchers made it to the Treasury Building where a pageant celebrating Liberty continued.

Brick Pavement

By Georgann Eglinski

We can recall this protest march on Washington's streets a century ago with Brick Pavement. This week's block is adapted from a 1938 pattern by the Nancy Page syndicated newspaper column.

The Nancy Page version (BlockBase #2823).

Brick Pavement

By Dustin Cecil

Cutting an 8" Finished Block

The red numbers are a little more generous when the EQ rotary cutting default is set to 1/16th of inch. Black numbers are set to 1/8" inch.

A -Cut 2 squares 2-3/8" (2-3/8")

Cut each in half diagonally to make 2 triangles. You need 4 triangles.

B - C 1 square 6-1/4" (6-3/16")

 Cut with 2 diagonal cuts to make 4 triangles. You need 2 triangles.

C - Cut 1 square 3-3/4" (3-11/16")

 

Cut with 2 diagonal cuts to make 4 triangles. You need 4 triangles.

D - Cut 2 squares 2-1/4" ( 2-1/4")

E - Cut 4 rectangles  2-5/8" x 4" (2-5/8" x 4 1/16")

F - Cut 1 square 2-5/8"  (2-5/8")

Piece the C triangles to the D squares. Make 2 units.

Then piece those units to rectangles E and add triangle B. Make 2 units.

Add triangle A to the corners.

Make the center strip.

Piece the 3 sections.

12" Block (Modified so D & F are the same size)

A - Cut 2: 2-7/8"

B - Cut 1: 9-3/16"

C - Cut 1: 5-3/16"

D - Cut 3: 3-5/16"

E -  Cut 4: 6 -3/16 x 3-5/18"

Brick Pavement

By Becky Brown

Since I adapted the pattern and drew it in Electric Quilt you won't find this block in BlockBase. If you want to print it using EQ try importing #2413a (Grandmother's Pride) into EQ. That will give you the basic structure. Erase a few lines to match the pattern. Then print.

Read more about the March, 1913 parade here:

http://www.loc.gov/loc/lcib/9803/suffrage.html

The march was well-documented by news agencies of the time and the Library of Congress has many photographs. Click here and do a search for these words

Women's Suffrage 1913

http://www.loc.gov/pictures/