March 3, 1913 Washington, D.C.

Following the same route Woodrow Wilson’s inaugural parade would take the next day, thousands of women marched 1.2 miles along Pennsylvania Avenue.

The procession, organized by the National American Woman Suffrage Association, was designed to present the accomplishments of women in the nation and around the world. The demonstration played out before more than 250,000 onlookers. Behind the marchers, bands played patriotic songs and elaborate floats illustrated the beauty and competence of women.

It was the first suffragist parade in Washington, D.C. It was also the first large, organized march on Washington.

With perhaps not quite so much hoop-la, but containing many more miles, our nation’s centuries-old journey for women’s equality will continue from Alexandria,

Virginia this August as Alexandra Celebrates Women leads the way.

August 5, 2023 Alexandria, Virginia Beginning at 8 a.m. on August 5, with a severe weather date scheduled for August 6, ACW Vice President Gayle Converse will lead “Women Going the Extra Mile:” a 133-mile trek from Alexandria to Richmond, Virginia to raise awareness for many women’s issues.

“We are walking for women’s equality – in health care, at the ballot box and everywhere else. We honor women and girls of today and throughout history who have broken tradition, social norms, glass ceilings and gone the extra mile,,” Converse said. Walkers will follow the East Coast Greenway, a develop- ing 3,000-mile network of protected pathways from Maine to Florida.