OTD in 1916, Women of the Day sisters Augusta Van Buren (1884-1959) and Adeline Van Buren (1889-1949) of New York completed a gruelling 60 day, 5,500 mile cross-country journey on motorcycles from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. Why? To dismantle one of the tired old arguments against giving women the vote. In 1916, WW1 was at its height and although the US had not yet weighed in on the Allied side, women were entering the workforce in greater numbers. The campaign for votes for women was in full swing but how could women be trusted with the vote when they knew nothing of military matters? When women started doing that pesky thing of being awarded Military Medals for their courage under fire nursing the wounded and ferrying them by ambulance to the clearing stations, men fell back on the even tireder “women are too irrational and emotional to make an intelligent contribution” excuse, throwing in a doom-laden prediction for good measure: “They would stop marrying, having children, and the human race would die out”. Augusta and Adeline wanted to prove that women were as capable as men of serving as military dispatch riders, thus removing one of the leading arguments. The sisters dressed in military-style leggings and leather riding breeches (easily the safest and most practical gear for motorcyclists at the time), and were arrested many times during their epic journey…for wearing trousers. That’s right. Facing what one newspaper account of the times described as “impossible roads, unseasonable weather and difficulties in untold number and magnitude…washouts, mountain slides, desert wastes and wrecked bridges…[and] incessant rains in Colorado”, the resourceful sisters overcame every obstacle in their path but it was their mode of dress that attracted press attention and scandalised the nation. Augusta and Adeline, descendants of the eighth President of the United States, loved outdoor life, eschewed parties, learned how to box and how to ride motorcycles. In their case, the motorcycles were 1000cc Powerplus motorcycles weighing 410 lbs (requiring quite some strength to heft about), with Firestone non-skid tyres, a 2.5 gallon fuel tank, and V-twin engines controlled by a hand-shifted gearbox and foot-operated clutch (requiring the ability to multi-task). The motorcycles had rudimentary suspension by today’s standards and America’s roads were underdeveloped and dangerous. Many were little more than dirt tracks. Sometimes, there were no roads at all. At times, the sisters were so exhausted, they fell asleep on their motorcycles and fell over while riding. In August 1916, Augusta and Adeline ran out of desert track in Skull Valley, arid desert between Salt Lake City, Utah, and Reno, Nevada. They had next-to-no water or fuel left and no way of knowing in which direction to head till they spotted a prospector travelling by horse-drawn cart. He gave them water, petrol and directions and they made it to California - with a quick stop in Tijuana en route - arriving in Los Angeles OTD 1916. En route, Augusta and Adeline suffered harassment by men and were arrested at least six times: not for speeding or any other traffic offence but for wearing men’s clothing. The same reason used to convict Joan of Arc of heresy and burn her at the stake in 1431 (even though she wore male clothing on the battlefield because it was the safest and most practical, and later in prison, to deter groping and rape) was deployed against them five centuries later. I’d say “Thankfully, men no longer try to control what women can or can’t wear and no longer judge them for it, right?” but you’d know I was being sarky. Sadly, Augusta and Adeline’s historic achievement counted for nothing. Their applications to be military dispatch riders were rejected. A leading motorcycling magazine praised the motorcycles — not the sisters — and described their arduous journey as a "vacation". One newspaper published a degrading article accusing them of using it as an excuse to flaunt their figures and to dodge their real responsibilities as housewives. American women were finally granted the vote on 26 August 1920 but it wasn’t until 28 May 1923 that the US Attorney General declared it legal for women to wear trousers. The sisters did not give up their campaign for women’s rights. Against all the odds, Adeline became a lawyer. Augusta earned her pilot’s licence in 1924 and joined Amelia Earhart’s international women's flying organisation, the Ninety Nines. “Woman can, if she will.”