Book excerpt: The Silent Sentinels tells the story of the National Woman's Party, a group of suffragists that began an ongoing protest outside of the gates of the White House back in 1917. Refusing to leave until the President of the United States agreed to support the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, thereby granting women the right to vote, these women endured torrential rains, freezing temperatures, and repeated attacks by mobs of angry men. When the government began arresting the suffragists en masse - forcing them into filthy cells and feeding them rotten food - the women went on hunger strike, refusing to eat until the charges against them were dropped. Their courage and determination in the face of horrendous government repression gained national attention and helped to change the nation forever.