Atlantic describing her interactions with Congressmen. In 1915, Gardner became involved in activism surrounding World War I. She was an executive member of the Rational Defense League. She also believed that women's suffrage would help prevent "useless wars." She remained insistent, though, that woman's suffrage was a pressing need, and women should not "wait and trust to the gratitude of men after the war." On Bastille Day, July 14, 1917, Gardner participated in a protest with the Silent Sentinels. Gardner and fifteen other suffragists, chosen for their status in society, picketed and were arrested for unlawful assembly and obstructing traffic. On July 17, these women were sentenced to 60 days in Occoquan Workhouse, where they were harshly treated. Gardner spoke with her attorney and published in the Suffragist about having her clothes removed, showering with open doors, wearing workhouse clothes, eating food with worms in it, living in enforced silence, and working for long hours. Later that year, she returned to Occoquan as counsel for interned suffragists. She advocated for these women, writing to Commissioner Brownlow, Superintendent Whitaker, and John Joy Edson, president of Associated Charities about how "For four days they have not been out of the buildings except to walk from one building to another" and calling for the suffragists to be able to exercise outdoors. On January 13, 1919, she was sentenced to 5 days in District Jail for building "watch fires" in front of the White House. In jail, she participated in a hunger strike with 22 other convicted suffragists. Following the passing of the 19th Amendment, Gardner remained involved in politics. In 1923, she served on the Women’s Committee for the Recognition of Russia. In 1924, she was involved in Robert M. La Follette's presidential campaign. She was also involved in organizations that pursued world peace and the release of political prisoners, including the Women's Disarmament Committee. Like many of the Silent Sentinels, Gardner went into business, running a bookshop. Matilda Hall Gardner died on March 15, 1954, aged 82, at Circle Terrace Hospital in Alexandria, Virginia. References External links 1871 births 1954 deaths American suffragists National Woman's Party activists