Crowds along the route turned out in large numbers, particularly in Lansdowne, where the Pennsylvania Men’s League for Woman Suffrage played a prominent role. Alice Bedford, chair of the Delaware County Suffrage Party, delivered many of the speeches, with Helen Todd joining her to highlight the progress women had made in California, her home state. The county’s tour concluded with an energetic evening event in Wayne.
Just days earlier, on October 22, when the Justice Bell was in Ardmore, Mary Jenkins Ensign, publisher of the Ardmore Chronicle, presented a laurel wreath to Haverford resident Rebecca Chapman Winsor, a local suffrage leader, to place on the bell. The wreath was a gift from Winsor’s three daughters—Ellen, Mary, and Rebecca Winsor—who were also active in the suffrage movement.
Suffragist Spotlight
Alice Bedford (Mrs. J. Claude Bedford)
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In 1912, Bedford represented Delaware County as a delegate to the National Woman Suffrage Convention in Philadelphia. The following year, she was elected chair of the Woman Suffrage Party of Delaware County, a position she held until December 1915. She was instrumental in building a strong county organization and sponsored numerous events that contributed to the 1915 Votes for Women campaign.
As chair of the Woman Suffrage Party of Delaware County, Bedford hosted Alice Dunbar, later known as Alice Dunbar-Nelson, at two events on September 18, 1915, one at the Media Armory and the other in Chadds Ford. On October 25, 1915, she led the Delaware County suffrage delegation that received the Justice Bell from the Philadelphia delegation at the historic Blue Bell Inn. Accompanying her were Mrs. A. B. Geary, second vice county chairman; Miss Ruth Verlenden of Darby, leader of the Second Legislative District; and a large number of suffrage workers. Two meetings were held for the employees of Fels Soap Works, one inside and one outside, as the factory stood opposite the Blue Bell Inn. During the bell's time in Delaware County, Bedford delivered speeches from the bell truck in Clifton Heights, Lansdowne, and Wayne.
After women won the vote, Bedford continued her advocacy for social causes and civic improvement. She held several leadership roles, including serving as the first president of the Republican Women's Club of Delaware County and as founder and first president of the Delaware County Women's Committee of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Alice Bedford died at her home in Media, Pennsylvania, on October 15, 1960, at the age of eighty-three.
Returning in 2026
More than a century after the Justice Bell Tour, I traveled to the Radnor Memorial Library in Wayne on July 8, 2026, at the invitation of the library and its co-sponsor, the Radnor Historical Society. The program was held in the Winsor Room, named in honor of Rebecca and Ellen Winsor. Proceeds from the sale of their home were bequeathed to the library, helping to create this community space for learning.
Their sister, Mary Winsor, became nationally known during the early 20th century for her work in fighting for women’s voting rights. Along with her sisters, she picketed in front of the White House as a Silent Sentinel. They were arrested and imprisoned, as were many other Silent Sentinels.
The Winsor family's legacy remains visible through a historic photograph of Rebecca and Ellen displayed in the library. Pam Sedor, the library’s reference librarian and programming coordinator, expressed interest in creating a substantial exhibit honoring the family’s contributions to the suffrage movement. To learn more about the Winsor family, see:
The Wild, Wilful and Wonderful Winsors (Radnorite)
Crowd Honors the Winsor Sisters at Radnor Library (Main Line Media News)
One of the evening’s discussions was about the use of the color yellow as part of the branding of the women’s suffrage movement. In the spring of 1915, the Pennsylvania Woman Suffrage Association had distributed seed packets of yellow flowers to the counties so the flowers would be blooming when the Justice Bell traveled across the state. Pennsylvania suffragists adopted yellow as a recognizable symbol of their campaign after its use by Kansas suffragists in the late nineteenth century. See our recent social media posts for more about this fascinating history.
Many thanks to Pam Sedor of Radnor Memorial Library, Lynn Ellis of the Radnor Historical Society, members of the League of Women Voters, and everyone who attended for making it such a memorable evening.
A special note: The Justice Bell: Tracing the Journey of a Forgotten Symbol now has full distribution and is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, other online retailers, and local bookstores. You can read sample pages on Amazon here: Sample pages
I will continue to bring autographed copies to our events, but feel free to order a copy in advance and bring it with you. I would be happy to autograph it.
Continue the Journey
Our next stop is in Conshohocken on August 10, 2026, at the Conshohocken Free Library.
Follow the 2026 Justice Bell Tour
Learn more about the tour on our website.
• View the Justice Bell Foundation tour page
• See the full schedule of events
• Learn more about the documentary Finding Justice: The Untold Story of Women’s Fight for the Vote
• Read the book The Justice Bell: Tracing the Journey of a Forgotten Symbol
Join us as we continue to follow the path of the Justice Bell and explore the remarkable history it represents in Pennsylvania’s fight for women’s suffrage.
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