The Memorial:
From the suffragistmemorial.org website:
Why the Memorial?
It has been more than 100 years since the passage of the 19th Amendment, yet many suffrage events and names have been lost. The women who fought for the right to vote are largely unknown today. And what happened to them at the Occoquan Workhouse is a story still waiting to be told. Nineteen education stations within the memorial recount the 72-year history of the suffrage movement with a focus on those harshly imprisoned on the historic premises of the Occoquan Workhouse.
This bloodless revolution made possible the largest expansion of democracy the world had ever seen with the enfranchisement of all 25 million American women with the stroke of a pen. It launched the genesis of women’s equal rights in the U.S. It provided a model for success used in subsequent battles for civil rights that followed in America and around the world.
Fewer than eight percent of public outdoor venues across our country memorialize women. In a tour of the capital area, one will find monuments to many important historical figures instrumental in the fight for liberty, equality, and civil rights. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Mohandas Gandhi, Dr. Martin Luther King and veterans of wars fought for liberty.
Yet unlike other heroes in the struggle for freedom, no national monument befitting the suffragists’ extraordinary contribution to our history existed. No single place had been dedicated to remind us of their role or to inspire us to the same commitment to civic participation.
That all changed with the opening of the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial.
The memorial restores a critical part of history about American women omitted from our history books. The memorial commemorates the five million women from every state, creed, race and nationality who fought seventy-two years (1848-1920) to win ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution – the right for all American women to vote. Without this right of citizenship, women would not have been able to advance in education, employment, wealth, civil rights, business ownership, or parental rights.
The Cache:
This cache is at a new memorial that is long overdue.The memorial was constructed for the 100th anniversary of the women's right to vote. The cache may be a little difficult for some but it is nothing compared to what those women went through many years ago to get us to where we are today.
The coordinates listed are not the coordinates to the final cache location although they are very close. You could probably even just look around the entire memorial site and be able to find the cache but I think it would be much easier just to wander the site first and solve the easy puzzle while getting a little bit of a history lesson and enjoying the memorial. I also tried to make the hide somewhat difficult so again just solve for the coordinates so you know where to look.
The final cache location is at: N38 40.XXX W77 15.YYY
To solve for North:
Take the year that all remaining suffrage prisoners were finally released from the Occoquan Workhouse and the DC Jail (See info sign number 15).
ADD the number of women statues at the memorial
ADD the number of cast iron triad spears at the top of one of the entrance gates
ADD the number of pieces that are similar to the triad spears about a third of the way up the gate.
SUBTRACT the minimum donation amount to be listed in the "Friends Society" as part of the memorial
To solve for West:
The first digit is: What number is the information sign with the heading that reads "Forward out of Darkness,"
The second digit is: the number of letters in the first name of one of the women at the memorial. Pick the statue of the person whose first, middle and last names all start with a "C".
The third digit - towards the back of the memorial there is a round structure supported by 6 columns. There are also 6 words around the top of it. Pick the number of letters in the longest of these 6 words for the last west digit.
NOTE - it has come to my attention that there is also a non-related Letterbox in the nearby area. This one is definitely much smaller than a Tupperware so if you found that then keep looking.
There is only room for the log so Bring Your Own Pen.
Park is open daily from dawn to dusk please no night caching.
2021 NoVAGO winner for Best Camouflage
