Jane Walker Burleson
May Jane Walker Burleson - "Jennie" May Burleson was a notable socialite, artist, and Texan suffragette who was the Grand Marshal of the Woman Suffrage Parade of 1913 in Washington, DC. Mounted with confidence on her horse, she led a parade of 5,000 people up Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC and "into a melee that changed the direction of the suffrage movement." During the 1930s her name was associated with scandal, attracting wide media attention in Texas, as she shot and killed the woman her husband married after their contentious divorce in 1938.
Early life
Jane Walker was born and spent her early years in Galveston, Texas. Her parents John Caffery Walker and Clara Waters Wilson Walker had four children. Walker's father was a lawyer and judge from a prominent Texas family.Education
Burleson studied art in New York under the eminent painter William Chase and received her teaching certificate from Chase's normal school upon graduation. In 1914 she took courses at George Washington University in economics and sociology.Manila, Philippines
After her marriage in 1908 to Lieutenant Richard Coke Burleson of the Third Field Artillery, they were ordered to Manila. With her teacher's certificate from Chase's normal school, she worked as supervisor in Manila public school system for two years where she trained and supervised five hundred teachers who in turn taught "thousands of children."Washington, DC
Upon their return to the United States, Lieutenant Burleson was stationed at Fort Myer just out of Washington, DC. In Washington, she joined the short-lived Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage association which was founded in 1913 by Alice Paul and Lucy Burns to campaign for a constitutional amendment guaranteeing women's suffrage Burleson was the Grand Marshal of the Woman Suffrage Parade of 1913 in Washington, DC.She was featured in a February 1914 article in the Meriden Morning Record under the heading "Women Worth While." She was described as a "handsome young wife" who "was one of the most accomplished women in the army and navy circles in Washington, DC- an expert swimmer and diver who played golf, tennis and could "ride the most spirited mount."
Burleson's husband served overseas during World War I, commanding the 107th Regiment of the 53rd Field Artillery Brigade in Belgium. He advanced to the rank of Colonel and received several medals for his service.