You’ve almost definitely heard of the Liberty Bell, which lives across the street from Independence Hall … but what about the Justice Bell housed in Valley Forge?
Commissioned in 1915 by Katharine Wentworth Ruschenberger — the leader of Chester County’s chapter of the Pennsylvania Woman Suffrage Association — the Justice Bell was a replica of the Liberty Bell meant to drum up support for women’s right to vote in Pennsylvania.
There are several key differences between the Justice Bell and the Liberty Bell: the Justice Bell was cast without a crack, and its inscription included the words “ESTABLISH JUSTICE.” The Justice Bell also had a chained clapper to prevent the bell from being rung, meant to symbolize women being barred from using their voices at the ballot box.
In 1915, suffragists took the bell on a 5,000-mile tour through all of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties to promote a statewide referendum that would’ve given PA women the right to vote. The tour ended in Philly, where 8,000 activists marched down Broad Street with the bell, according to the New York Times, which estimated that 100,000 people witnessed the parade.
That Pennsylvania referendum ultimately failed, but the suffrage movement — and the Justice Bell’s life as a suffrage symbol — wasn’t over yet.
In 1920, after the 19th Amendment was ratified and women gained the right to vote nationwide, the bell’s clapper was unchained during a ceremony in Independence Square. Women struck the bell 48 times — one ring for each U.S. state.
The Justice Bell’s present-day home is Washington Memorial Chapel, an Episcopal church located inside Valley Forge National Historical Park, and you can visit it between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily. In 2020, the bell was temporarily displayed outside Independence Hall to celebrate 100 years of women’s suffrage.
