Biography
Anna Herkner (1879 - December 3, 1959) was a Baltimore child-labor inspector, a member of the National Woman's Party, and one of the "Silent Sentinels" imprisoned during the 1917-1919 campaign to picket the Wilson White House for woman suffrage.
She was arrested at the watchfire demonstration of February 9, 1919, sentenced the following day to five days, and released on February 13.
On the name: Doris Stevens's appendix to Jailed for Freedom prints "Anne Herkimer" and describes her as a Baltimore child-labor inspector. Inez Haynes Irwin's contemporary history of the National Woman's Party prints "Anne Herkner" among those arrested on February 9, 1919. Maryland government records of the period identify Anna Herkner of Baltimore as the state's child-labor inspector, and her biography confirms that she enforced child-labor law, lived in Baltimore, and was arrested at the February 9 watchfire. The matching occupation, city and arrest establish that all three refer to the same woman. "Herkimer" is a historical name error, most likely a typographical slip in Stevens's appendix rather than a modern transcription mistake, and this record was previously filed under it.
