1919-09-01: (The Rape of Eleanor Charles — At Dusk Eleanor Charles and Her Mother Elizabeth Saint-Bernard Walking Home from the Gonaïves Marché Along the Six…

1919-09-01: (The Rape of Eleanor Charles — At Dusk Eleanor Charles and Her Mother Elizabeth Saint-Bernard Walking Home from the Gonaïves Marché Along the Six-Mile Stretch of Road to Petite Rivière des Bayonnais, Private Edward Paul Pietszak Driving Up and Instructing Mother and Daughter to Get into His Car, Eleanor and Her Mother Running in the Opposite Direction but Pietszak Catching Eleanor Who Dropped the Day’s Produce, Dragged into the Bushes Her Dress and Skin Torn, After Raping Eleanor Pietszak Placing One Gourde into Her Bruised and Lacerated Hand to Maintain the Assault Was a Paid Transaction, Saint-Bernard Petitioning the Courts for One Hundred Gourdes Damage on the Grounds That the Girl Has Lost Her Reputation and It Will Be Difficult for Her to Get Work): At dusk on September 1, 1919, Eleanor Charles and her mother, Elizabeth Saint-Bernard, walked home from an extended day of vending and shopping at the Gonaïves marché. Carrying their extra produce, the teenager and her mother traveled the six-mile stretch of road between the market and their home in Petite Rivière des Bayonnais. As they made their way toward the iron bridge on the St. Marc road, Private Edward Paul Pietszak drove up next to them and instructed mother and daughter to get into his car. Eleanor and her mother immediately ran in the opposite direction, but Pietszak caught Eleanor. She dropped the day’s produce. She testified that he dragged her into the bushes that lined the street. Her dress and skin were torn. After Pietszak raped Eleanor, he placed one gourde into her bruised and lacerated hand — the currency exchange allowing him to maintain the assault was a paid transaction. Saint-Bernard petitioned the courts for one hundred gourdes damage on the grounds that the girl had lost her reputation and it would be difficult for her to get work to do. Eleanor and Saint-Bernard represented the most vulnerable citizens of the military occupation — women whose livelihood placed them in direct view of US Marines’ public surveillance, where they were exposed and least protected against unwanted solicitation. At all social levels, control of and violence against women was not met with accountability but with blame, shame, and further vulnerability regarding their movements. James Weldon Johnson testified at the 1921 US Senate hearings to his skepticism about the new roads, recounting seeing an automobile frighten a market woman whose produce was scattered across the road.