<P> Plans for the march were threatened when black suffragists announced they intended to participate, which lead white southern suffragists to threaten to boycott the event . One solution discussed was segregating the black suffragists in a separate section to mollify white southern delegates . </P> <P> The parade itself was led by labor lawyer Inez Milholland, dressed dramatically in white and mounted on a white horse, and included nine bands, five mounted brigades, 26 floats, and close to 8,000 marchers, including many notables such as Helen Keller, who was scheduled to speak at Constitution Hall after the march . Individuals came from European nations, Canada, India, Australia, New Zealand and many other countries around the world to support the movement . Most of the women marched in groups determined by their occupation or under their respective banners . Jeannette Rankin, from Montana, marched under her state's sign; she returned to Washington four years later as a U.S. Representative . </P> <P> After a good beginning, the marchers encountered crowds, mostly male, on the street that should have been cleared for the parade . They were jeered and harassed while attempting to squeeze by the scoffing crowds, and the police, said to be of little help, sometimes even participated in the harassment . The Massachusetts and the Pennsylvania national guards stepped in . Eventually, boys from the Maryland Agricultural College created a human barrier protecting the women from the angry crowd and helping them progress forward to their destination . Over 200 people were treated for injuries at local hospitals . Still, most of the marchers finished the parade and viewed an allegorical tableau presented near the Treasury Building . The pageant was written by dramatist Hazel MacKaye and directed by Glenna Smith Tinnin . </P> <P> Considerable debate exists about the segregation of black woman suffragists in the parade . A contemporaneous newspaper account indicated that Alice Paul objected to participation of "Negro" suffragists, but Anna Howard Shaw insisted for them to be allowed to participate . In a 1974 oral history interview, Alice Paul recalled the "hurdle" of Mary Church Terrell planning to bring a delegation from the National Association of Colored Women . </P>

How did the crowds react to the peaceful parade of suffragists
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